Reviving Bicycling in Beijing Neighborhood

Research Student: Maggie Wang

Bicycle use in Beijing has dropped from the mode share of 60% in 1986 to less than 20% in 2009. This 40-percentage points reduction fundamentally changes Beijing’s transportation away from a largely sustainable system. The dramatic decline in the “Kingdom of Bicycle” contrasts to and almost derides the effort of developing sustainable transportation system in Chinese cities. The trend is alerting. Is this decline an unavoidable consequence of economic development, income growth and car ownership increases, or is this due to the land and housing reform and the corresponding urban spatial structure changes? Is this because of the long-term neglect of walking and bicycling in transportation policies or even possibly the intentional design to prioritize motorized modes over walking and bicycling?

This research aims to survey Beijing residents in their bicycle use behavior, their concerns of and attitude towards bicycling, and their views on the government transportation policies to examine which above mentioned factors or any additional factors have contributed the decline; to review the transportation and land use policies and plans in the past fifty years to distinguish which part of the decline is unavoidable and which is not, and identify the key lessons and experiences in the policy making process; and to propose policy interventions that address people's concerns, improve physical and social environment for bicycling and revert (or at least slow) the trend of further decline of bicycle use in Beijing.