ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the situation in urban China where rapid economic growth is perceived as a threat to global efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions. China is a major player in world carbon emissions control as it emits about a quarter of the total global emissions. Cities in the countryside are growing and changing in form, as they develop rings of new suburbs and networks of new transport infrastructure. Travel behavior and transport opportunities in Chinese cities are changing fast. Urbanization in China is accompanied by the opening of transport opportunities to the wider population. This chapter reviews the existing literature on low carbon cities and urban spatial form, aiming to lay down the research framework guiding the empirical study. It then reports the empirical findings with regard to planning parameters and household carbon emissions in the neighborhoods. A rapid increase in academic research and policy practices on the low carbon city has occurred over the years.
