Urban sprawl in Iranian cities and its differences with the western sprawl

Recently a number of studies have focused on urban sprawl in the Iranian cities and the negative impacts of such development pattern. Although in a general view the phrase “urban sprawl” is used for fast and sometimes uncontrolled urbanizations, but there are dissimilarities between the urban sprawl in the western societies with the so-called Iranian urban sprawl. This paper discusses these differences as part of five main aspects that are mentioned in the internationally recognized urban sprawl definitions. Suburban sprawl, single-use developments/zoning, disconnected street network, low accessibility of the new developments, and commercial strip development are the aspects that are descriptively discussed as the main differences between the two types of sprawl. The main point of the discussion is that due to the wide range of similarities, which are briefly introduced, the type of the fast outward urban growth that is observed in the periphery of the Iranian cities can be defined as a part of the universal urban sprawl trend. Finally a definition is suggested for explaining urban sprawl in Iran

Editorial Preface. Transit-Oriented Development in Iran: Challenges and Solutions

Editorial

A Longitudinal Analysis of Densities within the Pedestrian Sheds around Metro Stations. The Case of Tehran

Evaluation of spatial accessibility to public transportation has a weak background in many emerging countries, including Iran. Transit-Oriented Development is of great interest among Iranian planners and academics, but little is known about transit orientation provided by major public transport systems exemplified by the Tehran Metro. Statistical difference tests and polynomial regression done in this study show how residential densities within walking distances of metro stations established at different times after 1998 are significantly different. Both population and employment densities have decreased in more recent stations compared to those opened between 2005 and 2010. Moreover, one-way T-Tests comparing the population and densities of older lines with those of newer lines reveal that, in most cases, densities within walking distances of stations of older lines are higher. The paper concludes that lack of proper site selection and failing to locate new stations near job centers and highly populated areas threatens the transit-friendliness that emerged in the early years after establishing the first metro station in 1998

Longitudinal correlations of car ownership with socio-economics, urban form, and transport infrastructure in Latin America: Example from Ensenada, Mexico

Car-orientated modal splits represent problems for the city in economic, environmental and social terms. The implementation of policies and other measures can fail if the causes are not well recognized. Mid-sized cities in Mexico are not well-represented in studies where only the capital and other bigger cities are studied. This research aims to recognize those causes focusing on northern mid-sized cities in Mexico. The approach involves numerical work (linear regression) complemented with a descriptive analysis of the city. The analysis takes on such areas of consideration as socio-economic factors, land-use variables and the street network of the city. Of the 16 variables, almost all presented a relationship with car ownership levels, but not all behaved as expected. The final part of the research is a reaction to the previous studies and recommendations to change the city from car-orientated to one with a sustainable modal split

Urban commute travel distances in Tehran, Istanbul, and Cairo : weighted least square models

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Energy Consumption and Transportation in Developing Countries: Need for Local Scenario-Based Energy Efficiency Plans

