Urban Rail Transit and Its Impact on Beijing's Spatial Development

This report delves into the impact of rail transit on urban space development, using Beijing as a primary case study and comparing it with Tokyo and Paris. The introduction highlights the significant changes in transportation infrastructure, particularly rail transit, and its influence on spatial patterns, employment, and population distribution. The report analyzes the urban spatial structure and history of Beijing, including the development of its rail transit network and the evolution of its infrastructure. The study examines the influence of rail transit on urban space, considering factors such as network configuration, transport efficiency, and the impact on city life. The report also reviews the development of rail transit in Tokyo and Paris to provide a comparative analysis, evaluating urban planning and its effects on the cities' spatial organization and sustainability. The conclusion summarizes the findings and suggests future considerations regarding the relationship between rail transit and urban development, and how these factors influence the overall urban environment. This report focuses on the impact mechanism of rail transit on urban space development, examines the impact efficiency of urban rail transit on urban space development, and explores the gap between the development status of rail transit and urban demand.

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Table of Contents
1.0 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................3
2. CASE STUDY........................................................................................................5
2.1 Tokyo in japan...................................................................................................5
2.2 Paris...................................................................................................................5
3. BEIJING.................................................................................................................6
3.1 Urban spatial structure and history...................................................................6
3.2 Development of rail transit network.................................................................8
3.3 Influence of rail transit on urban space...........................................................10
4.0 OVERALL ANALYSIS IN TERMS OF CITY LIFE.......................................13
5.0 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE STATEMENT...............................................14
6.0 REFERENCES...................................................................................................15

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1.0 INTRODUCTION
In the Wake of the twentieth century, a dramatic change was experienced in
transportation, with massive investment taking place in the infrastructure. In
particular, the construction of rail transit such as the metro system and urban light rail,
thereby contributing significantly to the various developments in the city. For
instance, the constructions aside from reducing the commutation time of the urban
residents, It greatly changed the spatial patterns, the employment distributions, and
the populations (Levy, 2016). Critically analyzing from the perspective of an urban
planner, rail transportation is significant in minimizing the commutation speed of the
city dwellers but also presents some unique opportunities and challenges on
metropolitan development.
A direct example is the United States of America 2050, the European Union
initiative polycentric metropolitan strategy, as well as several Asian nations which
view the rail transport as an essential factor in promoting sustainable growth in the
metropolitan regions. In a global perspective, the large scale high speed promotes
changes in the metropolis on a macro-level scale, while reshaping the look of the
urban ion a meso-level scale. Hence, the cross-regional transportation infrastructure is
key when it comes to regional cooperation as well as other administrative functions.
An instance also is china’s first five-year plan in the mid-twentieth century, which has
seen rail transport significantly advancing the nations industrialization process as well
as the tentative growth.
The already existing research has focused much more on the aspects such as
network configuration, transport efficiency, as well as job-housing spatial
relationship. For instance: with regards to the traffic analysis zones, frank and Pivo
described how a four-stage traditional transportation model predicts the traffic volume

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and traffic demand. Significantly, the major issues in this transportation model are to
enhance the mobility and the efficiency of the transport systems. In the years that
followed, more research was done based on the urban field, where scholars would
apply demographic data to come up with a simulation of both the current and future
travel behavioral. An analysis of the employment density data and the population, the
GIS technology support and the available census data was of great help in regards to
the transportation networks (Vuchic, 2017).
The literature of the present tends to lie on the side of traffic model
characteristics, network efficiency, and accessibility. Nonetheless, studies of the
social, spatial, and economic impacts of transportation comprehensively are still not
common. Against this background, this paper mainly focuses on the impact
mechanism of rail transit on urban space development, examine the impact efficiency
of urban rail transit on urban space development, and explore the gap between the
development status of rail transit and urban demand. It focuses on Beijing as a case
study, with a comparison of other cities that have deployed the rail transit system such
as Multicenter cluster space in japan, and Paris.

