Spatial characteristics of carbon dioxide emission intensity of urban road traffic and driving factors: Road network and land use

Road traffic is a major contributor to global carbon dioxide emissions. The impact of urban road networks and land use on these emissions remains controversial. This study proposed carbon dioxide emission intensity (CEI) based on road network length, analyzed the spatial distribution characteristics of CEI of passenger and freight traffic in the Southern Kanto region of Japan through spatial autocorrelation analysis, and examined the driving effects of urban road network and land use characteristics through Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Geographically Weighted Regression (GWR) models. The results showed that the CEI of passenger traffic demonstrated more significant spatial heterogeneity than freight traffic, exhibiting a spatial pattern of high-value clustering in the center and low-value clustering in the peripheral area. Road network characteristics are the primary driving factor for CEI of passenger traffic. A road network with lower density, rich branching streets does not necessarily promote the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. The industrial land proportion exerts a stronger and more extensive driving effect on the CEI of freight traffic than road network characteristics. As a specialized study on carbon dioxide emissions from road traffic, this study provides the decision-making criteria for urban planning strategy and urban management to enhance urban sustainable development.