This project uses an existing large survey dataset to study housing and transportation issues in Beijing. The study is conducted together with Josh Linn, Lunyu Xie, and Jintao Xu.
In November, 2013, the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy awarded RFF and Renmin University of China a grant to study housing and transportation issues in Beijing. Chinese land and housing reforms have contributed to major changes in land use patterns and jobs-housing relationships, but at the same time Beijing and many other Chinese cities have suffered severe traffic congestion and air pollution. In this project, we aim to (1) document patterns of commuting and automobile use in Beijing after these reforms; (2) quantify the effects of the housing allocation reforms on automobile use and congestion; and (3) assess the efficacy and distributional effects of congestion pricing, which the Beijing municipal government is currently considering. Our research is made possible by our access to a large survey data set of household housing and transportation collected by the Beijing municipal government in 2010.
