Projects
Topics
Publications
Locations
Projects > Policy and research > Strategic studies
Land Use and Transport: settlement patterns and the demand for travel
This study was commissioned by the Centre for Integrated Transport to investigate the relationship between travel and urban structure. The aim was to review evidence of the on the influence of urban structure on travel patterns, and to highlight best practice on integrating transport planning with decisions on the location and design of growth areas.
The work took place in the context of the planning policy aspiration, first formalised in the 1994 version of PPG13 to
Reduce the need to travel, reduce the length of journeys and make it safer and easier for people to access jobs, shopping, leisure facilities and services by public transport, walking and cycling. (PPG13. DfT, 2001, para 3)
It was also recognised that attempts to promote more sustainable travel had to be seen against a background of annual increases in travel demand (distance traveled) and increasing dependence on the private car.
The background report included a review of literature, a presentation of data trends, 8 case studies of established cities and growth areas, a synthesis of the issues and barriers to integrated planning, and a number of recommendations for action.
An important conclusion was that the main barrier to be overcome was a dysfunctional land use and transport planning process. It pointed to the way in which contemporary practice gave greatest attention to land use/transport integration at the local level (site development). Instead it argued for "a more thorough assessment at the strategic level (that) would give visibility to traffic generation and growth considerations, rather than these being submerged within generalised arguments."
The background report described here (of which Tim Pharoah was was a co-author) was published alongside CfIT's "Planning for Sustainable Travel" summary guide in October 2009. Both documents are available here for download (see right).| Date(s) | 2008-2009 |
|---|---|
| Client(s) | Halcrow, for Centre for Integrated Transport (CfIT) |
| Team(s) | Tim Pharoah, David Banister and Peter Headicar with Robin Hickman (Halcrow) |
