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15-min Cities: the Potential of a Medium-Sized Polycentric Latin American City
Abstract
Urban sustainability and sustainable mobility have become the central focus of sustainable development initiatives. The city of 15 models seeks to ensure that urban development is sustainable. This paper evaluates the current state of mobility and the use of sustainable transport in the specific context of the city of Antofagasta, which, due to its characteristics of urban expansion and its mining activity, has been considered an international reference case. In particular, we study how the current urban structure shapes the city’s travel patterns and identify opportunities for public policy actions to focus their investment and urban intervention efforts on the essential aspects that make it possible to achieve 15- or 20-min territories. The results reveal the need for urban development initiatives to focus on improving the supply of goods and services in areas with low installed capacity, promoting the culture of micro-neighbourhoods, and encouraging cycling. In particular, only 10% of trips, for all purposes and all modes of transport, are completed in less than 15 min. And about 58% of trips, for all purposes and all modes, are completed in less than 30 min. In the marginal effects of the multinomial logit model, a one-unit increase in travel time increases the probability of choosing to travel by public transport by 63% and decreases the probability of walking by 41%.
... Most 15-minute city studies address rather sustainable mobility by referring to active transportation modes that do not require motorized transportation (Murgante et al., 2022;Urrutia-Mosquera et al., 2023) and include walking and cycling or the use of electrical devices and propulsion that also reduce pollution and are seen as more sustainable transportation alternatives (Vizmpa et al., 2023), including the situation where they are integrated with greenways and urban trail paths. ...
... Multistakeholder collaboration helps formulate more effective solutions and increase acceptance of urban projects (Draghici et al., 2022;Hasselwander et al., 2024). Through their active participation in urban planning processes, stakeholders can positively influence decisions on the design of public spaces, mobility, and land use, thus ensuring the development of 15-minute cities well adapted to local realities and community needs (Urrutia-Mosquera et al., 2023;Caselli et al., 2022). ...
... Inequities in mobility between socioeconomic groups, gender, and between formal and informal workers are another major challenge. Studies show that gender inequality in mobility is accentuated by higher incomes, with women with higher incomes having shorter travel times but also more likely to choose public transportation or walking (Urrutia-Mosquera et al., 2023). ...
Interest in the concept of '15-minute' / 'x-minute city' exploded during and especially after the COVID-19 pandemic. The benefits of this concept identified by the scholarly literature were many, but even more were the identified challenges of translating into policy and implementing this concept in practice, due to the different socioeconomic , cultural, political, and even geographical contexts. This study focuses on the impact of the technological context in the implementation of the concept and aims to evaluate how smart & sustainable technologies can contribute to ensuring and improving accessibility, mobility, and the well-being dimensions of residents of cities or neighborhoods built on the principles of the concept of '15-minute city'. Using a mixed-method approach, this study investigates the main dimensions of the 15-minute city concept in its classic and extended sense. The results obtained by integrating the disparate findings of different scholarly studies through meta-narrative reviews show a high potential impact of smart & sustainable technologies on the performance of the implementation of the 15-minute city concept. The results of this study have significant implications for public policy and practice, suggesting that the integration of smart and sustainable technologies into urban planning can guide strategic decisions that facilitate the transition to more accessible, healthy, and equitable cities, aligned with the goals of sustainable development and adaptation to social and climate change.
... The promise of sustainable urban development seeks to reduce spatial inequity in the distribution and provision of goods and services in cities [21], which is why the conception of the city, the way goods and services are distributed in space, and the configuration of land use determine the mobility dynamics and travel behaviour of its residents [22,23]. ...
... Leading cities in sustainable mobility include Barcelona, Portland and Melbourne [21,52,53]. However, in developing countries such as those in Latin America, given the current level of urban development, the inequitable spatial distribution of goods and services and the need for robust multimodal transport systems remain the challenges to overcome [54]. ...
... As in all countries in Latin America and Chile, progress in terms of sustainable mobility and the design of public policies aimed at strengthening sustainable mobility is still in its early stages. [21,80,81]. ...
With the implementation of sustainable development objectives in developing countries, urban planning, land use regulation, and urban mobility policies are expected to help reduce inequalities in access to urban facilities. Urban transport policies are also expected to encourage travel by non-motorised modes and public transport. These are considered to be the sustainable modes of urban transport. In this paper, we investigate how inequality of urban facilities impacts trips made by sustainable modes in the city of Santiago de Chile. We use a Poisson regression model and its geographical extension, the geographically weighted Poisson regression model (GWPR). The results suggest that the inequality of urban facilities impacts trips made by sustainable modes. The variables with the highest relevance are the spatial distribution of mixed land use, the spatial distribution of urban services related to transport infrastructure, primary and secondary education, as well as the spatial distribution of demographic variables related to people’s life cycle.
... En esta línea, Marchigiani y Bonfantini (2022) afirman Universidad de los Andes 6 que el concepto de ciudad de los 15 minutos está perdiendo su matiz conceptual como "síndrome de proximidad", donde los planificadores y formuladores de políticas consideran la accesibilidad por proximidad como una solución independiente e ignoran el conocimiento sobre accesibilidad y habitabilidad urbana en la literatura establecida, como las 3Ds de Cervero y Kockelman (1997) -densidad, diversidad y distancia -que ahora se amplía a 7Ds para incluir accesibilidad a destinos, distancia al transporte público, gestión de la demanda y demografía (Ewing y Cervero, 2010). Además, se necesita una mayor reflexión sobre la idea de (hiper)proximidad más allá de los imaginarios eurocéntricos de especificidades geográficas, políticas, culturales y socioeconómicas que se encuentran dentro de la ciudad para impulsar ideas prácticas sobre la implementación y financiamiento del concepto de ciudad de los 15 minutos en el Sur Global (Allam et al., 2022a;Guzman et al., 2021a;Urrutia-Mosquera et al., 2023). ...
Las áreas urbanas albergan funciones sociales que son fundamentales para el desarrollo y la calidad de vida. Esta investigación explora por qué el concepto de la ciudad de 15 minutos, si bien es loable en sus aspiraciones, podría ser insuficiente para mitigar eficazmente las desigualdades urbanas, especialmente en las ciudades densamente pobladas y segregadas. Utilizando Bogotá (Colombia) como caso de estudio, se propone y desarrolla un índice estandarizado basado en la disponibilidad de servicios urbanos básicos dentro de un radio de 15 minutos a pie a cada manzana de la ciudad. Este índice también integra preferencias individuales, la diversidad de servicios y la calidad de la infraestructura peatonal. Esto proporciona una comprensión completa de los factores que influyen en la proximidad, teniendo en cuenta las diversas necesidades de las personas. Incluir las preferencias individuales hacia los servicios básicos es fundamental para comprender los determinantes de la accesibilidad, resaltando la importancia de las características sociodemográficas. Aunque varias áreas urbanas en todo el mundo pueden cumplir con la interpretación general del concepto de ciudad de 15 minutos, esta investigación revela importantes diferencias entre diversos segmentos de población en cuanto al acceso a los servicios urbanos básicos y su priorización. El estudio encontró que las tiendas de alimentos (tiendas de barrio) y los centros de salud tienen una gran importancia para toda la población. Además, el grupo de mayores ingresos muestra una mayor preferencia por las tiendas minoristas y los servicios comerciales. Por el contrario, la población de bajos ingresos tiene una preferencia mayor por la proximidad a los centros de salud. Este estudio pretende poner de relieve las disparidades estructurales inherentes en áreas urbanas, desvelando así desigualdades intrínsecas del concepto de ciudad de 15 minutos. Se propone un enfoque de medición general e inclusivo como contribución al avance de nuestra comprensión y a la implementación efectiva del concepto de ciudad de 15 minutos en áreas urbanas heterogéneas.
