From Better! Cities & Towns:
China is building the entire country around the automobile — making the same mistakes the US made in the last century only faster, warns urbanist Peter Calthorpe in a startling Foreign Policy article. China will pay in social costs and pollution, and the world will pay in carbon emissions, argues Calthorpe, who completed numerous designs in China, including a low-carbon plan for the nation.
In the last five years, China has built 20,000 miles of expressways, finishing the construction of 12 national highways a whopping 13 years ahead of schedule and at a pace four times faster than the United States built its interstate highway system …
China’s leaders have a limited window of opportunity to plan for prosperous, livable, low-carbon cities.
China may have built 20,000 miles of expressway at breakneck speeds but they also have the ability to relocate people, build public transit, bike sharing and implement congestion pricing without having to have the general population vote about it. I would argue that with cities like Guangzhou-winner of several public transit network awards, their situation looks less dire than in North America and Australia.
Meanwhile, China plans to build 25 new subway lines. http://www.canadianbusiness.com/article/97616–china-approves-25-subway-projects-in-new-move-to-stimulate-sluggish-economy
Note to China, make it 26, 溫哥華 Broadway.