*3.3.4 Traditional acceptance of high-density living*

Chinese villages, towns and cities have always been very dense. There are various theories about why density is accepted in some cultures and not others, for example, Anglo-Saxon culture has a long history of anti-density tradition which has been passed on to New World cities [6]. The theories about density in Chinese cities suggest it is a combination of their:


Together these theories suggest that the Chinese economy depended on these big cities that were made of traditional walking city fabric, highly dense and mixed for many centuries, rather than being a set of low-density rural villages based around agriculture.

These various traditions and planning paradigms have resulted in the typical Chinese urban form. The central city of both Beijing and Shanghai is still a very dense urban environment of close to 250 persons per ha (characteristic of walking city fabric). The whole city, together with all its other component parts, is also getting denser despite the "urban sprawl" in outlying areas. The urban density of the whole city is more than 50 persons/ha, which is typical of European transit-oriented regions. The old walking city centres and the transit-oriented linear form of urban development together with dense land use patterns facilitate the development of public transport systems as well as walking and cycling in Beijing and Shanghai. However, especially in the superdense city centres where there is continuous

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**Acknowledgements**

(Project No. 32220525).

**4. Conclusions**

*The Rise and Decline of Car Use in Beijing and Shanghai DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90130*

rebuilding at higher densities, these areas are becoming more and more unsuitable

This is not just an issue in Chinese cities as the revival of the walking and transit city fabric in most developed cities is also associated with major issues surrounding equity. The newer urban areas in outlying areas created in the last 20 years to provide more affordable housing are more automobile dependent but are still nothing like the sprawling suburbs of American and Australian cities. These areas in Chinese cities are well served now by fast metro systems as well as having considerably more local services and work; however, they are clearly going to have more car use than the traditional areas and will need to find new ways of dealing with this. For example, the lowest densities are the outer suburbs in Beijing, but even here these are above 25 persons/ha, which is the high end of auto city fabric. These areas do not go down to typical auto city densities of 7–20 persons/ha or so, but they will still need to continue to minimise such areas if they are to keep reducing their car use. The same kind of urban fabric can be found in both cities examined; the key differences were much higher urban density in some districts of the central city and a more walkable form of urban development in Shanghai compared to Beijing. The urban density of both central cities is similarly more than 200 persons/ha. However, the urban density of the whole city and suburb areas is higher in Shanghai than in Beijing. This is perhaps due to Beijing's scattered urban areas around the ring roads. Some districts of the central city of Shanghai are superdense with more than 600 persons/ha urban density (like Huangpu, Luwan, Jing'an and Hongkou), while the highest urban density in Beijing is around 300 persons/ha. Shanghai's superdense urban form results in the dominance of walking and nonmotorised transport modes in the whole city.

Beijing and Shanghai are the two most representative cities in China in terms of their political, economic and cultural influences so it is very significant that both are now indicating a peak in car use has happened. This coincides with major investments in public transport that have provided an option surpassing many car use patterns. This has happened despite increasing economic growth and car ownership growth. To explain this needs an understanding of the fabrics that define the city and which are expressions of the cultural and political history of China. Both cities feature Chinese traditional urban fabrics of walking centres with transit linear corridors all with dense, mixed land use patterns that favour public transport and walking and cycling. They can both be termed "emerging transit metropolises" as opposed to the mature transit metropolises such as London and Paris [27]. These areas are also where the major job growth and urban activity are focused and thus private vehicle use has decoupled from wealth and has now peaked in terms of modal split. This paper suggests that this is strongly affected by their walking and transit urban fabrics, which are not built for much car use. More than likely the response will be to continue the peak car use trend and enable Chinese cities to become more and more a model for any other emerging cities that are trying to face

This document was produced with the financial support of the Department of Education of Henan Province (Project No. 20B630021) and Zhengzhou University

up to a future with less automobile dominance in their cities.

for cars but at the same time are beyond the affordability of most citizens.

