73574 Urban Accessibility Planning Support Systems With a case study in Wuhan, China Background and Context cation of a large employer from the downtown area to a city’s suburban fringes, all using the same tool and #EEGUUKDKNKV[ KU C HWPFCOGPVCN OGCUWTG QH VJG DGPGƂVU measured with the same metrics. Several policy sce- QH WTDCP NKHG +P GUUGPEG KV OGCUWTGU VJG GPF DGPGƂV narios along these lines of particular pertinence for the of the integrated transportation and land use system: pilot city of Wuhan were analyzed as part of this study. how many destinations (generally jobs but also shops, schools, entertainment, and recreation facilities) can Accessibility metrics that consider both the ease be accessed in a given time using a given mode of of movement on the transport system and the cor- transport. Increasing accessibility – bringing people, responding number of destinations reached are not opportunities and goods within easy reach of each entirely new (refer to Box 1). What has changed in re- other – has always been the fundamental role of cities. cent years is that increasingly powerful spatial analysis tools (GIS) have become more prevalent and common In the past, policy makers often analyzed the transport RNCEG s CNNQYKPI HQT C OQTG RTCEVKECN CPF ƂPG ITCKPGF system using metrics that focused on mobility – the analysis of these issues. The spread of GIS has also ease of movement in a city. The most prominent of allowed for greater use of high quality visualizations these metrics is congestion, often expressed as the ra- that can be more readily used and understood by plan- tio of road speeds between congested and uncongest- ners, policy makers, and the general public. The rapid ed conditions. A recent Brookings Institution report FGXGNQROGPV QH VJGUG VQQNU KU C DGPGƂV HQT CNN VJQUG on accessibility aptly summarizes the shortcomings of interested in understanding the complex interactions this metric in analyzing the performance of the urban that take place in cities. transport-land use system. Consider a comparison between Manhattan (the heart of New York City) and Manhattan, Kansas, a small town. The New York metro area has some of the worst congestion in the country – travel speeds in Manhattan, Kansas are at least 37% faster than comparable speeds in the New York metro area at peak hour. However, because of the incredibly high density of jobs in Manhattan – a commuter there could reach 1.3 million jobs in a half hour commute, compared to 64,000 for an equivalent drive in Manhat- tan, Kansas (Levinson and Istrate, 2011). Clearly, using mobility metrics that focus on travel speeds alone tends to exclude a crucial component of urban system dynamics – the interactions between the land use functions and the transport systems in a city. Accessibility metrics offer an improved way to analyze Aerial view of bridge over the Yangtze river in Wuhan these interactions, allowing for integrated analysis source: The China Perspective.com of the land use-transport system. In concrete terms, accessibility analysis can help understand the implica- This project is the latest in a series of research efforts tions of a new road, a new transit system, or the relo- that the Bank has supported in recent years that focus ESMAP Urban Accessibility 1 on measuring accessibility in Chinese cities, of which the poor, these tools can help highlight critical invest- 2 are highlighted in Box 1. First, the World Bank ment or policy reform needs in client cities. supported analytical work that compares pedestrian access to jobs and commercial opportunities in the The tools also allow for more in depth analysis of is- central business districts of Beijing, London and New sues crucial to long term environmental sustainability York. This comparison is simple but powerful, and has that now forms a central element of the global (and been used to illustrate the importance of integrating World Bank) agenda. In particular, these tools can as- urban design with public transport systems to planners sess how, where, and when public transport systems and decision-makers in several Chinese cities. provide a service that is competitive with automo- biles. To help promote the use of these lower emitting Another piece of analytical work supported by the transport modes, accessibility tools allow the analysis World Bank assessed the quality of pedestrian access of scenarios of both transport and land use change (for to the Jinan Bus Rapid Transit system. example, new zoning regulations or a new express bus service) that can address this spatial mismatch in a This document is a brief summary of the latest work level of detail previously unavailable. completed in this series. The document provides a description of a pilot project in Wuhan, China to dem- For the rapidly growing cities of the developing world onstrate the value of accessibility metrics in the urban (including but not limited to China, where this work planning decision making process, including a descrip- was piloted), using accessibility measures to under- tion of the tools used and policy lessons generated. stand the role that land use and transport dynamics The primary purpose of the exercise was to demon- can have on the economic, social and environmental strate the practical applications of these tools for use life of the city will be a powerful new tool. This study in understanding transport/land use dynamics in World also goes one step further, using accessibility metrics Bank client cities. in combination with a dynamic model of land use and transport that allows for the analysis of how current These tools allow for a deeper understanding of the VTGPFU RQNKEKGU CPF RNCPU YKNN KPƃWGPEG CEEGUUKDKNKV[ KP connections between urban residents and employ- future years. Given growing populations, incomes, and ment opportunities by different modes of transport or, motorization levels, the urgency of the global sustain- looking in the opposite direction; between business ability agenda, and the irreversible nature of urban locations and their potential clients. This can help development, understanding the accessibility implica- highlight, for example, a spatial mismatch between tions of current trends may be more crucial than it has low income residents and jobs within reach by public ever been. The new class of tools presented in this transport within a reasonable time threshold. Given the paper help provide the means of understanding and crucial role that access to economic opportunity plays addressing these issues. in economic development and improving the lives of Box 1: Previous World Bank work on Accessibility in Chinese Cities Pedestrian Accessibility: Comparing Commercial Districts in Beijing, London, and New York City While planners agree that transit-oriented urban design is essential to attract those who have a choice in using public transport, it is not always easy to illustrate the concept of pedestrian accessibility to city leaders. Research by Torres et al. (2010), which was developed to illustrate this concept, shows the importance of EQQTFKPCVKPI WTDCP FGUKIP YKVJ RWDNKE VTCPURQTV D[ NQQMKPI CV C DCUKE CEEGUUKDKNKV[ KPFKECVQT VJG PWODGT QH LQDU CPF USWCTG HGGV QH EQOOGTEKCN ƃQQTURCEG CEEGUUKDNG within a 10 or 20-minute walking radius of a major public transit station in the city’s central commercial or central business district. Data was gathered in three OGVTQRQNKVCP CTGCU $GKLKPI .QPFQP CPF 0GY ;QTM UGG ƂIWTGU  2000 600 The study demonstrated that a city with design characteristics 1800 like midtown Manhattan provides a much more accessible 1600 500 1400 urban environment than a city with the design characteristics of 1200 400 Thousands Thousands Beijing, which has fewer and wider roads, large superblocks, 1000 300 800 and widely spaced buildings set back from the road. The study 600 200 highlighted the need to consider the following aspects when 400 100 designing an urban area plan for high accessibility: 200 0 0 (a) high density land use with high-rises built close together 10 min NYC London Beijing 20 min 10 min NYC London Beijing 20 min D C FGPUG ITKF PGVYQTM YKVJ UWHƂEKGPV UGEQPFCT[ TQCFU CPF small city blocks and Left: Number of Jobs Accessed within 10 or 20 Minutes of Walking. Right: Commercial Areas Accessed within 10 and 20 Minutes of Walking (in 1,000 square meters). (c) a pedestrian-friendly environment source: Torres-Montoya et al. 2010. 2 ESMAP Urban Accessibility Box 2 - Accessibility indicators and applications In a highly dynamic globalized economy, There are three important reasons why plan- locations, typically on a macro-level such as adequate access to spatially and temporally ners should move away from merely focusing 6TCHƂE #PCN[UKU