How can rapidly growing cities align urban development with public transport to create more connected, accessible, and low-carbon communities?

The GEF-6 Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach Pilot in China provides valuable lessons from five years of applying transit-oriented development (TOD) across seven major Chinese cities. Managed by the World Bank and implemented by China’s Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MoHURD), the project worked with Beijing, Tianjin, Shijiazhuang, Ningbo, Nanchang, Guiyang, and Shenzhen from 2017 to 2023.

The project supported cities in integrating TOD principles into urban and transport planning at three interconnected scales: city, transit corridor, and transit station. At the city level, the work explored how transit could better align with urban structure and the distribution of jobs and services. At the corridor level, it examined land-use patterns, jobs-housing balance, and opportunities to generate land value. At the station level, the focus shifted to walkability, cycling, public transport integration, mixed uses, and creating accessible neighborhoods around transit.

A key contribution was the development of a National Platform for TOD Information Management, complemented by city-level platforms and a methodological framework for TOD assessment, diagnosis, and planning. The project also explored cross-cutting issues including urban regeneration, public participation, and urban rail financing, recognizing that successful TOD requires more than transport infrastructure alone.

Explore the China TOD experience

A new video provides an overview of the project, its approach, and the lessons emerging from the seven pilot cities.

The GPSC is also making the project's knowledge resources available for cities and practitioners interested in applying TOD in different contexts. These include the project executive summary, the MoHURD/National Platform summary, individual summaries from each of the seven pilot cities, and the Special Topics in TOD publication covering urban regeneration, public participation, and financing.

Together, these resources demonstrate how TOD can help cities coordinate land use and transport, support walking, cycling, and public transit, improve access to opportunities, and foster more compact and low-carbon urban development. They also provide practical lessons that can inform TOD approaches in other rapidly urbanizing cities.