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Whether people would choose to walk or ride a bike for their daily travel is affected by how desirable the environment is for walking and biking. To better inform urban planning and design practices, studies on measuring walkability and bikeability have emerged in western countries over the last decade. However, such efforts are still rare in developing countries, partially due to the scarcity of urban data. Utilizing open source data, this paper puts forward a methodology to comprehensively and objectively measure street walkability and bikeability in China. The methodology was applied to four Chinese cities: Tianjin, Chongqing, Kunming, and Shijiazhuang. Analyses showed the following results: (1) city centers tend to have higher walkability than periphery areas; (2) a preliminary bikeable street network exists in most cities (except mountainous cities), but the prevalence of bike lanes on streets is much lower than that of sidewalks; (3) the problem of illegal parking on both sidewalks and bike lanes is severe, especially in city centers; (4) biking safety and comfort is compromised due to a lack of physically separated bike lanes; and (5) the street wall continuity varies from place to place whereas the street network in traditional city centers is much denser than newly developed car-oriented areas. The end of the paper provides corresponding policy implications.

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Rail transit is a primary transport mode in Tokyo and has become the backbone of its urban development. Tokyo rail transit networks consist of the subway in the central area, private railways in the suburban area, and Japan Railway (JR) in both central and suburban areas. Prior research revealed that JR has better coordination of transit node functions and station-area development than subway and private railway stations, but how Tokyo's JR station-area development integrates with its network growth is less explored. This work investigates how JR station-area development grows in tandem with network expansion, by revisiting different historical phases. The results show that, in the beginning of the twentieth century, JR connected major urban nodes in both central and suburban Tokyo, and therefore became the skeleton of Tokyo's transit systems. During the post-earthquake and post-war period, central subway and suburban private railways gradually met JR on the Yamanote line, enabling the major interchange stations to develop into urban centers. In the 1960s, JR increased its services to alleviate passenger congestion and undertook grade separation projects to reduce conflicts with road networks. The 1987 JR privatization marked a turning point of massive station-area redevelopment. JR station areas have been transformed from underutilized industrial land into high-density commercial use, and major JR stations were comprehensively replanned for identity and place-making. After a centennial development, JR stations have become important interchange and express-service nodes on Tokyo transit networks with intensive land use and different urban functions. The Tokyo JR case can provide insights for metropolitan cities on how to integrate rail transit infrastructure with station-area development, including matching critical nodes in transit networks with urban functions and high-density land use and connecting these urban functions through express line services.