The Impact Of Urban Form On Traffic Congestion And Traffic Carbon Emissions

Rapid urbanization has brought tremendous economic benefits,but it has also resulted in a series of social,economic,and environmental problems.Changes in urban form have had profound impacts on human activities and travel patterns,leading to concentration of urban populations and increased transportation demand.The resulting traffic congestion and carbon emissions have imposed significant environmental and economic costs on cities.Therefore,understanding how urban form affects traffic congestion and traffic carbon emissions is essential for promoting sustainable transportation development through scientific land use planning.Previous studies on the relationship between urban form and traffic congestion or carbon emissions typically use residential density to quantify urban form characteristics,or describe urban form using traditional urban/non-urban land classification data.However,these quantitative methods have less consideration for diversity and heterogeneity of land use spatial configuration within cities.In addition,due to the availability of global data,existing studies lack analysis of global samples and regional comparisons.Therefore,based on the sample data of cities around the world,this paper uses global city range data,local climate zone maps and landscape pattern indices to quantify the characteristics of urban form and explore the global distribution pattern of urban form.Then,through stepwise regression,key urban form indicators affecting traffic congestion and carbon emissions are screened out,and the regression model and multi-scale geographic weighted regression model are used to investigate the impact of urban form on traffic congestion and carbon emissions.In addition,for samples from East Asia,Western Europe,and North America,the regression model and machine learning method were used to analyze the impact of urban form on traffic congestion and traffic carbon emissions in different regions and their differences.The research results show that:(1)The urban morphological characteristics quantified based on local climate zoning data have a significant impact on traffic congestion and carbon emissions,and the model’s explanatory power is far superior to the model based on urban/non-urban land use classification data.(2)From a global perspective,urban form has a significant impact on traffic congestion and traffic carbon emissions,with a greater impact on carbon emissions.Industrial cluster development can alleviate traffic congestion and help reduce carbon emissions.Improving connectivity between open building areas can also reduce urban traffic carbon emissions,but their higher regional dominance also exacerbates traffic congestion.(3)At the regional scale,there are significant differences in the impact of urban form in East Asia,Western Europe,and North America on traffic congestion and traffic carbon emissions.For example,in East Asian cities,a multi-center clustering layout of high-density,low-rise residential areas can reduce traffic congestion and transportation carbon emissions,while in Western Europe,the higher continuity of low-density,lowrise residential areas implies more transportation carbon emissions.The higher regional dominance in North American cities will lead to increased traffic congestion.In summary,the findings of this study help to gain a detailed understanding of how urban land use and spatial configuration affect traffic congestion and carbon emissions,providing a scientific basis and insights for future land use planning policies aimed at promoting low-carbon and efficient sustainable transportation development.