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Measuring time accessibility and its spatial characteristics in the urban areas of Beijing

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Abstract

Construction of road infrastructure is fundamental to city operation and development, as well as an important pathway and focus in physical urban-rural integration. The long-term implementation of a system of ring roads plus radiating roads in Beijing has strongly impacted urban infrastructure construction and space-time accessibility. Particularly, recent rapid growth of private car ownership in Beijing has imposed greater loads on its road system, seriously hampering urban commuting efficiency and negatively impacting quality of life. To address such challenges and enhance the rapid development of transport infrastructure, Beijing has accelerated rail transit construction since 2008 in an effort to improve commuting capacity. This paper aims to measure time accessibility and its spatial characteristics in urban areas of Beijing by applying a comprehensive method that combines vector and raster attribute data generated from road network and subway transport infrastructure. By using a dual index of accessibility and road density, the study further reveals the features of and differences in spatial accessibility and the construction of road systems in urban areas of the northern and southern parts of Beijing. The findings of this study can provide a scientific basis for future urban planning and road system construction both in general and with respect to Beijing, given its aspirations to become a world city.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, Beijing, 100101, China

    Jianghao Wang, Yu Deng & Ci Song

  2. Jiangsu Center for Collaborative Innovation in Geographical Information Resource Development and Application, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Jianghao Wang

  3. The Postdoctoral Research Station of Tourism Information Research Center, Beijing Union University & University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, 100029, China

    Dajiang Tian

  4. School of Information Technology and Management, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, 100029, China

    Dajiang Tian

Authors
  1. Jianghao Wang
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  2. Yu Deng
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  3. Ci Song
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  4. Dajiang Tian
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Ci Song or Dajiang Tian.

Additional information

Foundation: National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.41601164, No.41601427; Key Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China, No.71433008; Cultivate Project of Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, CAS, No.TSYJS03

Wang Jianghao, PhD and Assistant Professor, specialized in spatio-temporal data mining, geostatistics and GIS.

Song Ci, PhD and Assistant Professor, specialized in GIS.

Tian Dajiang, PhD, specialized in tourism geography.

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Wang, J., Deng, Y., Song, C. et al. Measuring time accessibility and its spatial characteristics in the urban areas of Beijing. J. Geogr. Sci. 26, 1754–1768 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-016-1356-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11442-016-1356-2

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