Research on urban areas constitutes a highly significant field of study in contemporary science. It is worth noting that such research cannot be unequivo- cally assigned to a single scientific discipline; rather, it embodies an interdisci- plinary character. The chosen research direction is therefore highly individual, and the obtained results will shape further understanding of various aspects of urban areas’ functioning in social, economic, political, and transportation con- texts. However it should be emphasized, that in the context of the ongoing phe- nomenon of suburbanization and the increasing challenges faced by contempo- rary urban areas, such research appears not only as an intriguing direction for scientific reflection but also as one of the fundamental determinants of transpor- tation policy. This monograph is dedicated to the exploration of various dimensions of the city, with particular emphasis on the role of delimitation as a tool in transporta- tion policy, simultaneously serving as a determinant of the compatibility of econometric models in polycentric agglomerations. It is also worth emphasizing that the issue of urban area delimitation is often only marginally addressed in scientific literature. Such an approach seems inadequate, as delimitation will largely determine the steps taken within the implemented urban policy. This monograph serves as a response to the identified research gap and may be re- garded as a catalyst for a deeper academic debate in this area. The theoretical aim of this study is to systematize information concerning urban areas, with particular emphasis on the phenomenon of suburbanization and delimitation processes. To achieve this goal, a systematic review of scientific literature in the discussed scope was conducted. The research aim of the mono- graph is to attempt to determine the extent to which area delimitation may influ- ence the fit of econometric models. The research in question is limited to poly- centric regions – dispersed urban areas characterized by the highest degree of spatial-administrative complexity. The Metropolis GZM has been selected as a kind of research testing ground. The monograph seeks to address the following research hypothesis – “the process of area delimitation affects the fit of econo- metric models in polycentric-dispersed agglomerations.” The monograph begins with a chapter enlightened by the city and its es- sence as a potential area of scientific research. The deliberations commence with reflections on the city’s position within the discipline of economics. An analysis is conducted concerning issues related to urban allocation and its position in both a network and systemic context. Additionally, the chapter presents a two- -dimensional model of urban areas, emphasizing their spatial aspects. The second chapter focuses on the process of delimitation as a significant element of implemented transportation policy. It begins with a synthetic litera- ture review on the issue of suburbanization of urban areas and its impact on transportation policy. This review also encompasses the phenomenon of delimi- tation, examining the context in which this concept has appeared in previous scientific research. The chapter concludes with a review of transportation plans for the ten largest Polish cities and the largest metropolitan area in the country, namely the Metropolis GZM. These plans were analysed regarding the manner in which they addressed area delimitation – key delimitation factors were identi- fied, and the extent to which the delimitation process influenced the final shape of the transportation plan was synthetically described. In the final chapter, the focus was on examining area delimitation as a key factor influencing the compatibility of econometric models in polycentric- dispersed agglomerations. The Metropolis GZM was chosen as the research testing ground. The first subsection presents the methodology of the conducted analysis. Subsequently, the obtained results are discussed, with a focus on dif- ferences in the fit of econometric models depending on the method of delimita- tion. Additionally, praxeology is presented as a potential alternative to classical approaches based on quantitative models. The work is based on a query of English-language literature, transportation plans, and research findings conducted in the Metropolis GZM area. The mono- graph is aimed at individuals involved in urban transportation policy, urban planners, public administration bodies, urban logisticians, and all those interested in transportation policy issues.
The impact of population mobility and transportation choices on the environment is significant. Sustainable mobility policies require an understanding of evolving mobility patterns. This study examines global mobility variations across countries using COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports. Employing the k-medoids algorithm and Dynamic Time Warping, we analyzed mobility dynamics. Results reveal diverse changes in population mobility. Around 52 Global North countries exhibit approximately 10% reduction in professional activity-related traffic post-COVID-19. Regarding urban green space mobility, only 29 countries exhibit strong seasonality, with summer traffic in the northern hemisphere peaking at about 150% higher than winter traffic. Three groups of countries are identified concerning public transport mobility: returning to pre-pandemic levels, experiencing a 25% increase, and nearly doubling from pre-pandemic levels. This underscores the key determinants for sustainable mobility policy implementation. Fifteen highly developed countries share similar mobility patterns across six areas studied, facilitating the exchange of sustainable mobility solutions and best practices. This research underscores the importance of understanding and addressing evolving mobility patterns for effective environmental policy planning.
Due to the high emissions produced by the transport sector, one of the most implemented initiatives in developed countries in the last decade is the electrification of the public transport fleet and the private vehicle fleet. The purchase of electric and hybrid vehicles in developing countries is negligible compared to developed countries and little has been indicated about the characteristics of potential buyers of this type of technology. In this paper, we aim to cover this aspect. Chile is a good case to study, as it is an emerging country with the highest level of penetration of electric and hybrid vehicles in the market and with better import scenarios according to the free trade agreements signed with the USA, Europe, and Asia. The results show that the socio-demographic characteristics with the greatest impact on the likelihood of purchasing low-emission vehicles, in the absence of any incentives, are household size, educational level, and gender. Particularly the marginal effects indicate that of the individuals surveyed who belong to a two-person household, they are 9% more likely to choose to buy a low-pollution vehicle compared to single people, and 8.96% less likely to choose a high-pollution vehicle compared to a single person.
Urban areas encompass essential social functions that are fundamental for the development and quality of life. This research explores why the concept of the 15-minute city, while commendable in its aspirations, might fall short in effectively mitigating urban inequalities, especially within densely populated and segregated developing cities. Using Bogotá (Colombia) as a case study, this paper advocates and develops a standardized index based on the availability of essential urban functions within a 15-minute walking distance. This index also integrates individual preferences, geographical attributes, and the quality of pedestrian infrastructure. Doing so provides a more comprehensive understanding of the factors influencing proximity, accommodating the diverse needs of various social identities. Considering individual preferences towards proximity is critical to comprehend the determinants of accessibility, encompassing the relevance of sociodemographic characteristics. Although several urban areas worldwide may meet the broad interpretation of the 15-minute city concept, our research reveals significant disparities among population segments regarding access to urban services and their prioritization. Our case study found that grocery stores and healthcare facilities hold paramount importance across all population segments. Furthermore, wealthy segments exhibit a heightened preference for retail shops and commercial services. In contrast, the low-income population has a considerably greater preference for healthcare facilities. This study aims to cast light upon structural disparities inherent in urban areas, thereby unveiling inequalities in the 15-minute city concept's capacity to diagnose and mitigate urban inequalities. The promotion of a more all-encompassing and inclusive measurement approach is posited as a contribution to the advancement of our comprehension and the effective implementation of the 15-minute city concept across heterogeneous urban landscapes.
Multimodality refers to the phenomenon of using more than one mode of transport in a given period. Encouraging multimodality potentially provides an effective solution to reduce CO2 emissions and induce modal shifts toward sustainable transport. This research investigates the extent to which the level and correlates of multimodality differ by trip purpose. We used one-week travel diaries of the English National Travel Survey. Our analyses showed that the level of multimodality varied by trip purpose and the associated time-space variability as well as by the number of trip stages. We found that the level of variability in departure time and travel distance was greater for leisure trips than for maintenance trips, which was in turn greater than for work trips. Trips that were more variable in departure time and travel distance showed on average higher levels of individual multimodality, but only if sufficient stages (at least 3) were made. Moreover, we detected cross-purpose disparities in correlates of multimodality in terms of significance and variance explained. This research may provide support to the development of trip purpose-specific policies aiming to increase multimodality.