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2. CASE STUDY
2.1 Tokyo in japan
The public transport system in the greater Tokyo is mostly dominated by rail
transport network, with a listing of 158 lines, 5714.5 kilometers operational track, 48
operators, and 2210 substations. The management o the system is through a collection
of rail networks since each manager operates his network system. Approximately 40
million persons use rail transport daily, which amounts to 8.66 billion annually. In
terms of commuter rail ridership, it is very dense with 6 million persons annually per
line mile. However, cycling and walking are also common, in fact, more common
than other major cities globally, with private motorcycle and automobiles being the
secondary mode of transport (Liu, 2019).
In terms of urban space development:
Tokyo is a metropolitan with 23 wards governed by different cities. Its city has
a population close to 13 million persons which extends to 36 million persons, though
with a less population density per kilometers as compared to Paris and Manhattan. Its
urban planning is driven by a cycle of city destruction and rebuilding. Also, fire
outbreaks and earthquakes have influenced its planning and design. For instance; the
great Ginza fire lead to the construction of Tokyo town planning in 1888 and
subsequent planning, the great Kanto earthquake in 1923 which led to the
development of the city’s extensive rail system (Zhou & Gao, 2018)
2.2 Paris
Rail transit is the most frequent public transport means, with a total of 16 lines
and closely spaced stations (500 meters). The zones mainly dictate transportation
ratification. With zone 1 and 2 covering the capital while 3, 4, and 5 covering the
distant regions. The metro majorly is located underground with a total length of 214

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kilometers. The stations are 302 in number with 62 transfers between the lines.
Averagely, it carries 6 million passengers per day (Mayer & Trevien, 2017).
In terms of urban space development:
Paris is leading in the world rankings in terms of how it is managing its urban
space. This, in a way, helps them in promoting sustainability. It has combined the
mixed developments, commercial, leisure facilities, commercial, as well as a mixture
of residential facilities. However, this has, to some extent, affected the urban life,
which has since become quite expensive, with most people relocating to the sub-urban
areas (Moyano & Dobruszkes, 2017).
3. BEIJING
3.1 Urban spatial structure and history
Beijing is the capital city of china and has significantly contributed towards
the rapid development of the nation in terms of the cultural, political, educational, and
scientific and economic aspects. For over a decade, the nation’s gross domestic
product has at least registered a double-digit with a significant increase in government
revenues. The rapid growth has contributed largely towards change in the city’s
physical pattern. It has emanated from a perspective of a planned economy to a
market economy system where the already existing planning methodology and the
urban systems are integrated into the design (Yang, Quan,Yan & He, 2016).
Beijing is among the four municipalities in China, with coverage of 16400
square kilometers, with two counties and sixteen districts. Being the second-largest
city in China, it has a population of close to 14 million inhabitants with 80 percent of
this been permanent residents. Geographically, it is positioned on the north china
plain; however, It has been economically considered to be on the coastal zone. The
national economic developments strategy of 1980 has generated these major

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economic zones, with the major challenge being experienced as the gap exiting
between the rural and the urban development.
Despite the national economic strategy incorporating the regional
development, the spatial patterns have not had a chance on either the previous or
current urban planning. The distinctions below explain the current plan of Beijing
 History city core: Beijing has served as the capital city of China for nearly 800
years with a 62 square kilometer historic core. The 1.3 million population has
been influential in the transformation of the modern urban functions (Yang,
Liu, Zhou, Li & Sun, 2015.)
 Central built-up area: a 300 kilometer has been gradually developed around
the historic core since the mid-twentieth centuries. After establishing the
markets for land use in 1980, this region has undergone rapid development,
which has seen a change in the lives of most people in Beijing. On the outer
edges of this region, it has extended by 25%, with most of the industrial land
being converted to residential and commercial centers.
 Inner greenbelt: under the comprehensive plan of 1982, a greenbelt region
was established covering 300 square kilometers, which were aimed at
providing an adjacent open space and defining the edge of the central area.
However, this area has gradually decreased due to lack of proper development
agenda, with urban development encroaching the place, leaving barely 100
square kilometer space of open space
 Scattered districts: the 1982 comprehensive plan generated ten scattered
districts as inner-suburban development areas of which most of these regions
have remained as bedrock communities without proper development, public
transport, employment opportunities, and other services. The population was

