Quality Improvement of Pedestrian Environment in Old Communities under the Guidance of Low Carbon—A Case Study of Shipai Creek Community in Guangzhou

With the intensification of global climate change, construction of low-carbon cities and carbon neutrality have become a priority for the world. In the ranking of industrial carbon emissions, urban transportation remains high and has become the main target in battle with carbon emission. Walking is an integral part of urban transportation and is considered the most energy-saving way. Accordingly, the quality of pedestrian environment will directly affect people’s inclination for travel methods. Therefore, it can be concluded that the construction of pedestrian environment has profound significance for the development of low-carbon transportation. Due to its early construction, the design of old communities can poorly coordinate the living needs in new era. The increasing traffic conflicts have aroused more concern for the pedestrian environment, which had led to a decrease in residents' desire to walk. Therefore, improving the pedestrian environment of old communities has become urgent. This article takes Shipai Creek Community on Tianhe North Street in Guangzhou as an example to explore strategies for improved pedestrian environment quality of old communities from a low-carbon perspective, and seeks to draw a plan for reference of practice. Firstly, this article reviewed previous research on pedestrian and low-carbon practices both domestically and internationally, analyzed concepts such as pedestrian environment and old communities, and elaborated on the applicability between low-carbon concept and improve the quality of pedestrian environment in old communities. The article then revolved around two key issues: what kind of community is suitable for residents to walk in a low-carbon environment? How to guide the quality improvement of pedestrian environment in old communities? The innovation of this article is mainly reflected in three aspects. Firstly, innovative research perspectives was placed on reducing carbon emissions. From the material aspect of technological transformation and energy renewal in the past to the aspect of guiding residents' low-carbon living behaviors, the importance of individual residents in the low-carbon transformation of communities is highlighted; Secondly, this article combined the low-carbon concept with the renewal of old communities to promote the construction of low-carbon ones, develop and improve existing community practices; Thirdly, it is innovative from the perspective of improving pedestrian environment quality. The perspective of this research has expanded from a single spatial level to a community level, thinking about problems from its origin. In summary, this article aims to provide theoretical analysis and strategic guidance to create a high-quality pedestrian environment for Shipai Creek Community, while providing suggestions for low-carbon renewal of old communities.