The ecological footprint is an indicator used in recent years to assess the accelerated process of environmental degradation experienced by countries. In particular, in regions or countries with high biodiversity, strong dependence on natural resources, high informality, and low productive specialization. We employ a set of quantitative techniques within the theoretical framework of convergence and found the existence of per capita ecological footprint clubs. In addition, we estimate a set of logistic regressions to obtain the average marginal effect of the determinants of the convergence clubs. We found that economic complexity, the shadow economy, and natural resources significantly influence the formation of convergence clubs. The results indicate the existence of convergence in three clubs, while two clubs are divergent. Environmental policymakers in this region should collectively mitigate environmental degradation and achieve sustainable development goals, particularly among the countries that make up the convergence clubs.
Due to the high emissions produced by the transportation sector, one of the most implemented policies worldwide is the economic incentive to purchase electric and hybrid vehicles. The adoption of these policies in developing countries is scarce or null and there are no studies that investigate the impact of economic incentives in the potential demand for low emission vehicles. This paper covers this gap.
Using data from a stated preference experiment in Santiago of Chile, specifically built to collect individuals’ preferences for incentives to low emission vehicles, a mixed logit model was estimated and results used to compute willingness to pay. In parallel, a contingent evaluation experiment was conducted to elicit individuals’ willingness to pay under two specific policies, involving different ways to provide fiscal incentives. Results shows that individuals are more sensitive to autonomy and incentives in the case of electric vehicles in relation to conventional/hybrid type. Likewise, results show that for an exemption from VAT payment and any type of sales and purchase tax, 72% of individuals would be willing to purchase an electric vehicle, and 76% of individuals would be willing to purchase a hybrid vehicle, waiting for an adequate incentive policy for it.
As cities expand, human mobility has become a central focus of urban planning and policy making to make cities more inclusive and sustainable. Initiatives such as the “15-minutes city” have been put in place to shift the attention from monocentric city configurations to polycentric structures, increasing the availability and diversity of local urban amenities. Ultimately they expect to increase local walkability and increase mobility within residential areas. While we know how urban amenities influence human mobility at the city level, little is known about spatial variations in this relationship. Here, we use mobile phone, census, and volunteered geographical data to measure geographic variations in the relationship between origin-destination flows and local urban accessibility in Barcelona. Using a Negative Binomial Geographically Weighted Regression model, we show that, globally, people tend to visit neighborhoods with better access to education and retail. Locally, these and other features change in sign and magnitude through the different neighborhoods of the city in ways that are not explained by administrative boundaries, and that provide deeper insights regarding urban characteristics such as rental prices. In conclusion, our work suggests that the qualities of a 15-minutes city can be measured at scale, delivering actionable insights on the polycentric structure of cities, and how people use and access this structure.
Intermediate cities have experienced economic dynamism in recent years, but, with the focus firmly on large metropoles and sprawling megacities, the development potential of intermediate cities has stayed out of the limelight. This paper upholds the relevance and potential of intermediate cities, arguing that they can play as important a role —if not a more important one— than the large metropoles that, until now, have been the focus of attention. Intermediate cities hold considerable advantages in particular for poverty reduction and as more efficient ecosystems to live and work. Untapping the potential of intermediate cities requires, however, more territorially balanced, place‐sensitive strategies.
The socio-economic impacts on cities during the COVID-19 pandemic have been brutal, leading to increasing inequalities and record numbers of unemployment around the world. While cities endure lockdowns in order to ensure decent levels of health, the challenges linked to the unfolding of the pandemic have led to the need for a radical re-think of the city, leading to the re-emergence of a concept, initially proposed in 2016 by Carlos Moreno: the “15-Minute City”. The concept, offering a novel perspective of “chrono-urbanism”, adds to existing thematic of Smart Cities and the rhetoric of building more humane urban fabrics, outlined by Christopher Alexander, and that of building safer, more resilient, sustainable and inclusive cities, as depicted in the Sustainable Development Goal 11 of the United Nations. With the concept gaining ground in popular media and its subsequent adoption at policy level in a number of cities of varying scale and geographies, the present paper sets forth to introduce the concept, its origins, intent and future directions.
The chapter is an introduction to the book that places the research perspective for the comparative analysis of social inequalities between Europe and Latin America in a theoretical and methodological framework. Particularly, we present the INCASI project, the objectives, and discuss the concept of social inequalities in Latin American countries in comparison with European countries in order to create a dialogue that fills the knowledge gap between these two different traditions. To do so, we propose an Analytical Model on Social Inequalities and Trajectories (AMOSIT). Finally, the structure and general contents of the book are presented.
Since the mid-1990s, sustainable principles have been embedded in Malaysia’s development plans. The assumption has been that policies, programs, and plans that promote good communities—requiring a mix of housing types, uses, and densities—will produce sustainability. This study examines planning policies and interviews data with local planners to understand the challenges in interpreting and implementing a sustainability agenda in practice. The findings of the study suggest that although planners use various strategies and mechanisms to achieve sustainable cities, problems and barriers limit efforts to produce sustainable cities. Planners have reached a consensus on the need to improve current practice in producing sustainable cities and find effective solutions to deliver good governance practices. The weak commitment of different agencies and leadership, and limited staff resources and unnecessary political intervention, mean that planners in Malaysia face increasing challenges when implementing sustainable cities.
Background: Public bike-sharing schemes have gained enormous popularity worldwide. However, so far most of the research has focused on issues regarding the functioning of these schemes in cities, with little attention on how these systems are perceived and managed by urban planning authorities, which is the aim of this paper. Methods: The analysis is set in Santiago, a highly segregated city composed of 37 independent districts. Two focus groups with urban planning authorities belonging to districts with and without functioning bike-sharing schemes were conducted. Information was processed using a thematic analysis framework, which permitted to reduce, reorganize, and analyze these testimonial data. Results: The main results show that bike-sharing schemes are perceived as being part of a larger phenomenon related to the city’s socio-economic differences. A series of issues emerged that are related to urban planning authorities limitations in terms of governance and availability of planning instruments and strategies to cope with contrasting realities of the city. It was noted that bike-sharing schemes are helping to improve a neighborhood image, while, at the same time, promoting contemporary and cosmopolitan lifestyles. However, the functioning of bike-sharing schemes also is a reminder of the fragmented and dysfunctional governance of Santiago.
An extensive body of work from the urban planning, health, and other disciplines has documented the importance of walking to urban sustainability from health, safety, security, environmental and other perspectives. These studies come mainly from countries in North America and Europe, where the majority of the population relies on cars for transportation. Notwithstanding, in many countries in the Global South, walking remains a majority transport mode, while cars increasingly dominate the urban streetscape, but are accessible only to a minority of the population. Chile provides fertile terrain for studying this phenomenon. This article reviews current practice and recent research of walking in Chile, in light of international findings regarding walkability, equity and urban sustainability. To elaborate an overview of the depth and breadth of walking in Chile, an interdisciplinary team conducted a literature review, examined relevant case study material from experience from Chile and in particular from Santiago, and triangulated this mainly qualitative data with results from the origin-destination survey applied in Chile’s main cities, Chilean traffic safety data) and results from official transport reports of other Latin American cities [Tirachini, A. (2019). South America: The challenge of transition. In J. Stanley & D. Hensher (Eds.), A research agenda for transport policy. Northampton, MA: Edward Elgar Publishing]. Findings show that despite priority public investments that have largely prioritised infrastructure for cars, walking in Chile has remained as the majority transport mode up until today, especially for lower-middle income groups, and particularly for care-related tasks performed mainly by women. In this sense, walking in Chile has proven remarkably persistent. The importance of walking as the main transport mode, against the odds, reflects economic, cultural, and urban form determinants, which are explored in this article. Furthermore, a recent upsurge in public interest and community design initiatives to improve walking, particularly the generation of a Chilean approach to “complete streets” has emerged, opening up opportunities to challenge Chile’s version of automobility in favour of more equitable, active and public transportation modes. There is, therefore, in Chile an opportunity to prioritise the walking mode, improve infrastructure for walkers and build from preserving current high pedestrian modal shares, rather than having to reverse widespread car use, as occurs in many countries in Europe and North America. This potential is highly relevant as these conditions are similar to those in other Latin American cities and, potentially, other cities elsewhere in the Global South.
