[go: up one dir, main page]
IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i9p4707-d541609.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transport Poverty in Chinese Cities: A Systematic Literature Review

Author

Listed:
  • Weichang Kong

    (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, 4072 Brisbane, Australia)

  • Dorina Pojani

    (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, 4072 Brisbane, Australia)

  • Neil Sipe

    (School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, The University of Queensland, 4072 Brisbane, Australia)

  • Dominic Stead

    (Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, 2628 BL Delft, The Netherlands
    School of Engineering, Aalto University, 02150 Espoo, Finland)

Abstract
The widening income gap in post-reform China has given rise to social inequality. Among those, transport poverty and inequality have significantly affected the daily life of low-income groups. While important, this is an under-researched topic in China. This gap in the academic literature is glaring given the country’s urbanization rates, sprawling cities and income differentials. Most previous studies have only focused on two aspects of transport poverty—job-housing imbalance and accessibility. A comprehensive understanding of the causes and impacts of transport inequality is currently lacking. Therefore, a systematic review of academic literature based on keywords relevant to transport poverty in China was conducted to provide a more complete assessment of the situation in Chinese cities. In total, 62 relevant studies were identified after close examination of the articles (including titles, abstracts, and full-texts). This set of articles allowed a number of general patterns to be identified. It was found that the most common causes of transport poverty include: a lack of access to private vehicles; uneven access to alternative transport options; inadequate public transport provision; jobs-housing imbalance; and the hukou system (a system of household registration which aims to regulate population distribution and rural-to-urban migration). The main impacts of transport poverty include: curtailed mobility and longer travel times; higher household expenditures on travel; reduced access to jobs and essential services; higher household expenditures on travel; and health and environmental issues.

