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Monday, August 13, 2012

Impact Assessment of Sustainable Public Transportation System on Quality of Life in Tehran

by Pooya Joodi, Mostafa Momeni, Hanieh Shams Kooshki, and Hamid Azizi

Quality of life Indicates the satisfaction of people about living conditions, and in sustainable urban development, continuity of citizen’s life with social welfare is considered. Quality of life in cities and approaches related to sustainable urban development are associated together. In recent years, increasing use of vehicles in major cities has had many effects on citizen’s quality of life. In this case, large cities in developing countries such as Tehran are faced with more problems than modern cities. One of the impressive aspects of urban sustainable development is using sustainable public transportation system. So, the development of public transportation as a sustainable approach not only encourages people to make use of it, but also it is on the agenda for policy makers and city managers to enhance and make it sufficient for the city’s demand. This paper will assess the impact of the use of sustainable public transportation systems on citizen’s quality of life in Tehran by using indicators such as security, health, citizen’s costs, and so on. Among the existing public transportation systems in Tehran, the subway and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) systems are chosen to be assessed, because of their important function in this city. In the field, needed Information are obtained from two sources, first from available data in the relevant organizations and the second from people's opinions. The results of this assessment indicates the impact of these two public transportation systems on each of the indicators and the role they play to enhance citizen’s quality of life.


Teheran metro

more about Tehran:

Changes in population settlement pattern in urban system of Tehran province (1966 to 2006)

IMPROVING THE SERVICE QUALITY, SUSTAINABILITY, AND EFFICIENCY OF MASS PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION SYSTEMS (WITH PARTICULAR REFERENCE TO TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT IN IRANIAN CITIES)

Evaluating integration between public transportation and pedestrian-oriented urban spaces in two main metro stations of Tehran

Tehran's "Bike House" Shines Green

A GIS-based Traffic Control Strategy Planning at Urban Intersections

Governance of Tehran City - Region: Challenges and Trends

URBAN SPRAWL AND CLIMATIC CHANGES IN TEHRAN

Socio-spatial Obstacles of Urban Sustainability in Historic Center of Cities in Iran

by Mir Saeed Moosavi

The last decade has witnessed growing attention and speculation on the implications of sustainability taking doctrine for urban life. But, less attention has been paid to constraints and threats regarding sustainability in urban spaces in historic centers of cities, especially in developing countries like Iran. Only very recently, both the academic literature and the managerial body have started to scrutinize the ways in which sustainability can be related to and achieved in urban spaces of historic center of city. Besides, with rapid growth of urbanization in the world and increasing demand for modern and technologic life, pressure on cities and especially their historic centers will continue to mount leading to socio-spatial deficiencies in urban spaces. These deficiencies are all major obstacles for achievement of sustainability from an urban point of view. This paper overviews and examines the obstacles and challenges regarding implications of socio-spatial characteristics of urban environment in historic center of cities in Iran and is an attempt to analyze diverse challenges and contradictions regarding integration of contemporary urban life into environments and spaces in historic center of city in Iran.


Yazd
more about urban Iran:

An investigation of urban systems using entropy and elasticity measures: case study of North Region of Iran

Changes in population settlement pattern in urban system of Tehran province (1966 to 2006)

Abadan: planning and architecture under the Anglo- Iranian Oil Company

Tehran and the challenges of a metropolis in the millennium

Urban Ecological landscape of Tehran

Earthquake Management in Iran A compilation of literature on earthquake Management

THE ROLE OF PHYSICAL IDENTITY OF CITY IN URBAN SUSTAINABILITY (THE CASE STUDY: YAZD,IRAN)

The Mechanism of Transformation of Shiraz City from Past to Present

Friday, August 10, 2012

China’s Hangzhou Public Bicycle: Understanding Early Adoption and Behavioral Response to Bikesharing

by Susan A. Shaheen, Hua Zhang, Elliot Martin, and Stacey Guzman

Over the past 20 years, China has experienced a steady decline in bicycle use. To address this trend, China’s central and local government for urban transportation created Public Transit Priority to encourage public transport initiatives. As part of this effort, the government of the city of Hangzhou launched Hangzhou Public Bicycle in 2008. This service allows members to access a shared fleet of bicycles. As of March 2011, Hangzhou Public Bicycle operated 60,600 bicycles with 2,416 fixed stations in eight core districts. To understand factors leading to bikesharing adoption and barriers to adoption, the authors conducted an intercept survey in Hangzhou between January and March 2010. Two separate questionnaires were issued to bikesharing members and nonmembers to identify key differences and similarities between these groups. In total, 806 surveys were completed by 666 members and 140 nonmembers. The authors found that bikesharing was capturing modal share from bus transit, walking, autos, and taxis. Approximately 30% of members had incorporated bikesharing into their most common commute. Members indicated that they most frequently used a bikesharing station closest to either home (40%) or work (40%). These modal shifts suggested that bikesharing acted as both a competitor and a complement to existing public transit. Members exhibited a higher rate of auto ownership than nonmembers. This finding suggested that bikesharing was attractive to car owners. Recommendations for improving bikesharing in Hangzhou included adding stations and real-time bike and parking availability technologies, improving bike maintenance and locking mechanisms, and extending operational hours.


Hangzhou Bike Share Map
more about sustainable transportation in China:

Chinese bike-sharing dwarfs US and European programs

The bicycle's long way to China: The appropriation of cycling as a foreign cultural technique (1860-1941)

World’s largest bike-share system in China dwarfs popular U.S. program

Reclaiming the Streets on World Car Free Day

Chinese bike-sharing dwarfs US and European programs

Via Better Citites & Towns

The bike-sharing system in the southern Chinese city of Hangzhou makes even the most developed systems in the US and Europe look like small potatoes by comparison. The 51,500-bike system, in a city of almost 7 million people, averages 240,000 trips every day — and reaches peaks of 320,000 trips in a day.
A few quick lessons can be gleaned from this impressive program:
  • Use appropriate pricing incentives. In Hangzhou the first hour is free, the second hour is 1RMB (only 15 cents!), the third hour is 2RMB  (30 cents), and each hour after that is 3RMB (45 cents). 
  •  ...

P1010178  
more about China:

The bicycle's long way to China: The appropriation of cycling as a foreign cultural technique (1860-1941)

The Unsquared Circle of Old Shanghai

Towards a walkable city: the planning practice of Shenzhen, China

World’s largest bike-share system in China dwarfs popular U.S. program

Can Beijing regain its status as the world’s “bicycle kingdom”?