In 2008, an intercity high-speed train pulled out of Beijing South Station, showing China’s rail network stepped into a new fast-moving period. Over the past decade, the country has added over 35,000 kilometers     1     its high-speed rail (HSR) network, with the total length that goes far beyond the rest of the world combined.

The HSR is by far the world’s     2    (big) network of its type and China was also the first country with a GDP per capita (人均国民生产总值) below $7,000     3    (invest) in developing an HSR network.

Looking back, a key milestone for China’s HSR development was the     4    (approve) of the Medium-and Long-Term Railway Plan (MLTRP) in 2004,     5     the low speed of the existing railway limited competitiveness in passenger transport.

Though construction     6    (push) forward under technology agreements with developed countries like Germany and France in the beginning, China quickly adapted and improved the designs for local use. Based on the previous experience     7    (accumulate) in this field, China has also developed international standards for HSR equipment.

The original intention for the project was to     8    (large) the capacity (容量) of the country’s overloaded network and improve passenger services. But thanks to many spillover (外溢)     9    (benefit), it has improved regional and provincial connectivity, serving as     10     great help to China’s economic development.

10 . One of the most important changes cities must make to improve life in them is to separate people from their cars. Even when you have a strong public transport system in moving people between population hubs, the last mile - that section between the railway station and someone’s home, for example - can lead to car use if it’s considered too far or too dangerous to walk.

The idea of a low-traffic neighbourhood (LTN) - where cars are banned from quieter ‘rat runs’ (偏僻小路) to keep them on the major routes - has taken off in parts of the UK. LTNs attempt to filter out cars from residential streets using bollards, camera-controlled gates or even planters full of flowers placed across the road, while pedestrians, cyclists and emergency vehicles can still pass.

Analysis for the active transport charity Sustrans found that “driving a mile on a minor urban road is twice as likely to kill or seriously injure a child pedestrian, and three times more likely to kill or seriously injure a child cyclist, compared to driving a mile on an urban A-road,” and that heavy car traffic in residential areas can lead to a rise in social isolation. LTNs reduce this danger, leading to a three-fold reduction in injuries, and have been shown to increase the number of visitors to local businesses.

Also popular are e-scooter hire trials, which are taking place in towns and cities including Middlesbrough, Bristol and Chelmsford. The trials see gaggles of electric scooters available to be picked up from street corners. The scooters are hired using an app and then, once they’re finished with, parked elsewhere inside the trial area, where they’re collected and recharged by the hiring company. A Department of Transport report on e-scooter use found they were “widely perceived to have environmental and convenience benefits,” but suffered from comparisons to children’s toys.

But that’s not all. The world’s first hub for demonstrating electric air taxis and drones opened in Coventry earlier this year. The taxis and drones based at the hub all take off and land vertically like helicopters and are being used to travel short journeys or deliver cargo.

Weaning us off our car addiction is one of the more difficult barriers standing between us and healthier cities. The first step that needs to be taken will be to tackle the dominance of the car.

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