Suggested Citation

  • Weichang Kong & Dorina Pojani & Neil Sipe & Dominic Stead, 2021. "Transport Poverty in Chinese Cities: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(9), pages 1-24, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:4707-:d:541609
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/4707/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/9/4707/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stanley, Janet & Lucas, Karen, 2009. "Special Issue of the Journal of Transport Policy focusing on International perspectives on transport and social exclusion," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 89-89, July.
    2. Feng, Jianxi & Dijst, Martin & Wissink, Bart & Prillwitz, Jan, 2017. "Changing travel behaviour in urban China: Evidence from Nanjing 2008–2011," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-10.
    3. Zhao, Pengjun & Lü, Bin & Roo, Gert de, 2011. "Impact of the jobs-housing balance on urban commuting in Beijing in the transformation era," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 59-69.
    4. Zhao, Pengjun, 2014. "Private motorised urban mobility in China’s large cities: the social causes of change and an agenda for future research," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 53-63.
    5. Ahmed, Qureshi Intikhab & Lu, Huapu & Ye, Shi, 2008. "Urban transportation and equity: A case study of Beijing and Karachi," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 42(1), pages 125-139, January.
    6. Juhua Wu & Zeqian Cai & Honglei Li, 2020. "Accessibility of Medical Facilities in Multiple Traffic Modes: A Study in Guangzhou, China," Complexity, Hindawi, vol. 2020, pages 1-12, September.
    7. Tálita Santos & Marcelino Aurélio Silva & Vicente Aprigliano Fernandes & Greg Marsden, 2020. "Resilience and Vulnerability of Public Transportation Fare Systems: The Case of the City of Rio De Janeiro, Brazil," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-22, January.
    8. Hernandez, Diego, 2018. "Uneven mobilities, uneven opportunities: Social distribution of public transport accessibility to jobs and education in Montevideo," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 67(C), pages 119-125.
    9. Liu, Yang & Ji, Yanjie & Shi, Zhuangbin & He, Baohong & Liu, Qiyang, 2018. "Investigating the effect of the spatial relationship between home, workplace and school on parental chauffeurs’ daily travel mode choice," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 78-87.
    10. Li,Shi & Sato,Hiroshi & Sicular,Terry (ed.), 2013. "Rising Inequality in China," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107002913, September.
    11. Zhao, Pengjun & Lu, Bin, 2010. "Exploring job accessibility in the transformation context: an institutionalist approach and its application in Beijing," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 18(3), pages 393-401.
    12. Qingyong Wang & Hong-Ning Dai & Hao Wang, 2017. "A Smart MCDM Framework to Evaluate the Impact of Air Pollution on City Sustainability: A Case Study from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-17, May.
    13. Lucas, Karen, 2012. "Transport and social exclusion: Where are we now?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 105-113.
    14. Tao, Zhuolin & Zhou, Jiangping & Lin, Xiongbin & Chao, Heng & Li, Guicai, 2020. "Investigating the impacts of public transport on job accessibility in Shenzhen, China: a multi-modal approach," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    15. Xiaoyun Li & Hongsheng Chen & Yu Shi & Feng Shi, 2019. "Transportation Equity in China: Does Commuting Time Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(21), pages 1-17, October.
    16. Dorina Pojani & Dominic Stead, 2015. "Sustainable Urban Transport in the Developing World: Beyond Megacities," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(6), pages 1-22, June.
    17. Zhao, Pengjun & Bai, Yu, 2019. "The gap between and determinants of growth in car ownership in urban and rural areas of China: A longitudinal data case study," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-1.
    18. Zhang, Mengzhu & He, Shenjing & Zhao, Pengjun, 2018. "Revisiting inequalities in the commuting burden: Institutional constraints and job-housing relationships in Beijing," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 58-71.
    19. Zhan, Guangjun & Yan, Xuedong & Zhu, Shanjiang & Wang, Yun, 2016. "Using hierarchical tree-based regression model to examine university student travel frequency and mode choice patterns in China," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 55-65.
    20. Zhao, Pengjun & Zhang, Yixue, 2018. "Travel behaviour and life course: Examining changes in car use after residential relocation in Beijing," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 41-53.
    21. Wang, Zhaohua & Liu, Wei, 2015. "Determinants of CO2 emissions from household daily travel in Beijing, China: Individual travel characteristic perspectives," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 292-299.
    22. Xingyue Tu & Ganlin Huang & Jianguo Wu, 2018. "Contrary to Common Observations in the West, Urban Park Access Is Only Weakly Related to Neighborhood Socioeconomic Conditions in Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-12, April.
    23. Zhao, Pengjun & Li, Peilin, 2019. "Travel satisfaction inequality and the role of the urban metro system," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 66-81.
    24. Siqi Zheng & Matthew E. Kahn, 2017. "A New Era of Pollution Progress in Urban China?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(1), pages 71-92, Winter.
    25. Pengjun Zhao, 2013. "The Impact of Urban Sprawl on Social Segregation in Beijing and a Limited Role for Spatial Planning," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 104(5), pages 571-587, December.
    26. Ashmore, David P. & Pojani, Dorina & Thoreau, Roselle & Christie, Nicola & Tyler, Nicholas A., 2019. "Gauging differences in public transport symbolism across national cultures: implications for policy development and transfer," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 26-38.
    27. Linn, Joshua & Wang, Zhongmin & Xie, Lunyu, 2016. "Who will be affected by a congestion pricing scheme in Beijing?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 34-40.
    28. Li, Shengxiao & Zhao, Pengjun, 2015. "The determinants of commuting mode choice among school children in Beijing," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 112-121.
    29. Zheyan Chen & Dea van Lierop & Dick Ettema, 2020. "Exploring Dockless Bikeshare Usage: A Case Study of Beijing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-18, February.
    30. Xu, Mengya & Xin, Jing & Su, Shiliang & Weng, Min & Cai, Zhongliang, 2017. "Social inequalities of park accessibility in Shenzhen, China: The role of park quality, transport modes, and hierarchical socioeconomic characteristics," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 38-50.
    31. Cao, Mengqiu & Hickman, Robin, 2019. "Understanding travel and differential capabilities and functionings in Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 46-56.
    32. Dargay, Joyce M, 2001. "The effect of income on car ownership: evidence of asymmetry," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 35(9), pages 807-821, November.
    33. Zifeng Chen & Anthony Gar-On Yeh, 2019. "Accessibility Inequality and Income Disparity in Urban China: A Case Study of Guangzhou," Annals of the American Association of Geographers, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 109(1), pages 121-141, January.
