Transit-oriented street design in Beijing

Using Beijing as a case study, this paper seeks to contribute to academic and professional debates about how general Transit-Oriented design principles can be translated into the Chinese context. It focuses on TOD designs of commercial streets adjacent to transit nodes (rather than residential neighbourhoods or other developments). The evidence presented in the paper suggests that while the Chinese public agrees with many of the basic TOD tenets laid out in the international literature, views about specific design aspects are closely linked to national cultural views and practices. Chinese urbanites are as desirous for human activities, pedestrian safety and comfort, visual variety, natural elements (trees and water) and complexity in outdoor spaces as Western publics. At the same time, in line with China’s pre-socialist and socialist style of urbanism, support for cycling and bus lanes, as well as mixed uses and commerce (including street vending) in TOD streets, is much higher than in Western countries. Personal security is less of a concern while the acceptable development scale is much higher than in the West.