Eco-Cities and Green Transport

Huapu Lu

• Publisher: Elsevier
• Year: 2020
• Print ISBN: 9780128215166
• eBook ISBN: 9780128215173
• Topic: Technology & Engineering
• Subtopic: Environmental Management
• Index: Technology & Engineering

Eco-cities and Green Transport presents a systematic, uniform, and structured way to examine different cities at different scales in order to suggest unique solutions appropriate to each scale. The book examines city infrastructure and the built environment, transport system supply and demand, and transport behavior to offer innovative policy solutions for various transport modes. With end of chapter experiences and lessons summarized, the book provides an in-depth analysis of the advantages and disadvantages for transforming cities and their transport systems to meet residents current and future needs.The increasingly rapid growth of global urbanization requires cities to be built in an ecologically sustainable, energy efficient, and livable way. A critical component in achieving these goals is an urban transportation system that uses natural resources as reasonably as possible. The outcome of a ten-year data collection research effort by the author and his team, the book sheds new insights into these challenges using a thorough investigation of traffic systems in 20 cities from 13 countries throughout Asia, Europe, and the United States.- Summarizes the essential experiences of green transport projects from cities around the world- Analyzes projects using a consistent structure, allowing comparison of best practices and policy approaches- Overviews the latest sustainable urban transportation concepts, tools, and best practices

Chapter 1

Copenhagen, Denmark

Abstract

This chapter summarizes the experience of green transportation and eco-city construction and expounds the general situation of Copenhagen city, the history and policy of motorization development, urban structure and land use, the characteristics of transportation mode sharing, road network and public transportation, the construction of pedestrian transportation system in old urban areas, and the exploration and innovation of modern architectural design in the city. The chapter also focuses on the construction of the bicycle transportation system in Copenhagen.

Keywords

Bicycle system; Copenhagen; pedestrian system; eco-city; land use; motorization; green transportation

Chapter Outline

Outline

• 1.1 Overview of the city 1
• 1.2 Urban mobility development and motorization policy 2
• 1.3 Urban structure and land use 4
• 1.4 Characteristics of the mode split 4
• 1.5 Urban roads and public transit 5
• 1.6 Bicycle traffic system construction 7
  • 1.6.1 Construction of green corridors for bicycles 8
  • 1.6.2 “Lifted” bicycle lanes 9
  • 1.6.3 Dedicated signal lights and special waiting areas for bicycles 9
  • 1.6.4 Construction of bicycle parking spaces 10
  • 1.6.5 Integration of bicycles and buses 11
  • 1.6.6 Public bicycle rental system 11
• 1.7 Pedestrian traffic system in the old town 11
• 1.8 Exploration and innovation of the modern architectural design 13
  • 1.8.1 8-TALLET 13
  • 1.8.2 Pursuing the individualized design of architecture 15
  • 1.8.3 Emphasis on landscape construction after deindustrialization 19
  • 1.8.4 Protection of the traditional architecture and humanistic landscape in the old town 20
• 1.9 Summary of the green transport and eco-city construction experience in Copenhagen 22
• References 23
• Further reading 23

1.1 Overview of the city

Copenhagen is the capital, largest city, and largest sea port of the Kingdom of Denmark, and is also the largest city in Nordic countries. It is the home of the famous fairy-tale writer Andersen, a historical and cultural city, and the political, economic, and cultural center of Denmark. Hovedstaden is located in eastern Denmark, including Copenhagen city, Copenhagen county, Frederiksberg city, Frederiksberg county, Roskilde county, and Barnhdm region, etc. “Copenhagen city center” refers to the central city of Copenhagen (i.e., the old town), that is, the “Indre By” part of Fig. 1.1. “Copenhagen city” refers to the area of Copenhagen city center and its surrounding suburbs, all of which are shown in Fig. 1.1. “Copenhagen county” and “Copenhagen city” both belong to the region of Copenhagen, but do not overlap in administrative division. Copenhagen county is an aggregation of other small towns. Copenhagen city is the most active and representative city in the region of Copenhagen. Without special explanation, “Copenhagen” refers to “Copenhagen city” in the common sense in this book [1].

Figure 1.1 Map of Copenhagen city area. From http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copenhagen.

The areas, populations, and densities of Copenhagen’s regions are shown in Table 1.1. GDP statistics for different years in the region of Copenhagen are shown in Table 1.2.

Table 1.1

List of the populations, areas, and densities of Copenhagen [2].

	Region of Copenhagen	Copenhagen city	Copenhagen city center
Area (km^2)	2553.1	455.61	77.2
Population	1,736,889	1,230,728	562,379
Density (people/km^2)	680	2700	7280

Source: StatBank, Denmark. Data from http://www.statistikbanken.dk/BEF1A07.

Table 1.2

Changes to GDP in the region of Copenhagen [2].

Year	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011
Per capita GDP (ten thousand dollars)	6.32	6.47	6.69	6.86	6.58	7.14	7.11

1.2 Urban mobility development and motorization policy

Statistical data in 2010 show that the number of motor vehicles in Copenhagen was 2.1 million, with a private car ownership rate of 22.3%. According to the latest data from the Copenhagen Police Bureau in 2012, there were about 312,600 motor vehicles entering and leaving Copenhagen daily, accounting for only 14.9% of the total vehicle ownership in the city, which shows that the usage frequency is very low [2].

From 2000 to 2010, the number of motor vehicles in Copenhagen increased by 17% and the traffic volume in the region of Copenhagen increased by 8%, while the road traffic volume in the five basins area in the city center decreased by nearly 10%. This is inseparable from Copenhagen’s advocacy of “Green Transportation—by Bicycles” and its restrictive policy on motor vehicles [3].

In terms of motor vehicle policy, Copenhagen mainly adopts a restrictive approach. Despite the small motor vehicle traffic volume, the government continues to impel people to abandon private cars and switch to green modes of transportation such as public transport, bicycles, and walking. The restrictions on motor vehicles in Copenhagen are mainly reflected in two aspects: car purchase and parking.

As early as World War II, the Copenhagen government imposed a ban on car imports and maintained it for quite a long time after the war. Since the late 1970s, the Copenhagen government has lifted the tax on private car purchase, with car taxes roughly three times the car price [1].

For parking, the city governm...

Table of contents

• Cover image
• Title page
• Table of Contents
• Copyright
• Preface
• Chapter 1. Copenhagen, Denmark
• Chapter 2. Stockholm, Sweden
• Chapter 3. Singapore, Singapore
• Chapter 4. Curitiba, Brazil
• Chapter 5. Tokyo, Japan
• Chapter 6. Paris, France
• Chapter 7. Seoul, Korea
• Chapter 8. New York, United States
• Chapter 9. London, United Kingdom
• Chapter 10. Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Chapter 11. Munich, Germany
• Chapter 12. Madrid, Spain
• Chapter 13. San Francisco, United States
• Chapter 14. St. Petersburg, Russia
• Chapter 15. Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
• Chapter 16. Carmel, United States
• Chapter 17. Letchworth, United Kingdom
• Chapter 18. Malmo, Sweden
• Chapter 19. San Carlos, Brazil
• Chapter 20. Los Angeles, United States
• Index