Urban performance at different boundaries in England and Wales through the settlement scaling theory

The relationship between transport-led agglomeration and economic performance is evaluated in an English and Welsh context. We examine the effects of scale, i.e., inter- versus intra-city mobility infrastructure, on urban size–cost performance. An additional contribution of this paper lies in its use of power-law scaling models of urban systems, enabling an assessment of optimality in the trade-off between economic output and mobility costs accounting for ease of access within cities coupled with their built density. Findings suggest economic underperformance coincides with inadequate mobility at both inter- and intra-city scales, while overperformance is accompanied by overgrown urbanized area and escalating mobility costs

Stuck in the slow lane: reconceptualising the links between gender, transport and social exclusion

This article draws upon primary research undertaken with over 3,000 women in the North East of England to explore the links between women, transport and the labour market. The research, funded by the ESF, advances the idea of spatiality as a social construction and builds on seminal studies relating to women and poverty to consider the way in which a gender division of transport constrains women's mobility and restricts their employment opportunities. It is likely to contribute to important debates, concerning strategies to tackle worklessness and the most effective spatial level at which to configure public transport networks

On the development logic of city-regions: inter- versus intra-city mobility in England and Wales

This paper combines an allometric urban model with a hierarchical clustering method in order to investigate the effects of distance and spatial scale on the geography of transport-led agglomerative strategies implemented to address comparative regional economic underperformance. The study is undertaken in the context of the urban system in England and Wales by constructing agglomerated city-regions using city units defined at different spatial scales. As is shown, a greater importance than is currently given lies in local and intra-city mobility as compared with longer distance transport schemes promoted using agglomeration theory principles. This signals a need for prioritization of mobility improvements at smaller intra-urban distances coupled with long-term densification efforts as integral to the performance of longer distance inter-city pairings

Transactions costs in rural decision-making: The cases of funding and monitoring in rural development in England

Public domain decisions in rural England have become more complex as the number of stakeholders having a say in them has increased. Transactions costs can be used to explore this increasing complexity. The size and distribution of these costs are higher in rural areas. Grouping transactions costs into four - organizations, belief systems, knowledge and information, and institutions - two of the latter are evaluated empirically: growth in the bid culture, and monitoring and evaluation. Amongst 65 Agents of Rural Governance (ARGs) in Gloucestershire, both were found to be increasing over time, but those relating to finance were a greater burden than those of monitoring: the latter can improve ARG performance. Increasing transactions costs in rural decision-making appears to be at variance with ambitions of achieving 'smaller government' through, for example, the Big Society. Smaller government is likely to be shifting the incidence of these costs, rather than reducing them. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Spatial Data Analytics of Mobility with Consumer Data

Consumer data arising from the interaction between customers and service providers are becoming ubiquitous. These data are appealing for research because they are frequently collected and quickly released; they cover a wide variety of attitudes, lifestyles and behavioural characteristics; and they are often dynamically replenished and longitudinal. It is demonstrated that consumer data can make important contributions to understanding problems in transport geography and in solving applied problems ranging from migration, infrastructure investment and retail service provision to commuting and individual mobility. However more effective exploitation of these data depends on the construction of bridges to allow greater freedom in the transfer of data from the commercial to the academic sector; it requires development of frameworks for privacy and ethics in the secondary use of personal data; and it is contingent on the emergence of effective strategies for the amelioration of selection bias which impairs the quality of many consumer data sources

Life after Regions? The Evolution of City-regionalism in England

This item was accepted for publication in the journal, Regional Studies [© Regional Studies Association]. The definitive version is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00343404.2010.521148].This paper examines the evolving pattern of city-regional governance in England. Following the demise of English regional policy in 2004, city-regions have come to represent the in vogue spatial scale amongst policy elites. The result has been a proliferation of actual and proposed policies and institutions designed to operate at a, variously defined, city-regional scale in England. Nevertheless, attempts to build a city-regional tier of governance have been tentative and lacking coherence. Alongside this city-regions are to be found emerging alongside existing tiers of economic governance and spatial planning. Arguing that what we are witnessing is not ‘life after regions’ but life with (or alongside) regions, the analysis presented argues that to understand why contemporary state reorganisation results in a multiplication of the scales economic governance and spatial planning we must recognise how the state shapes policies in such a way as to protect its legitimacy for maintain regulatory control and management of the economy. The final section relates these findings to wider debates on state rescaling and speculates on the future role of transition models in sociospatial theory

On the Willingness to Pay for Rural Rail Service Level Changes

In the context of current plans for public sector expenditure, cuts in the provision of regional and rural rail services may be under consideration. We show how it is possible to assess the values of different aspects of rural rail services to aid quantitative appraisal and management decision-making. To this end we conduct an SP experiment which values the provision of different levels of rural rail services and compares them with the values held for a replacement bus or coach service. While a number of studies have examined the field of rural rail services in the UK, and other studies have used SP experiments to forecast rail demand, comparatively few studies have combined the two. We find that rural rail services are far from homogenous and that valuations vary from route to route for identifiable reasons. There remains considerable scope for further work in the area, to provide more depth to the findings presented here, to provide values for forecasting and appraisal while also being of use to inform higher level policy decisions

Participation in sustainability appraisal planning policy

UK spatial planning guidance now recognises the importance of engaging stakeholders in appraisal processes at an early stage in the plan-making process. Regional planning authorities are required to consult with a wide range of stakeholders on the development of planning policy and the sustainability appraisal of that policy. However, there is no clear indication as to how they might go about this process, other than to confront the various stakeholders with a sustainability appraisal report. Participation in sustainability appraisal therefore still relies on reaction to a technical appraisal of an existing plan – and in this situation stakeholders might lack the incentive to participate. More thoughtful ways need to be devised to involve people in the sustainability debate so that spatial policy more accurately reflects their knowledge and aspirations. The focus of this paper is to investigate ways in which sustainability appraisal of spatial plans can be made more accessible and transparent within the context of wider governance mechanisms. Of particular interest is the public examination of a regional spatial strategy. A number of questions arise as to how engagement with stakeholders can be achieved and their knowledge elicited in a proactive manner