Integrated transport systems are increasingly recognised as crucial to the development of sustainable urban centres. The integration of environmental concerns into transport strategies has gained attention particularly in the last decades, in response to the increasing awareness about the impacts of the transport sector on urban environment.Especially in China, where a rapid urbanization process was followed by an increasing growth of motorization rates, motor vehicle emissions have been identified as a major source of air pollution in some large cities such as Shanghai. Due to the limited experience of authorities in dealing with integrated transport strategies and the secondary role of environmental issues observed in China, SEA implementation was selected as an appropriate approach to promoting the integration of environmental concerns into transport local strategies in China.In order to implement an effective SEA process, this study aims at developing a strategy for implementing strategic environmental assessment (SEA) in Jiading transport planning. Jiading District,one of suburban districts of Shanghai Municipal, has been defined as the case-study area. In the District a significant growth of its urban population, traffic problems and environmental burdens are expected in the next years. The strategy recommended in the study was characterized by the establishment of a learning cycle, with its main objective being the enhancement of administrative capacity and raising the profile of environmental issues in transport planning.The study has used qualitative research methods and involved mainly in-depth and group interviews, field observations and a literature review. It was carried out in cooperation with the Wuppertal Institute for Climate, Environment and Energy. The Institute is one the German partners of the project METRASYS (Mega Region Transport Systems for China), which aims at developing and demonstrating solutions for sustainable mobility concepts in Jiading-Shanghai. A field research in Jiading and Shanghai was carried out in February and March 2006. The major contributions of the study are the identification of relevant aspects of China's planning system that may affect SEA implementation in transport planning, and the suggestions on how to consider these aspects in the SEA process.
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