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initially 200, 000 on each district, which has currently scaled up to 500,000.
 Satellite towns: 14 satellite towns were developed in support of the
development agenda of the city. However, the planned polycentric pattern
significantly neglected the influence of socio-cultural preferences and market
forces. This implied that no significant urban development was experienced in
these satellite towns till in the nineties when industrial zones and educational
facilities were developed in the regions. Nonetheless, the spatial pattern
remained monocentric character-wise (Yang, Liu, Zhou, Li & Sun, 2015)
 Ring and radial highway system: for the sake of strengthening the planned
city’s spatial structure, various programs such as ring and radial road system
were developed under comprehensive plans of the 1950s, 1982 and 1993. This
system was considered as very ideal in support of the transportation system.
Further, these highways were aimed at providing easy access between the rung
roads as well as the generation of traffic corridors between Beijing and other
cities.
3.2 Development of rail transit network
The approval of Beijing’s transit network was done in 1965, having a line of
24 kilometers, which was influenced by military considerations. This line would be
later open in 1969, 1st October, and would be the rapid transit for china, with a huge
concentration in the national rail network. This system spectacularly expanded, with
various activities such as the 2008 Olympic Games.
Evolution of the network
With a population of approximately 17 million and a myriad of city activities
such as car registrations going up by 15 percent annually, this sparked the need for a
rail subway system. Further, attempts to reduce environmental pollution from both the

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traffic and the industrial extensions prompted measures to avert these issues. The
authorities as well supported the need to cut the long travel to work. Funding of the
rail transit system is majorly by commercial loans, as well as 40% from the municipal
authority budgets which are approximated to be $1.5 billion every year. The Chinese
government also donated $45.2 billion in economic packages to boost the project.
During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, a total of 1.5 million daily passengers were
recorded, with rapid development still going on. Further, in this year, 30 extra stations
and three new urban lines costing $3.2 billion were opened. For instance, line 10
opened in 2008 was rapidly expanded by an additional 35 kilometers to create an
outer loop and extending to airport express. Various lines were constricted, such that
by 2013, an overall of 17 lines (Lines 1, 2, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 14, 15, Batong,
Changping, Daxing, Fangshan, Yichang and Airport Express) 456kilometer track and
227 stations were operational. The total stretch east 456 kilometers (Wang, Chen, &
Fujiyama, 2015).
The infrastructure of the transit system
In terms of electrification, the Beijing transit system utilizes a gauge of
1,435mm with 750V DC, both on the surface and underground. The timespan is
dictated by the types of rolling stock, layouts, and styles. In order to get to the
international airport, another rail format is utilized which terminates at the
Dongzhimen Subway interchange. The journey takes around 16 minutes with
maximum subway speed of 80km/h and 110km/h at the spaced stops.
Rolling stock used on the Beijing subway system
Beijing subway has significantly benefited the domestic producers, by
sourcing its rolling stock locally, unlike other metros such as Shanghai metro which
sources their equipment overseas

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Signaling and communications and evolving ticket systems
Beijing has advanced its transport fare collection system, from the manual
system to an automated magnetic strip tickets collectors. The information and
characters are relayed in the English language. For the wheelchair users, at least every
station had an access point (Wang, Chen, & Fujiyama, 2015).
The future for the Beijing Subway
So far, the Beijing subway is expected to have a total of 19 lines totaling to
1050 kilometers by 2020, with a population of nine million passengers daily.
3.3 Influence of rail transit on urban space
The influence of the rail transits system in Beijing can be analyzed in terms of
its effectiveness. This can be done on various aspects, including the ability to
connecting different part of the system, centrality property, bridging property, and
possibility of disease spread. We will classify these effects as either direct or indirect
effects
Direct effects
In terms of the direct influence of the rail transit system, ample business
opportunities are developed as well as sufficient space for the development of
enterprises. The manufacturing industry is significantly promoted, for instance: the
equipment used in the construction of the Beijing subway system is locally acquired,
hence boosting the manufacturing industry of china.
Indirect effects
Promoting urbanization and intensive utilization of land
In terms of the above subject, intensive utilization of land is regarded on a
macro level, while the urbanization is considered on the micro influence. Since land is
a nonrenewable feature, its utilization should be such that it is of economic

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importance as well as ecological benefit. By utilization of the revenue obtained from
the rail transit, the land is developed either underground or on the surface. For
instance, real estate is developed through the railway system as could be seen in
Hongkong and Shenzhen.
Through underground construction, the rail transit network helps to preserve
the beautiful outlook of the urban center and saving the urban land. Further, it reduces
land occupation by saving urban land. For instance, the underground land can be
utilized in the construction of parking lots, malls, and a trading structure.
Provision of broad development space for the environmental protection industry
Currently, there is a global outcry of the development of sustainable ways for
the sake of the future generation. By developing the rail transport network, it becomes
easier to reduce the environmental pollutions and greenhouse emissions emanating
from the cars and public transport system. It is approximated that energy consumption
of the rail transit accounts only to 5% that of cars, and in this way, the energy
consumption rate is reduced, which overall boosted the nation’s pa capita income.
It leads to the transformation of economic development way
The rail transit system is a long term fixed investment which has great returns
to the government. Further, by making the transport system easily accessible, as well
as reliable, goods can be smoothly shipped from one venue to the other, hence
promoting economic growth. The trading system is also boosted which impacts the
national economy (Wang, Chen, & Fujiyama, 2015).
Improves the city’s soft power
A nation’s soft power is manifested in its ability to regionally or
internationally demonstrate its value for value concept, culture, development mode,
and social system. The rail transit system bridges this gap and incorporates all these

