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Global urban subway development, construction material stocks, and embodied carbon emissions

Author

Listed:
  • Ruichang Mao

    (University of Southern Denmark)

  • Yi Bao

    (Peking University)

  • Huabo Duan

    (Shenzhen University)

  • Gang Liu

    (University of Southern Denmark)

Abstract

Urban subway system, as an important type of urban transportation infrastructure, can provide mass mobility service and help address urban sustainability challenges such as traffic congestion and air pollution. The continuous construction of subways, however, causes large amounts of construction materials and embodied greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In this study, we characterized the patterns of subway development, construction material stocks, and embodied emissions covering all 219 cities in the world in which subways are found by July 2020. The global subway length reached 16,419 km in 2020, and the construction material stocks amounted to 2.5 gigatons, equaling to an embodied emission of 560 megatons. In particular, China’s subway system contributes to ~40% of the total global stocks, with a pattern of moderate and steady stocks growth before 2010 and a rapid expansion afterwards, implying the late-development advantages and infrastructure-based urbanization mode. Our results demonstrated that identifying the spatiotemporal characteristics of subway materials stocks development is imperative for benchmarking future resource demand, informing sustainable subway planning, prospecting urban mining and waste management opportunities and challenges, and mitigating the associated environmental impacts for global GHG emission reduction.

Suggested Citation

  • Ruichang Mao & Yi Bao & Huabo Duan & Gang Liu, 2021. "Global urban subway development, construction material stocks, and embodied carbon emissions," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 8(1), pages 1-11, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:pal:palcom:v:8:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1057_s41599-021-00757-2
    DOI: 10.1057/s41599-021-00757-2
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    2. Kunyang Chen & Guobin Zhang & Huanyu Wu & Ruichang Mao & Xiangsheng Chen, 2022. "Uncovering the Carbon Emission Intensity and Reduction Potentials of the Metro Operation Phase: A Case Study in Shenzhen Megacity," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(1), pages 1-20, December.
    3. Lu Zeng & Zinuo Li & Jie Yang & Xinyue Xu, 2022. "CEEMDAN-IPSO-LSTM: A Novel Model for Short-Term Passenger Flow Prediction in Urban Rail Transit Systems," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(24), pages 1-19, December.
    4. Kronnaphat Khumvongsa & Jing Guo & Suthida Theepharaksapan & Hiroaki Shirakawa & Hiroki Tanikawa, 2023. "Uncovering urban transportation infrastructure expansion and sustainability challenge in Bangkok: Insights from a material stock perspective," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(2), pages 476-490, April.
    5. Charles Gillott & Will Mihkelson & Maud Lanau & Dave Cheshire & Danielle Densley Tingley, 2023. "Developing Regenerate: A circular economy engagement tool for the assessment of new and existing buildings," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 27(2), pages 423-435, April.
    6. Lehua Bi & Shaorui Zhou & Jianjie Ke & Xiaoming Song, 2023. "Knowledge-Mapping Analysis of Urban Sustainable Transportation Using CiteSpace," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-29, January.

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