Implementing transit oriented development in Greater London

This book provides new dimensions and a contemporary focus on sustainable transport, urban regeneration and development in eight countries spanning four continents at different stages of development. It examines the role of transit oriented development (TOD) in improving urban sustainability and providing different transport choices, exploring how these can be implemented in modern cities. Establishing a new agenda for TOD, experts in the field critically evaluate the links between urban transport investment and economic, social and environmental sustainability, introducing new methods of analysis. The chapters investigate the international dimensions of TOD, providing crucial insights into issues such as uneven development, transport emissions, global warming, car dependence and the challenge of powering vehicles with sustainable fuels. Urban and regional planning, transport studies and environmental management scholars seeking to understand urban sustainability issues will benefit from this timely book. It will also prove to be a valuable read for urban planners and research consultants looking to widen their knowledge of the role of TOD in enhancing urban sustainability

Could sleeper trains replace international air travel?

Dutch airline KLM recently launched a new advertising campaign called “Fly Responsibly”. Remarkably, it seems to encourage viewers to fly less. “Do you always have to meet face-to-face?”, the advert asks. “Could you take the train instead?”. The influence of climate campaigner Greta Thunberg likely explains why airlines feel obliged to say these things. Flight shame – or “flygskam” – has gripped many regular flyers with a sense of unease about the aviation industry, which consumes five million barrels of oil a day and is predicted to account for around 22% of global carbon emissions by 2050. European high-speed rail networks already offer an alternative to air traffic between European countries for distances shorter than 1,000 kilometres. For longer journeys, sleeper trains are becoming increasingly popular. These services run through the night and offer passengers a berth to sleep in. As more and more consumers question the ethics of their next flight, rail companies see an opportunity – and competition with airlines is heating up. But can night trains help offset the international journeys that most people currently make by aeroplane

Urban transformations and rail stations system - the study case of Naples

The aim of this study is to give an interpretation of the urban transformations connected to rail transit system investments; in particular the main research goal is to analyze and give a methodological support for the urban transformation phenomena government in the rail transit stations areas. The article proposes an empirical studies comparative analysis and an application in the Naples urban area, in which a new rail transit network has been developed. In particular the socio-economic transit impacts on the urban system are measured and interpretated with the support of a GIS; therefore an application of the node-place interpretative model (Bertolini 1999) is proposed in order to support transit–land use planning processes in the stations areas

Mega Events and innovative mobility system: the Expo transport lessons

Mega-events have been defined as a form of “speeding up” for urban system transformation (Boeri 2008) and for the Implementation of ground-breaking policies in host cities. This the term is even more appropriate if is referred to the construction of pioneering mobility systems. Big events and in particular Expos constitute opportunities for the building up of innovative the solution for urban mobility, the diffusion and the testing of new technology and prototypes. This article, starting from a review of international study cases, shows how the construction of mobility systems for International Expo is an occasion of testing and constructing innovative transport infrastructures oriented to the mobility of the future (Richards 2001). The article illustrates this phenomenon through the study of the evolution during the last fifty years of transport planning and design in ten different Expo, describing the leading mobility challenges and the proposal for the mobility of the future. The study defines three different clusters of Expo: the first group of Expo is called the “progress and speed” Expo and reflect the general approach of mobility planning in the ‘60 and ‘70 Expo; the second cluster include the ‘80 and ‘90 Expo, that are defined as the “automobile dependence” Expo, in which the innovation for urban public transport was limited by the vast diffusion of cars in these decades. The last cluster are the new millennium Expo: the “zero emission” Expo, where the research for green mobility is the primary transport challenge

Cities go at high speed

Strategies oriented to the construction of High Speed (HS) transport systems have specific objectives related to a sovra-regional territorial scale: the reduction of long-distance travel time, the increase of accessibility of peripherical areas, Europe integration and social cohesion (European Commission 1991 and 2001; Vicherman 1997). In contrast to these goals, theories and practices demonstrate that HST impacts are more intense and effective at the urban scale (Blum et al. 1997). In fact, HS infrastructures give a stronger transformation potential inside the metropolitan areas and in particular in the stations influence areas, that are connected by the new services and that can be defined as high speed cities. Starting from this hypothesis, this paper investigates the relation between the construction of HST lines and stations and the creation of new “functional urban system” connected by HS services. In particular the article defines a literature framework of HST impacts on urban systems, trough a critical analysis of different approaches and theories. Three main approaches have been investigated: a “regional science” approach, an “activity-based” approach, and an urban design approach, that star from the same hypothesis: HTS services influence directly mobility behaviours. The theories and the empirical research demonstrate the important potential transformations connected by HST infrastructures and services into urban areas