Like several other sub-topics of urban planning and mobility research, research on the impacts of (urban) transportation on energy consumption is mainly based on the outcomes of studies on high-income and often Western countries. Developing countries and emerging markets have a smaller share of the international research on the topic, while policymaking based on local empirical research, they could cut a percentage of unnecessary energy overuse. The benefits of policymaking based on empirical transportation / energy research do not remain limited to energy efficiency; it also has positive effects on environmental pollution control. Moreover, transportation [1] and urban planning [2,3,4] policies can limit both energy use and air pollution, however such efficiency improvements may be most effective when they are derived from the vernacular conditions. This is important because the energy consumption of the transportation sector is rapidly increasing. In a country as populated and large as China, the oil consumed by transportation corresponded to 49.6% of oil use in the whole country in 2006 [5], while the results of a study undertaken only four years later shows that 60.1% of the Chinese petroleum end-use is caused by transportation [6]. Out of the large part of overall energy use share caused by transportation sector, private cars are important users. In Mexico, private vehicles account for 31% of transport energy consumption [7]. The Chinese energy consumption and CO2 emission conditions need further improvements in the transportation sector [8].The conditions are the same in several other comparable countries. Even though studies on developing countries and emerging markets are not comparable to those of high-income countries, still a few studies have been conducted on the relations between urban transportation and energy consumption in these geographical contexts. For instance, it has been shown that renewable energy use Granger-cause energy consumption in road transportation in Malaysia [9]. There is a unidirectional causality from transport infrastructure to energy consumption in India [10]. Furthermore, there is a bi-directional causality between transport energy consumption, FDI and CO2 emissions in Thailand and Malaysia [11]. Nevertheless, a causal relationship between transport energy use and all environmental emissions has not been found, e.g. in Pakistan no evidence for the role of transport energy consumption on CO2 emission has been recognized [12].In many developing countries, fast urbanization is related to transportation energy use. The reason lies in the close relationship between urbanization and urban sprawl on the one hand and motorization rate and traffic generation on the other hand. Although many years ago it has been observed in several international cities that urban densities are positively correlated with transport energy consumption [13,14], it has also been shown that this relation exists only on the urban level. On a regional level, this relation is weak, as it has been shown in certain regions of Iran [15]. In Tunisia, vehicle fuel intensity, vehicle intensity, GDP per capita, urbanized kilometers and national road network were the main causes of transport energy consumption between 1990 and 2006 [16]. In China, the road transportation energy consumption rises by 1.26 percentage points for every percent increase in urbanization [17], hence changing urban morphology can theoretically result in different urban transport energy consumption [18]. The association of urbanization and energy consumption is unsurprising, as urban growth and development is an essential attribute of economic growth. A recent empirical study on the countries of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries confirms the existence of associations of transport energy consumption and transport infrastructure with economic growth [19].The overall conclusion of this editorial note is that although the number of recent studies on the connections of transportation and energy use in developing countries and emerging markets may look considerable, it is still not consistent and comprehensive because the mentioned studies are only considerable in number when they are accounted as a whole, as well as being focused generally on a very large geographical and cultural context. However, when investigating the smaller-scale correlation between transportation and energy use, it becomes clear that the number of reliable empirical studies in each country do not provide consistent and usable results for policymaking. The example of such studies have been produced for example on India, the results of which shows that “if rail could capture 50% modal share in the years 2005–2006 and 2020–2021, it would save nearly 35% energy consumption and emissions compared to the situation when existing patterns of modal split are allowed to continue without policy intervention.” [20]. In the example above, policymakers have received recommendations for controlling energy use and emissions based on scenario planning using the data and conditions of the local context, but the number of such studies are not enough for a population of 1.35 billion inhabitants accommodated in a wide cultural and geographical diversity. Another example of energy consumption reduction strategies based on urban transportation local scenario planning, which many developing countries need, has been done on Beijing, the results of which necessitates development of public transport in order to gain energy savings and emission reductions [21]. Finally, the third example is on Greater Cairo, where impact assessment was undertaken applying the energy efficiency and greenhouse gases reduction scenario with the assumption of “metro did not exist” for the time period of 1987-2001. In conclusion, still much more research is needed to facilitate policymaking in countries listed as developing countries and emerging markets based on local data, analyses, and scenario planning.   </p

An Analysis of Car Ownership in Latin American Cities: a Perspective for Future Research

Car dependence must be avoided to achieve sustainable transportation; the diversity of studies available give a better perspective of the situation and how to tackle it. The reasons behind the increasing car use are still unknown in some regions such as Latin America. The gaps in the current literature are not just for location; some topics and methods are also unnecessarily predominant in the related studies. This research does a review of current literature for mobility in Latin America region with a special focus on car dependence. The aim is to detect gaps on the knowledge to further give recommendations on what should be studied. The results show the lack of numerical approaches to solidly taken case studies, especially in some countries of the region such as Central America and some of the states of South America. Disaggregate car ownership models are highly necessary for clarification of the region’s behavioral aspects of car ownership such as personal and household preferences and lifestyles

Measuring spatial accessibility to urban services for older adults: an application to healthcare facilities in Milan

