Spatial proximity and distance travelled : commuting versus non-commuting trips in Flanders

This paper examines the relationship between daily travel distance and spatial proximity characteristics in Flanders (and partly also in Brussels), in the north of Belgium. Important regional variations in commuting trip lengths are noticed, which are related to the spatial-economic structure including aspects of population density and spatial proximity between homes and destinations such as jobs, schools or leisure. Commuter data obtained from the General Socio-Economic Survey 2001 is area covering and offers a lot of information. It is obvious that residents in the economic core areas produce less commuter mobility than people living in remote areas that have still access to the Brussels-Antwerp region. Proximity between home and work locations is paramount, when proximity is defined at a regional scale. Next, the spatial distribution of commuting distances, based on residential location, is compared to overall daily travel patterns including non-work travel. Since the second kind of data is only available in the form of a rather small sample, a multivariate regression equation based on spatial characteristics has been developed in order to extrapolate sample data throughout the Flanders region. When assessing overall daily travel patterns, including non-work travel, variables based on the spatial distribution of jobs do not show significant effects on the travel distance. However, spatial proximity is again paramount, although proximity should now be defined at a local scale. When considering all daily travel, the distance between the residence and an even small urban centre is much more decisive than the distance to the economic core areas (which is mainly consisting of the Brussels-Antwerp region). This finding qualifies the limited importance of the commute: today, it is mainly non-professional travel that is growing. Furthermore, the results suggest that residential density and land use mix in urban areas is the best guarantee for curbing excessive forms of overall (but especially: non-commuter) mobility

Spatial proximity and distance travelled: commuting versus non-commuting trips in Flanders

This paper examines the relationship between daily travel distance and spatial characteristics in Flanders (and partly also in Brussels), in the north of Belgium. Important regional variations in commuting trip lengths are noticed, which are related to the spatial-economic structure including aspects of population density and spatial proximity. Commuter data obtained from the General Socio-Economic Survey 2001 are area covering and offer a lot of information. It is obvious that residents in the economic core areas produce less commuter mobility than people living in remote areas that have still access to the Brussels-Antwerp region. Proximity between home and work locations is paramount, when proximity is defined at a large geographical scale. Next, the spatial distribution of commuting distances, based on residential location, is compared to overall daily travel patterns including non-work travel. Since the second kind of data is only available in the form of a rather small sample, a multivariate regression equation based on spatial characteristics has been developed in order to extrapolate sample data throughout the Flanders region. When assessing overall daily travel patterns, including non-work travel, variables based on the spatial distribution of jobs do not show significant effects on the travel distance. However, spatial proximity is again paramount, although proximity should now be defined at a much smaller geographical scale. When considering all daily travel, the distance between the residence and an even small urban centre is much more decisive than the distance to the economic core areas (which is mainly consisting of the Brussels-Antwerp region). This finding qualifies the limited importance of the commute: today, it is mainly non-professional travel that is growing. Furthermore, the results suggest that residential density and land use mix in urban areas is the best guarantee for curbing excessive forms of overall (but especially: non-commuter) mobility

Flying green from a carbon neutral airport : the case of Brussels

The aviation sector is one of the fastest growing emitters of greenhouse gases worldwide. In addition, airports have important local environmental impacts, mainly in the form of noise pollution and deterioration in air quality. Although noise nuisance in the vicinity of airports is recognized as an important problem of the urban environment which is often addressed by regulation, other environmental problems associated with aviation are less widely acknowledged. In the climate debate, the importance of which is rising, aviation has remained under the radar for decades. In the present paper, we use the case of Brussels Airport (Belgium) to demonstrate that the local perception of air travel-related environmental problems may be heavily influenced by the communication strategy of the airport company in question. Basing our analysis on publicly available data, communication initiatives, media reports, and policy documents, we find that (1) the noise impact of aviation is recognized and mainly described in an institutionalized format, (2) the impact of aviation on local air quality is ignored, and (3) the communication on climate impact shows little correspondence or concern with the actual effects. These findings are relevant for other airports and sectors, since the type of environmental communication produced by airport companies can also be observed elsewhere

Plan in progress: a critique of the selective coproduction of the Spatial Policy Plan for Flanders (Belgium)

In recent years, so-called coproductive, radical strategic planning has become a synonym for integrative and holistic public sector-led planning processes and the alleged integrating qualities of representative democracies. However, these views remain framed by the specific discourses, perspectives and path dependencies of governments, obstructing opportunities for radical reorientations as intended above. In this paper, we want to illustrate how these restrained views affect concrete planning practices through the specific case of the region of Flanders (Belgium). For decades, the holistic model of the Dutch neighbours has largely inspired planning dynamics in Flanders (Belgium). As such, in 1997, most concerned Flemish authorities accepted the first overarching spatial policy plan for the region. Fifteen years later, however, original commitments have eroded and the original plan has largely lost its credibility. In 2011 a new process was launched, aiming to develop a new policy plan (the future Spatial Policy Plan for Flanders). However, this new process builds only limited support and credibility outside the select group of involved actors. We argue that today in Flanders the borrowed methodology of coproductive planning is insufficiently adapted to the institutional context and is therefore mainly delivering an aura of sustainability optimism to on-going policies, while a variety of spatial developments that are recognized as fundamental or problematic are omitted from the debate. We show this by putting forward some major missing pieces, which are located in the policy fields of large road infrastructure development, “legacy” suburbanization, retail siting, and property taxation. We show that these issues are representative of a number of constraints that are imposed by separate policy levels (located at other ministries, at the federal level, or in neighbouring regions such as Brussels) although these are not accounted for by the current planning process, apart from a number of key issues that are kept deliberately outside the process after labelling these “already decided”. Finally, we sketch some opportunities for improvement, consisting of developing a more contextualized process model, putting the stress on more concrete planning issues, involving independent stakeholders in strategic alliances, and taking a co-evolutionary approach from the start