Impacts of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) on the Travel Behavior of Its Residents in Shenzhen, China
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Impacts of Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) on the Travel Behavior of its Residents in Shenzhen, China by Nuo Jin Qi A thesis presented to the University of Waterloo in fulfillment of the thesis requirement of the degree of Masters of Arts in Planning Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, 2017 © Nuo Jin Qi 2017 Author’s Declaration I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this thesis. This is a true copy of the thesis, including any required final revisions, as accepted by my examiners. I understand that my thesis may be made electronically available to the public. ii Abstract Rapid urbanization in cities across the world has generated a number of issues including urban sprawl, segregation of land uses, traffic congestion and negative environmental impacts. Transit- oriented development (TOD) has been considered as the best urban development strategy and planning tool to approach these challenges. It is widely adopted as the urban development guide by planners and decision makers in North America and all over the world. TOD has been practiced by many different cities across the world since the early 1990s, however, its concept and practices in China are still at its experimental stage. The study identifies that implementation of TOD in existing high-density urban spaces is a major challenge in China. A common goal of any successful TOD is to reduce automobile dependency, and encourage the use of public transit (e.g. subway, LRT, bus) and other sustainable travel modes (e.g. walking and cycling). This thesis aims to explore the effectiveness of TOD practices in Shenzhen by assessing the impact to the residents’ travel behavior at the neighbourhood level. Two TOD practices have been selected to be further analyzed in this study – Grand Theatre Station and Houhai Station. Grand Theatre Station is located within the old urban centre, and Houhai station is considered to be a more conventional TOD design which is located in a reclamation area. To conduct the analysis, data is collected from Shenzhen subway authorities, field observations and survey. All the information is visualized using maps and descriptive statistics. The result showed that both sites have experienced a significant growth in subway ridership since the implementation of TOD. Furthermore, TOD practice at Grand Theatre Station is significantly more effective comparing to Houhai Station. With further analysis of the differences between the two cases, three key qualities have been summarized to provide different insights for planners to iii improve TOD practices in China, they include “rich mix of residential and commercial types”, “walkability/connectivity”, as well as “quality of subway services”. These qualities will be further explored in the study. Keywords: Transit-oriented Development (TOD); Travel Behavior; Field Observation; Travel Survey; Descriptive Statistical Analysis; Shenzhen; China iv Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my advisor Professor Joe Qian for bringing me into this dynamic program and for his continuous support of my study and research. He consistently allowed this paper to be my own work, but steered me in the right direction when needed. Besides my advisor, I would like to thank my committee member Professor Alana Boland of the Department of Geography & Planning at the University of Toronto. She was always there to provide helpful suggestions whenever I ran into trouble spot or had a question about my research or writing. I am gratefully indebted to her for her very valuable comments on this thesis. My sincere thank also goes to my friends in Shenzhen who helped me during data collection: Hao Liu, Jia Hui Zhang, Le Wu, Zhi Nan Chen, Shao Bin Guan, … It’s impossible to list all the names. I would like to acknowledge the support offered by the School of Planning at University of Waterloo during my study here. I am so grateful to have been part of this program and would love to keep contributing to the school in any possible opportunities given in the future. I would like to thank all my friends there for all the encouragements. Last but not the least, I must express my very profound gratitude to my parents Wei Wei Qi and Hui Min Gong, to my brother Seven Qi and to my girlfriend Lily Huang for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout the years of my study. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you. Nuo Jin Qi v Table of Contents List of Figures .................................................................................................................................................... viii List of Tables ....................................................................................................................................................... ix 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................... 1 2 Context .......................................................................................................................................................... 6 2.1 Subway-led TOD in Shenzhen ............................................................................................................. 8 3 Literature Review ........................................................................................................................................ 10 3.1 Transit-Oriented Development ........................................................................................................... 10 3.1.1 Background of transit-oriented development ................................................................................. 10 3.1.2 Defining transit-oriented development and its current condition ................................................... 11 3.1.3 Other TOD Practices ...................................................................................................................... 13 3.1.4 Typology for TOD ......................................................................................................................... 20 3.2 TOD in Chinese Cities ....................................................................................................................... 22 3.2.1 Background of TOD in China ........................................................................................................ 22 3.2.2 Defining TOD and its current condition in China .......................................................................... 27 3.2.3 Typology for TOD in China ........................................................................................................... 30 3.3 Travel Behavior and TOD .................................................................................................................. 33 3.4 Travel Behavior and TOD in Chinese Cities ...................................................................................... 36 3.5 Literature Gap .................................................................................................................................... 40 4 Methodology ............................................................................................................................................... 42 4.1 Approaches to the Research Questions .............................................................................................. 42 4.2 Study Areas ........................................................................................................................................ 43 4.2.1 Case 1: Grand Theatre Station ....................................................................................................... 45 4.2.2 Case 2: Houhai Station ................................................................................................................... 47 4.3 Research Methods .............................................................................................................................. 48 4.3.1 Secondary Data .............................................................................................................................. 48 4.3.2 Primary Data .................................................................................................................................. 49 5 Findings ....................................................................................................................................................... 53 5.1 Analysis of Secondary Data ............................................................................................................... 53 5.2 Analysis of Primary Data ................................................................................................................... 54 5.2.1 Field Observation ........................................................................................................................... 54 5.2.2 Questionnaire ................................................................................................................................. 70 5.3 Analysis of the Primary Data Using Chi Square Test and Cramer’s V Test ...................................... 83 5.3.1 Age and Travel Methods: ............................................................................................................... 83 5.3.2 Neighbourhoods and Travel Methods: ........................................................................................... 84 6 Discussion ..................................................................................................................................................