Photo @丁亦然 on Unsplash 

Promoting walking can significantly reduce carbon emissions in the transport sector. Increasing the share of walking is most positively influenced by improving facilities on the streets. On September 22, World Car-Free Day, NRDC released its fifth report on the walkability of Chinese cities to advocate for improving pedestrian friendliness in urban environments. The report compares street view pictures of the same sites taken in different years to evaluate the improvements to walking paths in 45 Chinese cities using 10 indicators, including the existence of sidewalks, crossing facilities, and obstructions on sidewalks. The report is a collaboration between NRDC and the Technical Committee for Urban Big Data of the Chinese Society for Urban Studies led by Long Ying, a leading industry expert from Tsinghua University. The report's release generated coverage from about 20 major media outlets, including the Beijing News and the Beijing Radio & Television Network. Beijing Transportation Committee’s WeChat account also covered the findings of the report.