    34. Jianxi Feng & Martin Dijst & Bart Wissink & Jan Prillwitz, 2014. "Understanding Mode Choice in the Chinese Context: The Case of Nanjing Metropolitan Area," Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie, Royal Dutch Geographical Society KNAG, vol. 105(3), pages 315-330, July.
    35. Haiyan Ding & Hui He, 2018. "A Tale of Transition: An Empirical Analysis of Economic Inequality in Urban China, 1986-2009," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 29, pages 106-137, July.
    36. Rock, Sarah & Ahern, Aoife & Caulfield, Brian, 2016. "The economic boom, bust and transport inequity in suburban Dublin, Ireland," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 32-43.
    37. Tal, Gil & Handy, Susan, 2010. "Travel behavior of immigrants: An analysis of the 2001 National Household Transportation Survey," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 85-93, March.
    38. Zhan Zhao & Jinhua Zhao, 2020. "Car pride and its behavioral implications: an exploration in Shanghai," Transportation, Springer, vol. 47(2), pages 793-810, April.
    39. Zhao, Pengjun & Cao, Yushu, 2020. "Commuting inequity and its determinants in Shanghai: New findings from big-data analytics," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 20-37.
    40. Zhao, Pengjun & Zhang, Yixue, 2019. "The effects of metro fare increase on transport equity: New evidence from Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 73-83.
    41. Giuliano, Genevieve & Dargay, Joyce, 2006. "Car ownership, travel and land use: a comparison of the US and Great Britain," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 106-124, February.
    42. Judith Banister & David E. Bloom & Larry Rosenberg, 2012. "Population Aging and Economic Growth in China," International Economic Association Series, in: Masahiko Aoki & Jinglian Wu (ed.), The Chinese Economy, chapter 6, pages 114-149, Palgrave Macmillan.
    43. Rui Xiao & Guofeng Wang & Meng Wang, 2018. "Transportation Disadvantage and Neighborhood Sociodemographics: A Composite Indicator Approach to Examining Social Inequalities," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 137(1), pages 29-43, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xiaoquan Wang & Weifeng Wang & Chaoying Yin, 2023. "Exploring the Relationships between Multilevel Built Environments and Commute Durations in Dual-Earner Households: Does Gender Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-17, March.
    2. Huiyuan Qiang & Lin Liu & Fengzhi Ma, 2022. "Neglected Part of Education Sustainability: Social Work Intervention on the Quality of Extracurricular Life of Migrant Workers’ Children," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-14, February.
    3. Meseret Chanieabate & Hai He & Chuyue Guo & Betelhem Abrahamgeremew & Yuanji Huang, 2023. "Examining the Relationship between Transportation Infrastructure, Urbanization Level and Rural-Urban Income Gap in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-20, May.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Mengzhu & Zhao, Pengjun, 2021. "Literature review on urban transport equity in transitional China: From empirical studies to universal knowledge," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    2. Xiaoquan Wang & Weifeng Wang & Chaoying Yin, 2023. "Exploring the Relationships between Multilevel Built Environments and Commute Durations in Dual-Earner Households: Does Gender Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(6), pages 1-17, March.
    3. Wan, Zhengyue & Titheridge, Helena, 2024. "Socially sustainable transport in the context of different-sized cities in China:Conceptualisation and operationalisation of equity," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    4. Li, Shengxiao (Alex) & Guan, Xiaodong & Wang, Donggen, 2022. "How do constrained car ownership and car use influence travel and life satisfaction?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 202-218.
    5. Zhao, Pengjun & Bai, Yu, 2019. "The gap between and determinants of growth in car ownership in urban and rural areas of China: A longitudinal data case study," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 1-1.
    6. Zhao, Pengjun & Cao, Yushu, 2020. "Commuting inequity and its determinants in Shanghai: New findings from big-data analytics," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 20-37.
    7. Wang, Xiaoquan & Yin, Chaoying & Zhang, Junyi & Shao, Chunfu & Wang, Shengyou, 2021. "Nonlinear effects of residential and workplace built environment on car dependence," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    8. Zhao, Chunli & Nielsen, Thomas Alexander Sick & Olafsson, Anton Stahl & Carstensen, Trine Agervig & Meng, Xiaoying, 2018. "Urban form, demographic and socio-economic correlates of walking, cycling, and e-biking: Evidence from eight neighborhoods in Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 102-112.
    9. Zhao, Pengjun & Zhang, Yixue, 2018. "Travel behaviour and life course: Examining changes in car use after residential relocation in Beijing," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 41-53.
    10. Li, Chunjiang & Zhang, Yan & Chai, Yanwei, 2021. "Do spatial factors outweigh institutional factors? Changes in influencing factors of home-work separation from 2007 to 2017 in Beijing," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    11. Liu, Jixiang & Xiao, Longzhu, 2023. "Non-linear relationships between built environment and commuting duration of migrants and locals," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 106(C).
    12. Kain Glensor, 2018. "Development of an Index of Transport-User Vulnerability, and its Application in Enschede, The Netherlands," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-12, July.
    13. Xia, Jianhong(Cecilia) & Nesbitt, Joshua & Daley, Rebekah & Najnin, Arfanara & Litman, Todd & Tiwari, Surya Prasad, 2016. "A multi-dimensional view of transport-related social exclusion: A comparative study of Greater Perth and Sydney," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 205-221.
    14. Wojciech Keblowski & Frédéric Dobruszkes & Kobe Boussauw, 2022. "Moving past sustainable transport studies: Towards a critical perspective on urban transport," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/341191, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    15. Zhao, Pengjun & Zhang, Yixue, 2019. "The effects of metro fare increase on transport equity: New evidence from Beijing," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 73-83.
    16. Zhao, Pengjun, 2014. "Private motorised urban mobility in China’s large cities: the social causes of change and an agenda for future research," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 53-63.
    17. Kębłowski, Wojciech & Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Boussauw, Kobe, 2022. "Moving past sustainable transport studies: Towards a critical perspective on urban transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 74-83.
    18. Carroll, Páraic & Benevenuto, Rodolfo & Caulfield, Brian, 2021. "Identifying hotspots of transport disadvantage and car dependency in rural Ireland," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 46-56.
    19. Zhang, Mengzhu & He, Shenjing & Zhao, Pengjun, 2018. "Revisiting inequalities in the commuting burden: Institutional constraints and job-housing relationships in Beijing," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 58-71.
    20. Yao, Mingzhu & Wang, Donggen, 2018. "Mobility and travel behavior in urban China: The role of institutional factors," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 122-131.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:9:p:4707-:d:541609. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.