Transit-oriented Development (TOD) Planning and Design Consulting Service for Nanchang, China

With the funding under Global Environment Facility (GEF), WSP utilised our TOD planning expertise to improve and enhance the liveability and accessibility, as well as to reduce the greenhouse gas emission of Nanchang, the capital city of Jiangxi province in central China.

Location

China

Client

Project Management Office of Nanchang (PMO)

Project Status

Completed

Facing rapid population growth and urban development, the rail-based TOD model is widely regarded as the solution that integrates and optimise land use and transport in China by clustering jobs, housing, services and amenities around public transport stations. Nanchang of Jiangxi province is among the emerging cities that explore this mode.

With the new Metro Line 2 opened in mid-2019, WSP offered comprehensive transport consulting services on TOD mode to achieve sustainable urban development and low-carbon urban traveling by improving transport system efficiency and accessibility of the surrounding areas of the metro line. The project was under GEF funding in partnership with the World Bank.

Our Comprehensive Solutions

Our comprehensive approach reviewed the land parcels along the Nanchang Metro Line 2 and recommend a scheme to improve transport development in line with TOD strategy. We developed a synthetic transport model with PTV software, supported by land use and transport information database, to review different land use mix option and identify the best scenario to encourage people using public transport and reduce carbon footprint.

Apart from conducting background survey and formulating integrated transport planning and design along the Metro Line 2, WSP ran pilot programmes and research on BRT network/lines along the Metro Line 2, before preparing corridor-level policy guidelines/manuals as the project deliverable.

The project team aims to establish the following targets:

Reduce road-traffic related carbon emissions by

20%

Increase trips using green transport to

> 75%

Increase population living within 800m of a metro station by

15-30%

‘Three Values’ of a Neighbourhood

For this planning tailored for Nanchang, we followed the ‘three values’ (3V) methodology by World Bank, covering the ‘node value’ (the transport-related importance of a station), ‘place value’ (the quality and attractiveness of the area around the station) and ‘market potential value’ (the unrealised market value of station areas such as job opportunities). The 3V model evaluated the interplay between the economic vision of the city, its land use and the metro network, with quantified indicators, helping us leverage the value created through enhanced connectivity and accessibility and make Nanchang an even more appealing places to live, work, play and do business.

With WSP’s analysis, we improved the accessibility of surrounding areas of the stations, increased the plot ratio to accommodate more residential and commercial development, which in turn promoted the land value. A recommendation of action plan was also proposed to improve the slow mode traffic and liveable communities.

The project provides a substantial foundation for the future low carbon transport development in Nanchang, especially the non-motorized transport (NMT). The project also provides the implementation path of transport system for the future Carbon neutral target in Nanchang. The human oriented planning concept will have profound impact on the potential development and local commercial economy.