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systems into one. For instance, it integrates the concepts of culture, science, and
economy. For instance: the Beijing subway integrates humanity, geography, and
history elements, becoming a unique feature.

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4.0 OVERALL ANALYSIS IN TERMS OF CITY LIFE
The new train system in Beijing significantly improves city life in many
aspects. It acts as a cheaper, reliable, and efficient mode of transport from the regions
of residence to the workplaces. From the influence of the rail transit system in the
above section, we realize that by connecting the whole city through the rail network,
more people commute to and fro the city, as well as various activities, are promoted.
For instance, trading activities are boosted, and goods are made available to the
people, implying that the living standards are automatically boosted. On the contrary,
the car owners must be discouraged in some way as they do not get the revenue that
they would expect, as most people would opt for the rail transit system. Most people
are also attracted to creating more residences as well as a business due to the large
population.
Considering other forms of transportation such as walking or cycling, they
become a bit difficult as there is an increased population within the city center. It
means they are becoming more unpopular as the rai transit system ensures reliability
and time consciousness.
Challenges experienced and solutions through rail transit
There are various challenges which have the above cities have experienced in
the past and have long been solved by the development of rail transit system. These
challenges are mostly urban space-related. For instance: traffic congestion and
parking facilities, longer commuting, public transport inadequacy is jeopardizing
urban growth, high insfartcure and maintenance costs, environmental impacts and
energy consumption, Accidents and safety, Land consumption, and congestion. Rail
transport address all these challenges as sit occupies minimal space and have the
capacity to carry a lot of persons. Further, the system is r; liable and easily accessible

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to most persons.

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5.0 CONCLUSION AND FUTURE STATEMENT
One of the most challenges experienced in the metropolitan regions is the
transport-related challenges. The urban planners and the transportation planners as
well realized that the design and planning alone would not bring an everlasting
solution to the challenges associated with complex transportation issues. However, the
smart growth policy and the new urbanism movement designed a system which gave
more focus on a comprehensive analytical framework which was oriented on drawing
the solution from a range of factors, including economy, population, transportation
data, and land use.
The above research has looked into various metropolitan cities in regards to
their urban spatial development, as well as the overall influence of the rail transit
system. The many issues which are related to public transport can be addressed easily
when urban planners give focus to designing solutions while incorporating a wide
range of factors.

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7.0 REFERENCES
Levy, J.M., 2016. Contemporary urban planning. Taylor & Francis.
Liu, Y., 2019. Transit-Induced Urban Transformation: A Comparative Study of
Tokyo and Hong Kong (Doctoral dissertation, Columbia University).
Mayer, T. and Trevien, C., 2017. The impact of urban public transportation evidence
from the Paris region. Journal of Urban Economics, 102, pp.1-21.
Moyano, A. and Dobruszkes, F., 2017. Mind the services! High-speed rail cities
bypassed by high-speed trains. Case studies on transport policy, 5(4), pp.537-
548.
Vuchic, V.R., 2017. Urban transit: operations, planning, and economics. John Wiley
& Sons.
Wang, Z., Chen, F. and Fujiyama, T., 2015. Carbon emission from urban passenger
transportation in Beijing. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and
Environment, 41, pp.217-227.
Yang, J., Quan, J., Yan, B. and He, C., 2016. Urban rail investment and transit-
oriented development in Beijing: Can it reach a higher
potential?. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, 89, pp.140-
150.
Yang, Y., Liu, Y., Zhou, M., Li, F. and Sun, C., 2015. Robustness assessment of
urban rail transit based on complex network theory: A case study of the
Beijing Subway. Safety science, 79, pp.149-162.
Zhou, H. and Gao, H., 2018. The impact of urban morphology on urban transportation
mode: A case study of Tokyo. Case Studies on Transport Policy.