GEF-6 SCIAP China Sustainable Cities Integrated Approach Pilot: Summary Reports

China’s GEF-6 SCIAP project institutionalized Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) as a multiscale planning and governance tool embedded in national and city-level systems. Across seven pilot cities, TOD was operationalized at the city, corridor, and station levels, aligning land use, transport networks, and urban development within a unified framework. A national TOD information management platform, implemented by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MoHURD), established standardized indicators, enabled real-time monitoring, and supported cross-city benchmarking, strengthening evidence-based planning and policy coordination. 

At the implementation level, cities applied TOD to optimize corridor development, improve job–housing balance, and structure station-area typologies integrating multimodal transport and walkability. These interventions were linked to financing mechanisms—including land value capture and rail-plus-property models—to enhance the fiscal sustainability of transit investments. This integrated approach positioned TOD as a core instrument to guide urban growth, improve accessibility, and deliver sustained low-carbon outcomes at scale.