The concept of low-carbon community transportation planning
A community is a fundamental unit constituting a city, closely related to the development and transformation of the city. Many traditional community layouts exhibit overly distinct boundaries in urban functional zones, resulting in mismatched urban functions and imbalances between work and residence. This leads to a significant amount of cross-regional commuting traffic. Some traditional communities are often too large, catering primarily to car-based travel, relying heavily on high-emission vehicles, and giving little consideration to the construction of diversified services within walking distance. This inconvenience affects residents who primarily rely on walking for their daily commute. Additionally, outdated community planning often renders the original plans inadequate to meet the current needs of static traffic.
Compared to traditional communities, the concept of low-carbon community planning aims to achieve a balance between work and residence through well-thought-out planning. It addresses the issue of residents working close to their homes, plans transportation systems effectively using Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) models, enhances the utilization of public transportation, reduces the use of high-carbon emitting vehicles, coordinates transfers between slow-moving traffic and public transportation stops, improves the environmental quality of non-motorized and walking travel within low-carbon communities, utilizes energy-efficient and environmentally friendly transportation modes, and employs clean energy to reduce energy consumption and emissions. Furthermore, adjusting the density of the entire region preserves natural environments to the maximum extent, increases green carbon sinks, optimizes urban landscapes, and creates breathing spaces within the city(quotes from medcom.com.pl).
01 Low-Carbon Community Planning Strategies
Integrated Strategy for Traffic and Land Use Coordination:
Fully consider the characteristics and layout of business districts, analyze future diverse traffic demand characteristics, coordinate facility supply, establish a safe, continuous, function-rich, and diverse traffic network and hubs, guide land layout, and ensure integrated coordination of traffic and land use.
Mutually Reinforcing Strategy for Traffic and Urban Quality:
Harness the guiding role of traffic in urban activities, vitality, and quality. Improve living quality by enhancing traffic functions and prioritize traffic as a crucial component of a high-quality city, boosting industrial development vitality.
Harmonious Coexistence Strategy for Traffic and Ecological Environment:
Integrate traffic planning with natural conditions such as wetlands, water systems, and green spaces to promote the harmonious coexistence of urban traffic and the natural environment. Minimize the environmental impact of traffic by using green transportation, fostering symbiotic development between people and the environment.
02 Low-Carbon Community Planning Concepts
Constructing a Mixed Land Use Model with Balanced Work-Residence Proximity:
Emphasize mixed land use in planning to achieve a balance between employment and residence, reducing residents’ reliance on motorized vehicles. The mode and destination choices for traffic travel are closely related to the urban spatial structure. Land use within the low-carbon business community should mix employment, residential space, and facilities providing services to residents within walking distance. Improve the walking environment through road paving, landscaping, and greenery to enhance the environmental quality of urban spaces, reducing the proportion of motorized vehicle travel within the region.
Managing the Relationship between Community Traffic and Urban Background Traffic is Key to Planning:
From the community’s perspective, “separating through traffic and purifying traffic within the business district” is an ideal choice. From the city’s traffic system perspective, solely diverting through traffic may disrupt the connectivity of the regional traffic system. The basic strategy should ensure the functionality of the urban traffic system and enhance the transfer function of the main entry and exit nodes of the business district to meet its rapid traffic demand while maintaining the functionality of the existing urban skeleton traffic system.
“Public Transit Priority” is the Ideal Choice for Developing Low-Carbon Transportation:
Considering the community’s location in the city and the magnitude of background traffic, establishing a traffic system dominated by public transportation (including rail transportation) helps improve regional traffic capacity, support the development of high-density business functional areas, and is an ideal choice at the traffic strategy level.
“High-Density, Homogeneous” Road Network Form Favors Community Long-Term Development:
From the perspective of traffic needs in different communities, the primary requirement is accessibility of the road network, and the demand for rapid distribution should rely on the surrounding city’s skeleton traffic network. A high-density road network provides excellent accessibility and a micro-circulation system within the community, creating a conducive atmosphere for diverse business and living activities. Increasing the density of branch roads and designing high-density small blocks benefits non-motorized traffic. In commercial areas of business districts, the road spacing should not exceed 200 meters, and in residential areas, the road spacing should not exceed 300 meters.
Emphasizing the Planning and Implementation of Slow-Moving Systems is a Vital Means to Improve Community Traffic Efficiency:
With the widespread use of cars, which has become the main focus of traffic planning and design, the rightful interests of slow-moving traffic have gradually been affected, influencing the efficiency of the entire traffic system. Creating a favorable cycling environment by combining riverbank greening, connecting it with other rail transportation and rapid surface transportation stations to form a zero-transfer cycling and public transit system. The planning and implementation of slow-moving traffic systems play a crucial role in forming and guiding reasonable traffic patterns in the region, improving system operational efficiency, and constructing a humanized landscape(sources from medcom).
Building Infrastructure for Electric Vehicle Charging and Swapping Stations to Promote the Development of Clean Energy Vehicles:
With the continuous development of electric vehicles, planning and constructing charging and swapping stations will enter an era of scale and networking. Planning for charging and swapping stations within the community should consider the current situation of the power distribution network in the community, combined with the future development trends of electric vehicles. Under the guidance of overall urban planning and road network planning, the distribution of charging and swapping stations should align with the distribution of electric vehicle traffic density and charging demand, meeting the service radius requirements of charging and swapping stations.
Enhancing Carbon Sink Functions:
Strengthen the construction of carbon sink systems to maximize the reduction of carbon dioxide content in the atmosphere. This involves expanding the area of carbon sinks, utilizing wetland resources along rivers and creating riverside parks and natural reserves. Simultaneously, establish artificial wetlands to treat sewage. Improve the quality of carbon sinks by planting strong carbon-fixing and oxygen-releasing plants such as Quercus acutissima, Weeping Willow, and roughleaf trees in high-carbon emission areas like highway medians, industrial park protective forests, urban road green belts, and street green spaces