Spatial and Social Characteristics of Urban Transportation in Beijing

Beijing lies on the northeastern margin of the North China Plain. The spatial organization of this city is characterized by the continuous addition of ring roads. Today Beijing has five rings completed for public use. The first ring circles the Forbidden City (the palace of the emperors). Because the area has no dense residential areas and few employees, the ring does not carry heavy regional traffic, and has remained local. All other ring roads were added to either mitigate existing traffic congestion or to open suburban land to urban development. Construction of the second ring began in the 1950s and then completely changed and became an urban expressway in 1992. The third ring road was completed in 1994. The fourth and fifth ring roads were added in 2001 and 2003, respectively. Figure 1 presents the locations of the five ring roads. Today Beijing hosts more than 10 million residents at its core built-up area, which is served by the five ring roads and other connecting roads. The second ring roughly delineates the boundary of the “old Beijing,” developed before the communist party took power in 1949. Development in the 1980s mainly occurred around or within the third ring and seldom went beyond the fourth ring. Since the 1990s, the fourth and fifth rings have enabled conversion of rural and semirural areas into urban landscapes, stimulated by a strong demand for housing and office space. The expansion of the city has increased trip length as travelers look for employment and entertainment opportunities throughout the ever-enlarging urban region. Relocation from the inner city out into what were once semirural areas has also increased the spatial separation between workplaces and residences (7 ). Large volumes of traffic increase road congestion as the capacity limit of existing transport facilities is exceeded. It has been reported that bus speed is about 10 km/h during peak periods. Urban rail (surface or subway) in Beijing provides an alterative for those who want reliable mobility but cannot afford a car. The subway system in Beijing opened to the public in 1981 (8). At that time, the length of the system was 27.6 km, and it included only 19 stops. By 2008, this system had eight lines, more than 200 km of tracks, and 123 stations. At least seven more lines, with 164 km of track length, are now under construction. Figure 1 shows three rail lines. The other five are omitted because they were completed later and are not directly relevant to the transportation pattern described in this article.