Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about China

Smoggy China to Observe World Car Free Day

By Jason Varone | | 1 Comment
The Financial Times reports that China’s cities will participate in this year’s World Car Free Day. These actions have a measureable effect. A recent study found that when Beijing ordered 800,000 cars off the roads for three days last year, local nitrogen oxide air pollution fell by 40 per cent. More than 100 Chinese cities […]

Black Clouds Over China

By Jason Varone | | No Comments
The balloon says: Drive one day less and look how much carbon dioxide you’ll keep out of the air we breathe. While the Chinese economy is booming, the skies above its cities are blackening. China will actually pass the United States as the world’s biggest source of greenhouse gases this year. The World Wildlife Federation […]

Shanghai Is Back on the Bicycle Bandwagon

By Jason Varone | | 3 Comments
The Shanghai Daily reports: SHANGHAI is making efforts to prove that the title of "kingdom of bicycles" still fits the world’s most populous country, even in the car age. The city is renovating a 300-kilometer network of "cycling arteries," covering at least 60 percent of local roads open to cyclists, and plans to separate bicycles […]

Cars Conquering the Bicycle Kingdom

By Jason Varone | | 3 Comments
The Globe and Mail reports: Last year, China became the world’s second-biggest car market, behind the United States. In Beijing alone, there are 1,000 new cars on the streets every day. As a result, bicycles are increasingly being squeezed to the margins. The streets are choked with traffic and automobile fumes. New roads are sometimes […]

Learning From a Streets Renaissance in Hong Kong

By Ethan Kent | | 10 Comments
If New York or other large cities are looking for a solution to congestion and its negative impact on the economy, Hong Kong offers an excellent strategy and success story. I was there a few weeks back working on waterfront issues (that rival New York City for unrealized opportunities), and was struck by changes that have taken […]

That’s Dictatorship for You

By Nick Grossman | | No Comments
The Guardian reports that China is suddenly rediscovering the joys of urban bicycle transportation after a decade of motor mania: The construction ministry announced on Thursday that any bike lanes that have been narrowed or destroyed to make way for cars in recent years must be returned to their original glory. This followed orders on Tuesday that […]