Parking system and sustainable mobility: the Case of Bari

Il governo del sistema della sosta costituisce una componente fondamentale del più ampio processo di pianificazione della mobilità. Le aree di sosta costituiscono di fatto i punti di origine e destinazione di tutti gli spostamenti meccanizzati individuali. Pertanto la localizzazione, la dimensione, la tipologia di sosta (a lungo termine, a breve termine, di interscambio, di relazione, ecc.), la gestione tariffaria sono tutti elementi chiave per governare la domanda di spostamento individuale meccanizzato e la distribuzione dei flussi di traffico nell’intera rete viaria. Tuttavia gli interventi sul sistema della sosta veicolare non sono sempre inseriti in un piano che consideri il sistema di trasporto nella sua complessità, ovvero come costituito da diverse modalità di trasporto (pedonale, ciclabile, trasporto pubblico su ferro e su gomma, trasporto privato) complementari tra loro e che devono essere integrate. Questa settorialità degli interventi risponde spesso a logiche di domanda-offerta, ovvero di localizzazione di spazi per parcheggi nelle zone dove la domanda di sosta è maggiore, senza tenere conto degli effetti che questa scelta può avere non solo in termini di congestione da traffico e dei conseguenti impatti sull’ambiente, ma in termini di mal funzionamento dell’intero sistema di trasporto multimodale. Il caso della città di Bari risulta interessante sia per il tipo di interventi messi in atto, sia per la rapidità e l’intensità dei risultati ottenuti. Il sistema di interventi sul sistema della sosta ha incrementato la qualità della vita nel centro urbano e ha contribuito ad un notevole split modale dal trasporto privato a quello collettivo. Il caso della città di Bari può essere paradigmatico per altre realtà urbane di come interventi di riduzione dell’offerta di sosta, posso divenire azioni per la mobilità sostenibile, come anche messo in risalto dal premio 2008 Legambiente consegnato alla città di Bari per aver ridotto le emissioni inquinanti. Il caso di Bari dimostra come il governo del sistema della sosta può costituire un importante componente per incoraggiare un utilizzo più efficente dell’intero sistema di trasporto, ovvero a ridurre congestione, consumi energetici, effetti negativi sull’ambiente, ad aumentare la sicurezza stradale e a creare ambienti urbani più vivibili

Transit Oriented Development: a Solution for Station Area planning

The need of reducing urban sprawl, the increasing number of motorised trips, the presence brownfields in strategic areas of cities, great investments in rail transport infrastructures, are all key elements that contribute to the diffusion of “Transit Oriented Development” theories and practices. In many cases applications of TOD principles are still complex, even though is widely recognised in theory the necessity of densifying station areas with high quality and functional mix developments. Starting from this critical point, the central research question of this work is: how is it possible to “export” TOD principles and practices in Europe? The article tries to answer this question through a comparative analysis of different best practice in Europe and the definition of TOD procedures. The study analyses the TDA (Transport Development Area) approach proposed by the RICS in UK and the Stedebaan project in The Netherlands. Furthermore the research focuses on the France and Germany study cases, where the regional rail-oriented development is mainly connected with the HST lines construction and the rail network “regionalization” process. Also in Italy the important investment in rail infrastructures was the occasion for station area renewal and station area revitalising, but in most cases with an “urban design” approach rather than transport-land use integrated approach. The main conclusion stress the necessity of a new integrated approach and the definition of a “Station Plan” for the integration of urban and transport interventions

Uso del suolo e accessi in stazione: un’analisi di regressione multipla per la rete metropolitana di Napoli

Obiettivo dello studio è l’esame delle relazioni esistenti tra il numero di accessi alle stazioni della metropolitana e le caratteristiche di uso del suolo di ciascuna area di influenza. A questo scopo è stata implementata un’analisi di regressione lineare multipla, utilizzando come variabile indipendente il numero di viaggiatori in ingresso alle stazioni e come variabili dipendenti le caratteristiche socio-economiche e di uso del suolo delle aree urbane che circondano le stazioni. L’utilizzo di tecniche GIS ha permesso la costruzione del database e la visualizzazione su mappe tematiche dei risultati. In sintesi dallo studio emerge che il flusso di passeggeri è influenzato in misura prevalente dall’indice di connessione nelle aree centrali, dalla densità di addetti nelle aree periferiche e dalla densità residenziale e dal mix funzionale nelle aree di stazione suburbane. I risultati di questo studio possono contribuire al processo decisionale ed alla definizione di strategie di Transit Oriented Development al fine di incrementare l’utilizzo della rete su ferro o viceversa possono essere utilizzati per la valutazione di pratiche di uso del suolo