Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
has been enriched for the new middle classes, with a greater range of cultural activities,
entertainment, fashion, consumerism, literature and personal interactions. A 'multiplex
urbanism' has been described, with urban centres as centres of production for the nation as
well as the world, and money directed towards municipal government via taxes and business
fees (Ma, 2009).
Within Scenario 4, the Jinan urban structure is purposively designed to support the use of
public transit (largely BRT) and walking and cycling. Clusters of high-density development
are developed along key axes, around an enhanced public transport network. Sprawl is contained
on the edge of the urban area, and the public realm is much improved for pedestrians and
cyclists. Jinan's 5-Year Plan (2011-2015) makes a start in focusing development in three new
districts, extending the existing urban area into a new western district, new eastern district
and to the river bank area in the north. The existing urban area is planned to become the
centre of the spring waters, together with the protection of historical and cultural sites, and it
will also act as the centre for retail, finance, education, research and health care. These three
new districts are currently suburban areas or rural areas under the administration of Jinan.
The construction of the BRT and railway will form the spine to these areas.
The areas will each have a different focus: the new western district will include higher-
end business and financial services, exhibition, cultural, creative and travel and leisure industries,
taking advantage of the close proximity to the high-speed rail hub and the cultural and
educational resources in the urban centre. The new eastern district is envisaged as an area of
high-technology industries, high-end manufacturing, strategic and emerging industries and
business exhibition, administrative offices, culture and sports. The National Games were held
in Jinan in 2009 in the eastern district, with many sport facilities and exhibition facilities
constructed; Jinan has also moved its municipal government offices to this area. To the north
of the existing urban area, along the Xiaoqing River, Jinan plans to build a river bank district
with leisure and tourism facilities, commercial and residential buildings and logistics uses. In
the years after 2015, Jinan is likely to expand further in these three directions into current
rural areas administrated by Jinan. The transport network will develop from the existing urban
centre, to the southwest, east and north, hence there is a 'public transport spine' for all the
new development plans and existing urban centre (
Figure 6.19
).
High-speed rail
China has the world's most extensive high-speed rail (HSR) network with about 8,358 km of
routes in service (as of January 2011), including 2,197 km of rail lines with top speeds of
and 45,000 km by the end of 2015 (
Figure 6.25
)
, but these plans have been delayed following
the HSR accident near Wenzhou in July 2011. Even though there is controversy over the
necessity of having an expensive HSR system, the Chinese government believes that the system
can promote economic growth by increasing the transport capacity and linking labour markets.
The view is that HSR stimulates the growth of urban centres and limits sprawl, alleviates oil
dependency, and reduces GHG emissions by shifting from oil to electricity, in particular
electricity generated by renewable energy. It also reflects the rapid modernisation of the
Chinese national transport system.
The Beijing-Shanghai HSR runs at an average speed of about 300 km/h, cutting the journey
time between the two cities to less than 5 hours. Currently, a rail trip on the 1,318-km
