Kunming Urban Development and Public Transportation Initiative

Contact: Mr. Lin Wei
Deputy Director, Kunming Planning and Design Institute
Ernst Joos
Industrielle Betriebe, Zürich
 
UN Habitat best practice

"Urban Development Kunming - Masterplan Public Transport" was begun in 1993 by the city of Kunming and its sister city, Zurich. Supported by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, the project defined clear priorities for the use of city streets with the aim to transport people, not cars, giving priority to public transport, bicycles and pedestrians. Affordability as well was an important aim.

Two principal components of the transportation policy were to run the existing buses, and to re-introduce trams on reserved lanes that were taken away from use by private car.

A first "Demonstration Bus Line," running on reserved lanes began operation in April 1999. Following its success, a second line was built (this one without support from Zurich), beginning operation in June 2002, with plans for two more lines. The bus lanes will be changed into Modern Tram lanes once bus capacity is no longer sufficient.

Other components of the project include:

• than 20 newly designed intersections with separate lanes for left turning bicycles;
• safe pedestrian crossings at street level;
• pedestrian-only streets in shopping zones in the city centre;
• pedestrian islands in the middle of city streets to improve safety of street crossing;
• studies on minimizing urban sprawl by building densely designed towns along existing railway lines.

No other city in China is following so comprehensive an urban development and transportation policy. It was a courageous step by the municipal government of the city of Kunming, to take away one lane from non public transport and dedicate it exclusively to buses. No other city in China has a concept for developing the greater city region like Kunming with densely built new towns along the railway, as a precondition for using public transport in a high degree.

Kunming has monitored the public's response to these projects through public surveys. The first, in 1999, found the total satisfaction rate of citizens toward the project to be 79%. By 2001, total satisfaction was over 96%.