Urban sprawl has changed the pattern of population displacement. People now inhabit less urbanized regions, spending more time in public transports to have access to the city’s facilities. In this context, this research focuses on measuring the job accessibility of different areas of Rio de Janeiro city to understand what would be the influence of people’s location and public transports availability. We used a cumulative opportunity indicator to measure the accessibility of the 33 Administrative Regions of Rio de Janeiro. The results show an unequal distribution of accessibility, in which the farthest regions from the urban center have less accessibility, due the high concentration of jobs in the city center and the greater distances between the city center and peripheral areas. Thus, investments in public transportation must be done as a parallel measure to the decentralization and improvement of job distribution throughout the city to improve accessibility.
Background: Car-dependent city planning has resulted in high levels of environmental pollution, sedentary lifestyles and increased vulnerability to the effects of climate change. The Barcelona Superblock model is an innovative urban and transport planning strategy that aims to reclaim public space for people, reduce motorized transport, promote sustainable mobility and active lifestyles, provide urban greening and mitigate effects of climate change. We estimated the health impacts of implementing this urban model across Barcelona. Methods: We carried out a quantitative health impact assessment (HIA) study for Barcelona residents ≥20 years (N=1,301,827) on the projected Superblock area level (N=503), following the comparative risk assessment methodology. We 1) estimated expected changes in (a) transport-related physical activity (PA), (b) air pollution (NO2), (c) road traffic noise, (d) green space, and (e) reduction of the urban heat island (UHI) effect through heat reductions; 2) scaled available risk estimates; and 3) calculated attributable health impact fractions. Estimated endpoints were preventable premature mortality, changes in life expectancy and economic impacts. Results: We estimated that 667 premature deaths (95% CI: 235–1,098) could be prevented annually through
implementing the 503 Superblocks. The greatest number of preventable deaths could be attributed to reductions in NO2 (291, 95% PI: 0–838), followed by noise (163, 95% CI: 83–246), heat (117, 95% CI: 101–137), and green space development (60, 95% CI: 0–119). Increased PA for an estimated 65,000 persons shifting car/motorcycle
trips to public and active transport resulted in 36 preventable deaths (95% CI: 26–50). The Superblocks were estimated to result in an average increase in life expectancy for the Barcelona adult population of almost 200 days (95% CI: 99–297), and result in an annual economic impact of 1.7 billion EUR (95% CI: 0.6–2.8). Discussion: The Barcelona Superblocks were estimated to help reduce harmful environmental exposures (i.e. air pollution, noise, and heat) while simultaneously increase PA levels and access to green space, and thereby provide substantial health benefits. For an equitable distribution of health benefits, the Superblocks should be implemented consistently across the entire city. Similar health benefits are expected for other cities that face similar challenges of environmental pollution, climate change vulnerability and low PA levels, by adopting the Barcelona Superblock model.
p>Se propone el análisis de los conjuntos habitacionales en el contexto de los actuales procesos de “integración socio-urbana” llevados adelante por el gobierno de la Ciudad de Buenos Aires en dos villas: el barrio Padre Carlos Mugica (ex villas 31 y 31 bis) y Playón de Chacarita. Se indagará en el rol de los conjuntos habitacionales en las políticas de “integración socio-urbana” y su tratamiento, significaciones y simbolizaciones en los procesos participativos y en las acciones de gobierno. Se persigue evaluar la índole de los procesos en curso, con la finalidad de desentrañar las consistencias e inconsistencias en el orden del derecho a la ciudad y la vivienda, conforme están establecidos en los instrumentos constitucionales de la nación y la ciudad.</p
The betweenness centrality, a path-based global measure of flow, is a static predictor of congestion and load on networks. Here we demonstrate that its statistical distribution is invariant for planar networks, that are used to model many infrastructural and biological systems. Empirical analysis of street networks from 97 cities worldwide, along with simulations of random planar graph models, indicates the observed invariance to be a consequence of a bimodal regime consisting of an underlying tree structure for high betweenness nodes, and a low betweenness regime corresponding to loops providing local path alternatives. Furthermore, the high betweenness nodes display a non-trivial spatial clustering with increasing spatial correlation as a function of the edge-density. Our results suggest that the spatial distribution of betweenness is a more accurate discriminator than its statistics for comparing static congestion patterns and its evolution across cities as demonstrated by analyzing 200 years of street data for Paris.
Usually, segregation is conceptualized as the consequence of people's preferences to live close to people similar to them. However, evidence shows something different. While it is true that people want to have neighbors such as themselves, the intensity of this preference—the proportion of similar neighbors they desire to have – varies among individuals and groups. Nonetheless, following Schelling (1971), the aggregated result of people's interaction in the land market generates levels of segregation higher than individual preferences. This article explores a variation of the Schelling model: While the original model works with two groups, this paper incorporates a third social group, to which it is indifferent to contact with the other two groups. Results show that the presence of this third group generates a decrease of levels of segregation in the city, favoring residential integration.
The aspirations, motivations and choices of individual European citizens are a major driver of the future of global, European and local land use. However, until now no land use study has explicitly attempted to find out how the general public wants to live in the future. This paper forms a first attempt to survey European citizens to understand their desired future lives in relation to consequences for European land use. We used a crowdsourcing experiment to elicit visions from young Europeans about their lives in 2040. Participants completed a graphic novel around carefully selected questions, allowing them to create a story of their imagined future lives in pictures. The methodology worked well, and the sample seemed reasonably representative albeit skewed towards an educated population. In total, 1131 responses from 29 countries were received. Results show a strong desire for change, and for more sustainable lifestyles. There is desire for local and ecologically friendly food production, to eat less meat, to have access to green infrastructure and the ability to cycle to work. However, international travel remains popular, and the desire for extensive food production and owning detached houses with gardens will likely result in complex land use trade-offs. Future work could focus more specifically on quantifying these trade-offs and inform respondents about the consequences of their lifestyle choices. This was a first attempt to use crowdsourcing to understand citizen visions for their lives in the future, and our lessons learned will help future studies improve representativeness and increase responses.
Infrastructure development relies on the allocation of resources which is usually uneven across cities. Socioeconomic instability stems from such development disparity that consequently affects the decision processes focusing on sustainable development. This study proposes an approach to examine the temporal dynamics of infrastructure development disparity at multiple spatial scales. Starting from the selection of spatial scales, time-series and infrastructure development indicators fitting the study requirements, the Infrastructure Development Index (IDI) values are computed through sequential steps involving data normalization and assessment of indicator weights through analytic hierarchy process. The sectoral, IDI and disparity analyses are then carried out using coefficient of variance (Cv), temporal IDI value change, and Cv/sample t-test methods, respectively. The methodology was applied to a case study area, the five city districts (Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi) of the province of Punjab, Pakistan, at town, city district and province scales (the province scale encompassed only the five city districts). Three time periods (2002, 2007 and 2012) and five infrastructure development indicators were considered. The results show that the development status in Lahore (provincial capital) was better compared to the other city districts. The temporal trend, however, indicated that the provision of infrastructure facilities has improved in the study area over the past years. The proposed methods performed quite well at identifying the development gaps at multiple spatial scales, though the approach can be enhanced by incorporating more indicators.
