SUCCESS

Rural areas in China suffer from various problems. The stagnating economic development and a lack of (sufficient) job opportunities and basic services etc. lead to disadvantages for great parts of China's population. In this context, the transport sector plays a crucial role for the development of rural settlements.
Although the degree of undersupply varies between villages, the situation of Chinese villages is often worsened by an insufficiently developed transport sector. Regarding mobility in rural China, major constraints and therefore challenges are the difficult access to the transport infrastructure, bad road conditions and the lack of public transport systems. Improvements within the transport sector can be regarded as crucial for the economic and social development of (rural) China and should be carried out in a sustainable and holistic manner using participatory approaches.
The project SUCCESS analysed the present and the potential future role of transport systems in selected rural areas of China. Case studies of three villages were carried out and some mobility-related projects presented a favourable impact not only on the transport sector but also on the social system and the economy. Instruments and measures for the development of a pathway to a sustainable development in rural China were found.
The Wuppertal Institute supported the project by carrying out analyses and providing expertise in the field of sustainable transport and mobility. The research of the Institute focuses on the present and possible future role of the transport systems in and around the case study villages. Both the role of freight transport and the role of passenger transport were analysed in social, economic and ecological terms in order to identify options for sustainable transport and mobility in the different pilot areas.