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By 2050 there will be 6.9 billion people living in urban areas, accounting for 70% of the global population. The most developed nations will have urbanisation rates as high as 90%. Not only will more people be living in cities, but the largest cities will be getting larger. In their analysis in Chapter 2, Kii and Doi estimate that there may be as many as 17 megacities, with more than 10 million inhabitants, in China by 2050. Even so, the bulk of urban population growth is likely to be in smaller cities.

Purpose – In this chapter, issues involved in trying to reduce car use in urban areas are examined, drawing on experience in Britain, and the possible lessons for China are considered.

Methodology – The advantages and disadvantages of the car are considered to explain the growth in car use in Britain. The political difficulties of reducing urban car use are discussed. A variety of methods of reducing car use by changing travel behaviour are described, including charging for the use of the road, fuel pricing, control of car parking and alternative methods of accessing the car such as car clubs and car sharing. The evidence on the effectiveness of measures to reduce car use is examined. The potential for reducing car use in China is then considered.

Findings – Most of the initiatives for reducing car use in Britain have focused on reducing congestion rather than actually reducing car use. The largest initiative to do this has been the London Congestion Charging scheme; this was successful, unlike proposals for some other cities, for a variety of reasons. However, while there have been many initiatives in Britain, there is little systematic evidence of their effectiveness.

Practical implications – The chapter discusses some of the political difficulties involved in trying to reduce car use and then illustrates these, particularly for congestion charging using the example of London.

Value of the chapter – The main value of this chapter is to illustrate the range of possible approaches to reducing car use, drawing upon evidence from various cities showing some of the ways of overcoming the barriers to implementation.

This book brings together a number of the papers presented at a workshop hosted by Tongji University, Shanghai, on the implications of green urban transport in China under the auspices of the World Conference on Transport Research Society in September 2010. It is in five sections. Section 1 includes this introductory chapter, which summarises the content of the rest of the book, Chapter 2 is on trends in city size, and Chapter 3 provides an overview of Chinese transport policy. Section 2 considers approaches to policy formulation, drawing on experience in Europe and Asia. Section 3 focuses on passenger transport and traffic, while Section 4 covers freight and logistics. Section 5 draws together the principal conclusions of the 15 papers.

JingWei BIAN is Director of Urban Construction Environment and Resources Committee of Xiamen Municipal People's Congress. He graduated from Tongji University with doctor's degree in urban planning and design. He is Professorate Senior Urban Planner and National Registered Urban Planner. He is a part-time Professor at Xiamen University, Huaqiao University and Jimei University. He has served as President of Xiamen Urban Planning and Design Institute and Deputy Director of Xiamen Planning Bureau. His main research interests are the urban planning theory and design, urban traffic planning, urban and rural planning management and regulations. He has published 4 books and over 50 papers on these topics.

Purpose – Urban transport policies are about to undergo major changes. In cities where, a few years ago, highway projects were favoured (i.e. the first stage of accessibility), other priorities are taking shape. Many large cities have opted for the development of public transit (i.e. the second stage of accessibility). Car travel would seem no longer to have any priority, despite the fact that it still accounts for bulk of transportation.

Methodology – This chapter sheds light on these new tendencies by referring to the long-established concept of accessibility, and especially gravity-based accessibility, which is enjoying a new lease of life. Introducing accessibility measures within GIS tools helps us to understand why public policies are now addressing new challenges.

Findings – The third stage of accessibility is characterised by a lower role given to individual time gains. A new approach is coming that pursues the collective interest by optimising land use.

Research limitations/implications – In order to have the best understanding of what is at stake within the third stage of accessibility; researchers have to propose map-based tools showing the concrete impacts of accessibility changes.

Practical and social implications – Those maps can show that in some cases, even transit speed can lead to some perverse effects like urban dispersion, longer distances commuted and even increased travel time budget.

Originality – Sustainability issues are underlining the fact that accessibility improvements have to be obtained rather by denser catchment areas of trips than by increasing the size of the catchment areas.