Over the past decades, transport researchers and policy-makers have devoted increasing attention to questions about justice and equity. Nonetheless, there is still little engagement with theories in political philosophy to frame what justice means in the context of transport policies. This paper reviews key theories of justice (utilitarianism, libertarianism, intuitionism, Rawls’ egalitarianism, and Capability Approaches (CAs)) and critically evaluates the insights they generate when applied to transport. Based on a combination of Rawlsian and CAs, we propose that distributive justice concerns over transport disadvantage and social exclusion should focus primarily on accessibility as a human capability. This means that, in policy evaluation, a detailed analysis of the distributional effects of transport policies should take account of the setting of minimum standards of accessibility to key destinations and the extent to which these policies respect individuals’ rights and prioritise disadvantaged groups, reduce inequalities of opportunities, and mitigate transport externalities. A full account of justice in transportation requires a more complete understanding of accessibility than traditional approaches have been able to deliver to date.
The aim of this paper is to estimate fuel demand behaviour related to car use by households with different income levels in Spain using micro-level panel data in order to infer public policy implications. Our results show that the income elasticity of fuel demand is highest for the lowest income group and diminishes monotonically for the others. The price elasticity is highest in absolute value for the lowest income group, lowest for the highest income quartile and similar for the medium-low and medium-high income groups. Finally, the lowest income group is the most responsive to changes in the price of public transport, whereas the medium-low income group is the least responsive. This suggests that pricing policies aiming to reduce car fuel consumption would have different distributive impacts. Thus, the two main pricing transport policies, fuel taxes and public transport subsidies, are deemed complementary and their combination could be defended on distributional grounds.
Transport poverty is an issue that has never fully captured the interests of the transport engineering profession in either the ‘global north’ or ‘global south’ and yet it is a problem that adversely affects the daily lives of millions of people across the globe. What precisely constitutes transport poverty is not adequately articulated within academic, policy or infrastructure design literature. This paper aims to demonstrate how the different ways that academic studies and policy programmes have defined and recorded the problem of transport poverty is directly related to the ways in which it has been subsequently addressed in practice. The overall impression is one of inadequacy, fragmentation, inconsistency and tokenistic treatment of an issue that potentially affects anywhere between 10 to 90% of all households, depending on which definition is used and which country is being considered. This suggests that it is a far greater problem than the transport profession has previously been prepared to recognise and one that requires its urgent attention given the continuing trends for mass migration, urbanisation and wealth concentration within and between the ‘global north’ and ‘global south’.
The concept of lifestyle adds a behavioural component to travel models that used to be dominated by engineering and econometric traditions. This paper presents an overview of how lifestyle is defined and measured in transport studies, and how travel behaviour is influenced by lifestyles. Lifestyles are often are often used pragmatically rather than theoretically in the behaviour studies. Nevertheless, some important theoretical contributions have been made, especially in sociology by scholars such as Weber, Bourdieu, Ganzeboom and Schulz who agree on the communicative character of lifestyles: individuals express their social position through specific patterns of behaviour, consumption and leisure. These behavioural patterns are shaped by underlying opinions and orientations, including beliefs, interests and attitudes. Thus, travel behaviour is not simply determined by price, speed and comfort but is also related to attitudes, status and preferences. Because lifestyle has many different dimensions, a variety of measurement approaches exists. Nevertheless, most studies suggest that travel behaviour is conditioned by specific lifestyles. How lifestyles themselves can be modified to promote more sustainable patterns of transport has not received much attention to date. This paper argues that lifestyles need to be considered as dynamic rather than as static and given, and that future research could delve more deeply into this area.
The chapter examines how the various dimensions of economic inequality between men and women are analyzed today. Beyond the gender wage gap-a central issue-and of course the still far from equal sharing of housework, the chapter also reviews research on gender inequality in access to self-employment, the gender gap in pensions, and the emerging topic of a gender gap in wealth, attempting to highlight the paths between the various facets of gender inequality. Throughout the review, much attention is paid to measurement issues, the scope of empirical evidence, and to limitations due either to the small number of large and comparable data sets or to conventional approaches that limit the possibilities to compare men and women.
Research on travel behavior of the urban low-income citizens in China is minimal. The main objective of this study is to examine the travel characteristics and trip chain characteristics of China's urban low-income. Using the travel data collected in the city of Huzhou(a prefecture-level city in east China), Two-Step Clustering Analysis is conducted to identify low-income people from the dataset. It is found that urban low-income people have lower mobility than the non-low-income. They tend to make fewer trips and of shorter distance. However, average trip duration of the low-income is longer than that of the non-low-income. Results show that the low-income individual makes most of their trips for subsistence activities, such as going to work or school. In addition, large proportions of all trips made by the low-income are undertaken by walking, electric motorcycle, and bicycle. The number of trip chain of low-income people is generally small, and the length of said trip chain is short. Finally policy implications are recommended in the context of providing transportation equity service to improve the mobility of urban low-income. (C) 2013 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. Selection and peer-review under responsibility of Chinese Overseas Transportation Association (COTA).
Contemporary urban systems in OECD countries are structured around functional regions, which often overcome established city-boundaries. Reading space in terms of functional regions allows assessing changes in urban hierarchies and spatial structures, including the polycentricity of urban systems at national, regional and metropolitan scales. By using a harmonized definition of functional urban areas in OECD countries, this paper first provides a sound definition of polycentricity at each spatial scale, highlighting for each of them the different links with policy. Second, it provides measures of polycentricity and explores the economic implications of different spatial structures. Results show that relatively more monocentric regions have higher GDP per capita than their more polycentric counterparts. At the country level, on the other hand, polycentricity is associated with higher GDP per capita.
This paper investigates the influence of both mobility events and household events on modal shift decision for bicycle commuting using data collected from a retrospective survey in the Netherlands. The results from a mixed logit analysis illustrate the influence of several life events on commute modal shifts in addition to changes in commute time and socio-demographic variables. Job characteristics such as changes in work status and employer, mobility resource, long-term mobility events, and household events are seen to influence commuting decision by bicycle.
Este trabajo busca abordar la relación entre el contexto urbano y las interacciones entre las personas, identificando las dimensiones sociales y espaciales de esa relación, las que son enfocadas en dos niveles de análisis: el barrio, como base de los hogares de la muestra estudiada; y el individuo, en el contexto de sus redes sociales personales. Este análisis se hace a partir de casos de estudio individuales. La investigación se basa en un marco teórico interdisciplinar y en datos empíricos recogidos en Concepción, Chile· Los resultados sugieren la existencia de un espacio de actividades delimitado por los lugares donde los individuos desarrollan sus actividades sociales cotidianas, su entorno cercano. A ello se suma el espacio de movimiento que se conforma por la ruta o trayecto entre el hogar y trabajo de los individuos, y los lugares de interacción social con sus redes personales. Los análisis revelan la dualidad existente entre el espacio de actividades de sectores de ingresos altos y el de sectores de bajos ingresos, sugiriendo que la integración socioespacial y problemas concomitantes tiene ribetes más complejos y multidimensionales que los generalmente abordados en la literatura.