#### *The Rise and Decline of Car Use in Beijing and Shanghai DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.90130*

*Sustainability in Urban Planning and Design*

*3.3.3 Traditional employment system*

*3.3.4 Traditional acceptance of high-density living*

suggest it is a combination of their:

urban culture became essential.

ridors of urban fabric.

When this road structure is combined with high density and mixed land uses, as it is in China, it means that the major parts of Chinese cities were fundamentally walking and transit city fabrics [6] and became an entrenched part of how cities were built in the Chinese cultural and political landscape. Automobile fabric only develops where a new kind of urban form is sought further out from the fabric already there and at considerably lower densities. This did not happen very much in China; instead, the city fabrics from the walking and transit eras were rebuilt at much higher density and followed the same corridor-based form into new areas.

The socialist welfare-oriented housing within walking or cycling distances of work was provided by state-owned sectors under the traditional employment system (the so-called Dan Wei in Chinese) during the period of the planned economy in China. However, the end of this system of nearby housing provision, which came with the 1978 reform and open-up process, largely destroyed what was quite a tight job-housing balance and increased the frequency and distance of the journey to work. However, they did not at any stage build urban fabric that was automobile dependent but continued to build dense, high-rise-based cor-

Chinese villages, towns and cities have always been very dense. There are various theories about why density is accepted in some cultures and not others, for example, Anglo-Saxon culture has a long history of anti-density tradition which has been passed on to New World cities [6]. The theories about density in Chinese cities

• Military history: The need to have walled cities for security meant that a more

• Religion: Confucianism has a strong emphasis on community responsibilities that build networks of close dependence within and between families.

• Economy: The reality of Chinese economic history is that they have built very big centres of economic wealth based on trading textiles, handicrafts and cultural activity that could only work efficiently if it was intensively conducted.

Together these theories suggest that the Chinese economy depended on these big cities that were made of traditional walking city fabric, highly dense and mixed for many centuries, rather than being a set of low-density rural villages based around

These various traditions and planning paradigms have resulted in the typical Chinese urban form. The central city of both Beijing and Shanghai is still a very dense urban environment of close to 250 persons per ha (characteristic of walking city fabric). The whole city, together with all its other component parts, is also getting denser despite the "urban sprawl" in outlying areas. The urban density of the whole city is more than 50 persons/ha, which is typical of European transit-oriented regions. The old walking city centres and the transit-oriented linear form of urban development together with dense land use patterns facilitate the development of public transport systems as well as walking and cycling in Beijing and Shanghai. However, especially in the superdense city centres where there is continuous

**286**

agriculture.

rebuilding at higher densities, these areas are becoming more and more unsuitable for cars but at the same time are beyond the affordability of most citizens.

This is not just an issue in Chinese cities as the revival of the walking and transit city fabric in most developed cities is also associated with major issues surrounding equity. The newer urban areas in outlying areas created in the last 20 years to provide more affordable housing are more automobile dependent but are still nothing like the sprawling suburbs of American and Australian cities. These areas in Chinese cities are well served now by fast metro systems as well as having considerably more local services and work; however, they are clearly going to have more car use than the traditional areas and will need to find new ways of dealing with this. For example, the lowest densities are the outer suburbs in Beijing, but even here these are above 25 persons/ha, which is the high end of auto city fabric. These areas do not go down to typical auto city densities of 7–20 persons/ha or so, but they will still need to continue to minimise such areas if they are to keep reducing their car use.

The same kind of urban fabric can be found in both cities examined; the key differences were much higher urban density in some districts of the central city and a more walkable form of urban development in Shanghai compared to Beijing. The urban density of both central cities is similarly more than 200 persons/ha. However, the urban density of the whole city and suburb areas is higher in Shanghai than in Beijing. This is perhaps due to Beijing's scattered urban areas around the ring roads. Some districts of the central city of Shanghai are superdense with more than 600 persons/ha urban density (like Huangpu, Luwan, Jing'an and Hongkou), while the highest urban density in Beijing is around 300 persons/ha. Shanghai's superdense urban form results in the dominance of walking and nonmotorised transport modes in the whole city.
