Effects of the Built Environment on Travel-Related CO<sub>2</sub> Emissions Considering Travel Purpose: A Case Study of Resettlement Neighborhoods in Nanjing

With rapid urbanization, an increasing number of resettlement housing neighborhoods have been developed in suburbs in China. Such neighborhoods often face problems of spatial mismatch (jobs–housing and daily life), excessive street scale, and inconvenient transportation, which directly and indirectl...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Yiwen Zhang, Wenzhu Zhou, Jiayi Ding
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2022-10-01
Series:Buildings
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2075-5309/12/10/1718
Description
Summary:With rapid urbanization, an increasing number of resettlement housing neighborhoods have been developed in suburbs in China. Such neighborhoods often face problems of spatial mismatch (jobs–housing and daily life), excessive street scale, and inconvenient transportation, which directly and indirectly lead to long travel distances and higher travel carbon emissions for residents. Understanding how to improve the built environment of resettlement housing and thus influence travel CO<sub>2</sub> emissions is essential to guide low-carbon travel and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Based on an electronic questionnaire and travel carbon emission measurements collected in 12 resettlement housing neighborhoods in Nanjing in 2022, this study used a three-group structure equation model (SEM) to measure the impact of resettlement housing’s built environment on travel CO<sub>2</sub> emissions from commutes, housework trips, and recreational trips. It was found that the improvement of destination accessibility can significantly reduce the carbon emissions of residents’ trips. Second, the built environment of resettlement housing can affect travel carbon emissions through mediator variables and direct effects. In addition, these effects show different paths and sizes depending on the purpose of the travel trip. These results are significant for the planning and construction of resettlement houses and offer guidance for low-carbon travel.
ISSN:2075-5309