Different initiatives have been implemented to improve air quality in large cities, such as encouraging travel by sustainable modes of transport, promoting electro-mobility, or the car-free day. However, to date, we have not found statistics that indicate to what extent the concentration levels of particulate matter PM2.5, PM10 and nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollutants decrease as a result of public policy. We used official data from the Chilean Government’s national air quality information system (SINCA) for the Santiago metropolitan region and estimated the impact of the confinement by COVID-19 on the ambient concentration average values of NOx gases and particulate matter PM2.5 and PM10, which are the main air pollutants produced by the transport sector after CO2. We found that in general there are significant differences between the average levels of gas emissions for 2020 compared to 2019. In particular, we found that, for the months of total confinement May-July, the monthly average levels decreased between 7% and 19% for particulate matter PM2.5, between 18% and 50% for PM10 and between 34% and 48% for NOx. With the return to the new normality, these improvements in ambient concentration levels may be affected by the increase in private transport trips, due to the reluctance of citizens to return to mass public transport. Our results, therefore, represent the maximum impact that can be expected in reducing ambient concentration levels in the city of Santiago of Chile when a mobility reduction of gasoline vehicles is implemented. The reduction of PM2.5, PM10 and NOx was no more than 7%, 18% and 34%, respectively. The average concentration of PM2.5 decreased by 7–19% compared to previous years. The average concentration of PM10 decreased by 18% and 50% compared to previous years. Concentrating commuting on public transport would help reduce levels of PM10 and PM2.5.
Urban economic development is one of the primary engines of hazard exposure and differential social vulnerability, nevertheless, the drivers of urban development are rarely explicitly tackled in work on climate adaptation or resilience governance. When the imperative of urban economic and spatial growth is taken as a given, the mechanisms that perpetuate it remain unexplored and unquestioned. Lack of attention to such mechanisms, and specifically the politics of urban land use, can lead to ineffective planning and maladaptation. In this review, we explore the intersection of scholarship on urban climate adaptation governance and the political economy of urban development to identify the specific contemporary mechanisms that perpetuate uneven patterns of urban vulnerability and undermine adaptation planning. We are guided by three questions: What are the mechanisms that urban managers employ to assign rights and responsibilities to land, and thus allocate spatial exposure to risk? How is land implicated in cities’ efforts to finance themselves and their activities, and what are the implications for adaptation? What mechanisms enable urban actors to protect themselves from risk and respond to uncertainty? We emphasize the need to place urban climate governance within the broader political dynamics of urban development for more effective, equitable and ultimately sustainable vulnerability interventions. We find that instruments of urban development are often supporting the prioritization of economic rewards over equitable and just distribution of risk and rights to adaptation benefits. We conclude by highlighting the “uncomfortable knowledge” that if sustainable adaptation is to be achieved, the mechanisms of urban development and associated actors that shape, steer and utilize these instruments for a variety of means and goals, must be made visible and addressed.
This paper analyses the environmental degradation associated with the ecological footprint in Latin America. The studied region has an important feature of less industrialization and are having high advantage of biodiversity. As ecological footprint is a comprehensive indicator of environmental deterioration because it assesses the impact of all human activities on nature. This research examines the effect of economic complexity and the natural resources rents on the per capita ecological footprint in Latin America. To assess the sensitivity of the parameters and to capture the impact of the growth in the structure of the industrial sector for the region, the study includes globalization, inequality, internal credit and trade as additional covariates. The theoretical framework comprises the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) and for the methodology the quantile regression approach, proposed by Canay (2011), Powell (2016) and Machado and Santos Silva (2019), has been used in this study. The study found that the impact of economic complexity and the natural resources rents is heterogeneous throughout the distribution on the ecological footprint. It is also observed that the level of inequality for the utilization of region-specific climatic distribution of natural resources, increases the ecological footprint in the lower quantiles, while in the upper quantiles, it decreases the same. This study provides a new approach to analyze the degradation of environment in countries with high dependence on natural resources rents and high income inequality.
During recent decades, the debate on how to sustain urban mobility has accelerated. Transport decision-making has been more reflective of sustainability issues and quality of life in cities; this process has especially accelerated with the setting of modern urban mobility planning concepts, substantially focusing on transport demand regulation and management, and Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans taking over the role of cities’ primary transport-related strategic documents. The approaches to sustainable mobility visioning and planning differ within cities, as do their key stakeholders’ opinions. Our research aims to reveal the main shared viewpoints on the preferred paths towards sustainable urban mobility. We use the Q method, which is a statistical method to study subjectivity. It enables determination of characteristic shared viewpoints on a particular subject. A qualitative analysis assessing subjective opinions is combined with the quantitative approach of a factor analysis of statements ranked by respondents. The study was undertaken on 36 carefully selected stakeholders situated within the Czech Republic. Our results indicate that even stakeholders sharing the same definition of sustainable urban mobility may substantially differ in regard to their ideas on how to achieve it. Furthermore, we show that some of the attitudes expressed and measures appreciated by our respondents would not be recognised as sustainable by environmentalists. There is still a wide gap between sustainable mobility theory and its implementation in practice. All these findings represent barriers to sustainable mobility development in urban areas. Therefore, the paper also conveys relevant policy implications.
Micro-mobility is increasingly recognised as a promising mode of urban transport, particularly for its potential to reduce private vehicle use for short-distance travel. Despite valuable research contributions that represent fundamental knowledge on this topic, today’s body of research appears quite fragmented in relation to the role of micro-mobility as a transformative solution for meeting sustainability outcomes in urban environments. This paper consolidates knowledge on the topic, analyses past and on-going research developments, and provides future research directions by using a rigorous and auditable systematic literature review methodology. To achieve these objectives, the paper analysed 328 journal publications from the Scopus database covering the period between 2000 and 2020. A bibliographic analysis was used to identify relevant publications and explore the changing landscape of micro-mobility research. The study constructed and visualised the literature’s bibliometric networks through citations and co-citations analyses for authors, articles, journals and countries. The findings showed a consistent spike in recent research outputs covering the sustainability aspects of micro-mobility reflecting its importance as a low-carbon and transformative mode of urban transport. The co-citation analysis, in particular, helped to categorise the literature into four main research themes that address benefits, technology, policy and behavioural mode-choice categories where the majority of research has been focused during the analysis period. For each cluster, inductive reasoning is used to discuss the emerging trends, barriers as well as pathways to overcome challenges to wide-scale deployment. This article provides a balanced and objective summary of research evidence on the topic and serves as a reference point for further research on micro-mobility for sustainable cities.
This chapter utilises the Capabilities Approach to assess different levels of social equity in relation to transport provision in East Beijing. The aim of the analysis is to explore the different levels of social equity relative to gender, age, hukou, personal income and car ownership, specifically in terms of capabilities and functionings, that is, we investigate how the perceived opportunity to travel and access activities as well as actual travel differs across population groups. East Beijing, and in particular the district of Guomao, is used as a case study, to illustrate features of a relatively wealthy area with abundant transport resources. The research analysis shows that capabilities and functionings differ according to an individual’s socio-economic characteristics. In transport planning, in China and beyond, we would argue that transport-related social inequity has been largely overlooked in developing transport systems and is not considered to any significant extent in project appraisal.
We study the willingness of citizens to change from their habitual mode of transport to cycling, in the case of routine trips to work or study during the morning peak in Santiago, Chile. For this, we designed a relatively complex survey, including information about the current mode, preferences of respondents, indicators of perception, habits, and a question about their willingness to change mode. We used a sample of 805 individuals to estimate a hybrid ordinal logit model. This model included individuals’ socio-demographic variables, characteristics of the built environment, and the trip, as well as three latent constructs: spontaneity towards changing mode of transport; perception of risk regarding bicycle use; and availability of cycling-related facilities when using bicycles. The model confirms previous expectations; for example, the willingness to change to cycling diminishes with the length of the trip and with the age of the individual; also, people more habituated to their current mode are less willing to change it. In terms of public policy, the model provides several insights regarding incentives for using bicycles, including the need for structural changes to diminish the latent perception of insecurity held by less experienced cyclists.
