sustainablecitiescollective ~ Four Lessons From Beijing And Shanghai Show How China’s Cities Can Curb Car Congestion

Photo: sustainablecitiescollective.com – Photo by Alan Sheffield/Flickr

Although Beijing, China has struggled in previous years to adopt strong transport demand management (TDM) strategies, the city is now looking to expand its TDM policies to combat growing car ownership.

A century of car-centric urban development has left our cities polluted, congested and searching for sustainable solutions. Transport Demand Management (TDM) strategies can provide these solutions by combining public policy and private sector innovation to reverse over-reliance on private cars. The Moving Beyond Cars series—exclusive to TheCityFix and WRI Insights—offers a global tour of TDM solutions in Brazil, China, India and Mexico, providing lessons in how cities can curb car culture to make sustainable transport a reality.

As China’s GDP has grown, so has the number of cars on its roads. From 2008 to 2010, the country’s vehicle ownership almost doubled, from 38 vehicles to 58 per 1,000 people, and is set to hit 269 vehicles by 2030. This growth in car ownership not only means that the auto industry and infrastructure investments will continue booming, it also means more air pollution, energy consumption and traffic crashes.