Coupling Coordination Between Transportation Carrying Capacity and Environment Carrying Capacity

The natural environmental degradation is especially challenging the rapid urbanization areas where urban development needs to swallow traffic noise and pollution of atmospheric environment caused by transportation development. Coordinated development of transportation and environment is very necessary for sustainable urban development. This study examined the coupling coordination development situation among the four municipalities in China. The results show that: (1) the value of transportation carrying capacity (TCC) in Tianjin and Chongqing show a fluctuating upward and TCC in Beijing and Shanghai present a decreasing trend for the surveyed period. (2) The value of environment carrying capacity (ECC) in Chongqing and Shanghai show a fluctuating increasing trend and ECC in Tianjin and Beijing decreased slightly. (3) The coupling development characteristics of the four municipalities are obvious, and the elements in each system interact with each other during the surveyed time period. Nevertheless, the degree of coordination between TCC and ECC in each city is lower, especially in Beijing.