Travel behaviour varies with respect to the income. Directly reported incomes used in the travel behaviour studies are subject to the issues of under and non-reporting. To account for this, we propose principal component analysis (PCA) on household asset ownership data to estimate socio-economic wellbeing score (SEWS) as the proxy of income. SEWS is used to understand the variation in travel behaviour of people belonging to different income groups in Vishakhapatnam. We have used sample data of 2623 households collected in 2012–2013. Internal coherency test and chi-square tests are conducted to assess the robustness of estimated SEWS.
Travel behaviour analysis highlights that both the trip length and mode choice significantly varies with regard to the SEWS in Vishakhapatnam. People belonging to the low and low middle SEWS group are more dependent on walking and travel shorter distances as compared to the middle high and very high SEWS group. Encouraging the middle high and very high SEWS group to travel short distances and use low carbon modes of transport will need interventions related to the development control regulations and infrastructure provision. Since SEWS is estimated using multiple variables and captures the consumption pattern of the households, therefore, it can be used as the proxy of income in travel behaviour studies.
Human mobility and inequality have determined one another throughout modern history, from the effects of labour migration to processes of urbanisation. The Sustainable Development Goals now offer an opportunity to re-examine this complex relationship in a globalized world. Drawing on major research evidence and key debates, this review article proposes a framework of mobility equity as part of SDG 10, which foresees the reduction of inequalities within and among countries by 2030. The main question addressed is how forms of social, human and digital mobility, including migration, can contribute to reduced inequalities and positive development outcomes. The reviewed research underpins the need for an approach that prioritizes equality of opportunity over equality of outcomes. Mobility equity offers such an approach and rests on two main foundations: people’s equal capacity and freedom to be mobile in empowering ways, and the equal and inclusive regulation of mobility in all its forms, including human, social and digital mobility. The approach goes beyond income inequality and migrants’ remittances to incorporate the differential mobility capacities among people in different contexts. This includes categorically excluded groups such as refugees, racialized minorities, and lower castes, but also tens of millions of workers in the global digital economy. As part of a special issue on new SDG Perspectives, the article provides new ideas for thinking about research and policy-making within the wider inequality-mobility nexus of global development.
Understanding the spatiotemporal heterogeneity of the housing market is critical for formulating land/housing policies and achieving sustainable urbanization. This study analyzes the housing transactions at the city, community, and apartment levels in Nanjing, focusing on the effects of government policy and amenity. We find that housing prices have appreciated significantly in Chinese cities, and prices also vary within cities. We also find that changes in government policies, especially policies for the development of new urban districts and public facilities, significantly influence the spatiotemporal heterogeneity and dynamics of housing prices. Moreover, high-quality schools provided by governments are evidently exerting an increasing influence on housing values, while proximities to parks, (sub-)CBDs and government service centers also emerge as important factors. We can therefore summarize that housing price variation within Chinese cities is largely institutionally driven, and the Chinese government is the dominant agent of creating uneven urban development in China. We suggest that development policies should consider the need and location of residential areas and improve their access to public facilities to promote intra-urban equality in the housing market.
Commuting comes with costs, in terms of money, the opportunity cost of time, emotional burdens, and danger. Yet Americans take on considerably longer commutes than are strictly necessary. This suggests that longer commutes must have benefits, or that many people who take on long commutes are not maximizing their utility. This research seeks evidence for compensation for longer-duration commuting. It finds four possible sources. First, longer commutes are associated with higher wages. Second, longer commutes are associated with higher rates of homeownership, possibly in part because they facilitate suburban living. Third, long commutes may benefit spouses, since marriage is associated with longer commutes, although there is no association between commute duration and the presence of children in the household. Fourth, spouses of those with longer commutes are less likely to work, which appears to be due in part to higher wages for the worker. However, there is no evidence that a longer commute is associated with higher wages for the commuter's spouse when the spouse works. Longer commute trips are not associated with poorer mood during the trip, but also are not associated with more emotionally fulfilling work. Finally, commute duration is not associated with life satisfaction, perhaps because the net benefits and costs of commutes are roughly equal across varying commute durations, or because the burdens and benefits of the commute are not strong enough to impact as broad a construct as life satisfaction. The absence of an association between well-being and commute duration suggests that people are doing a reasonable job of maximizing their utility when selecting home and work locations.
The main purpose of this paper is to assess and gain a deeper understanding of the role of service quality in sustainable mobility. Specifically, the study aims to understand user perceptions related to service quality in urban public transport systems and to investigate whether they induce the adoption of adopt more sustainable behaviours for mobility purposes by opting for alternative means of transportation such as car-sharing, bike-sharing, and car-pooling instead of using one's own private car. Indeed, it is becoming vital for cities to investigate the norm of owning a car as a solution and to break this norm to allow citizens to stop using their car as an environmentally friendly solution.
On the basis of the above theoretical assumptions, we develop a theoretical framework that aims to fill the literature gaps and is therefore oriented towards understand the linkage among the service quality of the urban public transportation system, service loyalty to urban public transport, the intention to use one's own private car less, and the intention to use sustainable means of transportation, mainly car-sharing.
An empirical investigation involving the city of Rome, Italy, is performed. The study proposes a territorial analysis and a qualitative and quantitative survey. The aim of this empirical study is two-fold: i) to learn the state of the art of the urban public transport system of the city under investigation and ii) to explore citizens' perceptions of the service quality of public transport and to understand their intentions to use public transport more, to use their own cars less and to adopt sustainable means of transportation such as car-sharing. PLS-PM statistical tools are used for data analysis. Our findings confirm that service quality has a direct effect on the intention to use public transport more and that this effect affects both the intention to use one's own car less and the intention to use sustainable means of transportation such as car-sharing more.
Recent years have witnessed important changes in working and family lives in Britain. Key labour market developments include growth in higher-level non-manual occupations, of women in employment, and in flexible working practices. One outcome of these trends has been an increase in ‘two-earner’ households. Meanwhile, research on commuting patterns has revealed a trend towards longer, and more geographically diverse, journey-to-work flows. For some subgroups of the population, the growth in flexible working practices and the diffusion of information technologies has meant that more work can be undertaken at home, so negating the need to travel to work on a daily basis, and perhaps weakening the locational ties between residences and workplaces. Drawing on analyses of commuting data from secondary sources as well as on selected results from a research project on long-distance commuting in Britain, this article investigates the extent to which, and why, households may choose to substitute longer-distance commuting for migration. Reasons for long-distance weekly commuting, and associated advantages and disadvantages from individual, household and employer perspectives, are outlined. The evidence points to increasing complexity in home and working lives, with important implications for housing, transport and human resource management policies, as well as for family life. Long-distance weekly commuting may yield substantial financial and career benefits for the commuter, but the majority of costs are borne by his/her partner. For some individuals and households, such a lifestyle is one to be ‘enjoyed’, and is seen as sustainable over the medium-term, whereas for others it is a case of ‘enduring suffering’ until the family home and the workplace may be brought into closer alignment. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
In contrast to the ongoing worldwide uncontrolled expansion of urban development resulting in sprawled cities, compact cities have been argued by planners and researchers to be the more sustainable urban form. However, in compact cities, it has been shown that a low proportion of green spaces jeopardizes the sufficient supply of urban ecosystem services. This suggests that there remains a deficiency in clear visions for operationalizing compact and green cities. To remediate this, this paper introduces a systemic conceptual framework for compact and green cities by combining the concepts of smart growth and green infrastructure. The indicator-based, smart-compact-green city framework includes two aspects: 1) smart compact cities (considering the need to limit urban sprawl through smart growth) and 2) smart green cities (reflecting the preservation and (re-)development of urban green infrastructure). The paper suggests that there is the need to balance these two aspects to develop a systemic approach towards smart-compact-green cities. A hierarchical target system grounded on four characters for smart compact and smart green cities is developed. Smart-compact-green cities can be characterized through a 1) smart environment of compact and green cities, 2) smart multifunctionality of compact and green cities (economic, social, environmental), 3) smart government for compact and green cities and 4) smart governance for compact and green cities. The characters comprise twelve factors defined by 39 indicators for smart compact cities and 44 indicators for smart green cities, respectively. The systemic framework can support researchers and practitioners to develop visions of how existing or future cities can approach smart-compact-green cities in mainstreaming the ecology of and for cities by better understanding the complexity of urban systems and providing a basis for a systematic spatial monitoring.