This study proposes a Geographic Information Systems-based methodology to measure accessibility to urban services from the elderly perspective to support urban planning processes. Specifically, it seeks to understand and clarify how the urban environment can influence the quality of life for older adults, mostly through pedestrian and public transport networks, locations of essential urban services, and the organisation of their resources. In light of a significant demographic change, policymakers will have to promote age-friendly urban planning approaches to guarantee equal access to services and activities. We propose a methodology to measure accessibility to healthcare provision services that considers land-use and mobility features and older adults' behavioural traits. The method belongs to the family of 2SFCA—2 steps floating catchment area—which evaluate accessibility as the combination of both supply and demand of urban services. Therefore, we have introduced innovative elements to shape actual mobility opportunities for the elderly and their travel choices. The methodology was applied to Milan's city to measure accessibility to the Health Protection Agency (ATS) services, which is responsible for healthcare assistance to the elderly dwelling in the city. The outputs show that a significant share of older people (almost 40%) suffer from poor accessibility to primary health services and that they mostly live in the city periphery. Moreover, the application to a case study has shown that the methodology could identify the critical aspects needed to aid urban planning to achieve a high quality of life for elderly people

Transferring urban mobility studies in Tehran, Istanbul, and Cairo to other large MENA cities : steps toward sustainable transport

Abstract: The number of urban mobility studies and projects in the three large metropoles of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Tehran, Istanbul, and Cairo, is growing while other large cities do not enjoy a large share. It would be efficient for those other large cities to adapt the experiences, projects, and studies of Tehran, Istanbul, and Cairo to their own contexts. This paper can help facilitate that adaptation. It investigates the transferability and generalisability of the findings of a recent publication by the lead author on mobility choices in Tehran, Istanbul, and Cairo to some other large cities of more than one million inhabitants in the MENA region. The discussion provided here can provide decision-makers in the MENA region with guidance on how to utilise the findings from a recent study on Tehran/Istanbul/Cairo in their own contexts. T-tests were conducted to test the comparability of the three base cities with a sample 57 others with populations of over one million people. The results show that it would be possible to adapt the urban mobility studies of the three base megacities to 3 to 27 cities based on different criteria. Key suggestions identified by this study include providing local accessibility, neighbourhood facilities, and cycling facilities as well as removing social and legal constraints to cycling, advertising cycling, informing people about the harm arising from the overuse of cars, and increasing street connectivity by adding intersections. According to the findings, these evidence-based recommendations can enhance sustainable mobility for the inhabitants of up to 27 large cities

Earthquake risk in urban street network : an example from region 6 of Tehran, Iran

Dieser Beitrag ist mit Zustimmung des Rechteinhabers aufgrund einer (DFG geförderten) Allianz- bzw. Nationallizenz frei zugänglich.This publication is with permission of the rights owner freely accessible due to an Alliance licence and a national licence (funded by the DFG, German Research Foundation) respectively.Purpose – Zone 6 of Tehran, with a populations of 220,000 people (3.6 per cent of the city population) and 20 km2 area (3 per cent of the city area), is one of the main municipal zones of Tehran. Major land-uses, like ministries, embassies, universities, general hospitals and medical centers, big financial firms, and so on, manifest the high importance of this region on a local and national scale. Thus, it is necessary to pay close attention to issues concerning crisis management in this area. Design/methodology/approach – In this paper, by using indexes such as access to medical centers, street inclusion, building and population density, land-use, peak ground acceleration and building quality, vulnerability degree of street networks in zone 6 against the earthquake is calculated through overlaying maps and data in combination with inversion hierarchical weight process method and geographic information systems. Findings – This article concludes that buildings alongside the streets with high population and building density, low building quality, far to rescue centers and high level of inclusion represent high rate of vulnerability, compared with other buildings. Also, by moving from north to south of the zone, the vulnerability increases. Likewise, highways and streets with substantial width and low building and population density hold little values of vulnerability. Thus, streets with high level of inclusion, building and population density present further vulnerability. Originality/value – It is expected that the results of this paper be used by the urban decision-makers. Due to high vulnerability of most parts of the urban textures of Tehran, similar researches will have importance for preparation for the future possible earthquakes