The Influence of Built Environment onWalking Behavior: Measurement Issues, Theoretical Considerations, Modeling Methodologies and Chinese Empirical Studies - Space-Time Integration in Geography and GIScience - page 68

are associated with 65-80 % less travel energy use than the “superblock” (Jiang
2010 ). The energy reduction is probably due to the mixed land uses, implicit traffic
calming measures and parking restrictions. Today, mid-rise and high-rise residential
towers have gradually replaced neighborhoods with unique local characteristics. To
improve automobile accessibility using the transportation infrastructure investment,
only the motor-vehicle ways have been widened and extended, while sidewalks and
cycle tracks have been narrowed in most cases (Yang and Gakenheimer 2007 ).
Nevertheless, historical design principles could be revisited to inspire China's
policymakers and urban planners to establish guidelines for new neighborhood
forms in future urban development.

5.5.2.3 Potential for Longitudinal Design Studies

Economic growth is the major driving force of development. In addition to the urban
growth and plan reform movements, land use pattern changes, transportation and
design occur almost every day in China. Relocation is common in Chinese cities,
from inner cities to the outskirts, freely or as a result of enforcement, with goals
of housing ownership, good living conditions and physical proximity to workplace
(Cervero and Day 2008 ). Examining longitudinal design in China to track movers
and conducting a before-and-after survey of their walking behavior will provide not
only fresh experiences, but also rigorous evidence for the built environment's causal
influence on walking behavior.

5.5.2.4 Transit-Oriented Development May Be the Future

Given China's large population and limited land size, the ideal choices for
urban China are compact and transit-friendly cities rather than American-style
automobile-oriented urban landscaping (J. Yang and Gakenheimer 2007 ). Cervero
and Day ( 2008 ) suggest that TOD holds considerable promise for placing rapidly
suburbanizing Chinese cities on more sustainable pathways (Cervero and Day
2008 ). Opportunities for creating sustainable city forms by bundling land use
investments and TOD in large Chinese cities are quite substantial and largely
untapped, and to date, China has not formed this interconnection (Pan et al. 2007 ).
Today, increasing numbers of large, rail-served Chinese cities consider TOD an
alternative form of urbanism that reduces over-reliance on private automobiles.
Many new communities developed along TOD corridors could become veritable
bedroom communities and deserve more attention. Even if the TOD concept is
favorable, the kind of TOD we should pursue remains an urgent question (Zhang
2007 ). This cannot be answered without empirical investigation in the local
context.