This paper presents an analysis of urban spatial structure and its trends in the OECD between 2001 and 2011, by using a standardized definition of functional urban areas (FUAs) in 29 OECD countries. The prevalent trend is an increasing decentralization of the population, with growth taking place outside existing cores, but close to them. Overall, results are consistent with a pattern of contiguous growth. The population has grown more in relatively low-density locations close to the main centres. Closeness to sub-centres also proves to be a strong advantage for growth and suggests the emergence of new centralities shaping urban spatial structures.
Background:
Many cities across the world are beginning to shift their mobility solution away from the private cars and towards more environmentally friendly and citizen-focused means. Hamburg, Oslo, Helsinki, and Madrid have recently announced their plans to become (partly) private car free cities. Other cities like Paris, Milan, Chengdu, Masdar, Dublin, Brussels, Copenhagen, Bogota, and Hyderabad have measures that aim at reducing motorized traffic including implementing car free days, investing in cycling infrastructure and pedestrianization, restricting parking spaces and considerable increases in public transport provision. Such plans and measures are particularly implemented with the declared aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. These reductions are also likely to benefit public health.
Aims:
We aimed to describe the plans for private car free cities and its likely effects on public health.
Methods:
We reviewed the grey and scientific literature on plans for private car free cities, restricted car use, related exposures and health.
Results:
An increasing number of cities are planning to become (partly) private car free. They mainly focus on the reduction of private car use in city centers. The likely effects of such policies are significant reductions in traffic-related air pollution, noise, and temperature in city centers. For example, up to a 40% reduction in NO2 levels has been reported on car free days. These reductions are likely to lead to a reduction in premature mortality and morbidity. Furthermore the reduction in the number of cars, and therefore a reduction in the need for parking places and road space, provides opportunities to increase green space and green networks in cities, which in turn can lead to many beneficial health effects. All these measures are likely to lead to higher levels of active mobility and physical activity which may improve public health the most and also provide more opportunities for people to interact with each other in public space. Furthermore, such initiatives, if undertaken at a sufficiently large scale can result in positive distal effects and climate change mitigation through CO2 reductions. The potential negative effects which may arise due to motorized traffic detouring around car free zone into their destinations also need further evaluation and the areas in which car free zones are introduced need to be given sufficient attention so as not to become an additional way to exacerbate socioeconomic divides. The extent and magnitude of all the above effects is still unclear and needs further research, including full chain health impact assessment modeling to quantify the potential health benefits of such schemes, and exposure and epidemiological studies to measure any changes when such interventions take place.
Conclusions:
The introduction of private car free cities is likely to have direct and indirect health benefits, but the exact magnitude and potential conflicting effects are as yet unclear. This paper has overviewed the expected health impacts, which can be useful to underpin policies to reduce car use in cities.
The prevalence of urban sprawl, amplified levels of auto dependency, and nonwork travel during the afternoon peak hours have resulted in a steady increase in unsustainable patterns of travel in Canadian cities. Active and green modes of transportation along with smart growth have been promoted as a panacea. This article investigates the efficacy of such sustainable urban mobility strategies in Windsor, Ontario, using data records from a Household Travel Survey. Multinomial and mixed-logit models are developed to identify the factors influencing nonwork mode choice travel behavior. Next, the models are used in a scenario-building and simulation exercise to illustrate the benefits attained from jointly improving public transit, encouraging smart growth development, and lowering vehicle ownership. Based on the obtained results, embracing single-policy instruments is not an effective approach for reducing auto dependency in the study area. However, adopting a multidimensional policy approach that integrates land use and transportation policy instruments is proven more effective for achieving sustainable outcomes. It is recommended that the service and facilities for transit and nonmotorized modes be improved, and easier access to commercial and recreational activities be enhanced through progressive improvements to the built environment. Adoption of smart-growth strategies should be also pursued by planners and decision makers to create an environment conducive to reducing the levels of auto ownership. Such a goal is of paramount importance for sustainability because the level of auto ownership emerged as the most important policy instrument for reducing auto dependency in the study area.
Limiting commuting trips in major cities is important from the environmental, social and economic standpoints. In order to design policies that aim to change commuting practices it is, however, necessary to have acquired a good understanding of the trips in question and their determinants. However, these trips have been subjected to very little study in the cities of developing countries. This paper is concerned with the Rio de Janeiro Metropolitan Area (RJMA), and sets out to test the influence of “classical” socioeconomic and spatial variables on the distance and duration of the commuting trips of the region's inhabitants, especially those with the lowest incomes. The main original feature of this research is that it includes jobs in the informal sector. The results show that, all other things being equal, commuting distances and times are shorter for the informal sector, and people walk more from their homes to their place of work because jobs in the informal sector are more dispersed than jobs in the formal sectors. The notable exception is personal and household services for which employees (who are mainly women) live a long way from the city center where wealthy families (and their jobs) are concentrated.
Despite having more similar roles at work and home than ever before, US men and women continue to exhibit different travel behavior. An open question is whether the remaining gender differences in travel differ by traditional and emergent aspects of household structure such as spouse/partner presence, parenthood, and breadwinner status. Using data from the 2003–2010 American Time Use Survey, this study offers a unique, empirical travel time analysis of metropolitan workers stratified by household structure. Results show that gender differences in travel time respond to multiple aspects of household structure in complex and interactive ways. Gender difference in work travel time is only observable when spouse/partner presence and parenthood interact, i.e., in couple households with children. Gender difference in household support travel reacts to parenthood but not spouse/partner presence. Gender difference in travel time between employed females and employed males in single-breadwinner couples is no different from gender difference in double-breadwinner couples. The results call for policy initiatives and research inquiries that pay greater attention to the large gender disparities in work travel in couple households with children and the large gender disparities in household support travel in all households with children including single-parent households. Although incapable of ruling out the influences of internalized gender differences (e.g., preference theory) and gendered structural contexts (e.g., labor market segmentation), the findings provide clear evidence that traditional gender roles and relations remain operative in contemporary households in the US.
In 1997, the Journal of the American Planning Association published a pair of point–counterpoint articles now listed by the American Planning Association as “classics” in the urban planning literature. In the first article, “Are Compact Cities Desirable?” Gordon and Richardson argued in favor of urban sprawl as a benign response to consumer preferences. In the counterpoint article, “Is Los Angeles-Style Sprawl Desirable?” Ewing argued for compact cities as an alternative to sprawl. It is time to reprise the debate. This article summarizes the literature on urban sprawl characteristics and measurements, causes, impacts, and remedies since the original debate.
Sustainability has emerged as one of the important planning concepts from its beginnings in economics and ecological thinking, and has widely been applied to assessing urban development. Different methods, techniques and instruments for urban sustainability assessment that help determine how cities can become more sustainable have emerged over a period of time. Among these, indicator-based approaches contribute to building of sustainable self-regulated systems that integrate development and environment protection. Hence, these provide a solid foundation for decision-making at all levels and are being increasingly used. The present paper builds on the background of the available literature and suggests the need for benchmarking indicator-based approach in a given urban area and incorporating various local issues, thus enhancing the long-term sustainability of cities which can be developed by introducing sustainability indicators into the urban planning process.