Guangzhou: a Chinese metropolis doing it differently
ITDP, an international nonprofit that works with cities on projects to reduce greenhouse gases and improve the quality of urban life, named Guangzhou the winner of its 2011 Sustainable Transport Award at a ceremony Monday night in Washington, D.C.
Guangzhou clinched the prize, said Jessica Morris, senior program director for ITDP, largely because it surpassed expectations.
The bus rapid transit system, which opened in February 2010, “carries an awful lot of people,” as many as 800,000 a day, she said, making it one of the world’s largest.
Perhaps more importantly, the new bus system “hooks up seamlessly” with rail as well as “idyllic” bicycle paths and bike-sharing stations, and helps to make the city “more livable.”
ITDP has been working closely with Guangzhou to build out the bus and bike infrastructure, she said, and the city’s recent transportation efforts make it a place that “goes against the idea of a burgeoning Chinese metropolis that’s only serving the economy.”
Experts say that easing congestion and reducing pollution from the transportation sector in China—with its increasingly urban and car-buying population—will require coordination of land-use planning, information technology, and mass-transit development, as well as cleaner vehicles.
By Valere Tjolle
Ian Jarrett
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