Forme urbaine et mobilité soutenable : enjeux pour les villes chinoises

Our dissertation focuses on the links between urban form and energy consumption for urban mobility. More specifically, starting from the study of urban dynamics in developed countries, we analyse the "automobilisation" perspectives of Chinese cities. We first present the joint evolution of urban form and transportation systems in developed cities. We can thus show the relationship in developed countries, between energy consumption and land consumption and point to differences between urban forn1s, depending on the countries' availability ofboth resources. Nowadays, developing countries are motorizing dramatically. The way cities are built could create oil dependency for the next decades. Our case study is Chinese cities, where the automobile market has been booming for over a decade. Examining the urban development that results from the Chinese economic transition, we suggest what the modem / future? Chine se urban form could be. We notice that the motorization capacity of the most populous country in the world is quite low considering its energy and land availability. Nevertheless, the governance system coming from China's economic transition doesn't turn local governments' attention to the conservation of natural resources. ln addition, as the central government can't control urban development, it would be difficult to build a harmonious society without changing the governance model ofurban growth.