Road transport corridors to ecological transition in Spain

[EN] Last December 2020, the European Commission welcomes the political agreement reached between the European Parliament and the Council on the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) already approved. RRF will be structured around six pillars. Between them, the first pillar is `green transition¿. Green transition includes the goal of balanced CO2 emissions in 2050. Inside this framework, European transport system must to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. This objective implies recovery transport system to sustainable modes. One of main ways to make the change is translate passengers and freight transport from road to railways that avoid greenhouse emissions if it uses electric energy with sustainable origins. To planning the change is important to now the mobility of passengers and freight by road. This article analyses the mobilities¿ situation in Spain by road represented such as network of main nodes and trams, passengers and freight, for medium and large distance in 2017.Miralles García, JL. (2021). Road transport corridors to ecological transition in Spain. International Journal of Transport Development and Integration (Online). 5(3):291-301. https://doi.org/10.2495/TDI-V5-N3-291-301S2913015

STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR METROPOLITAN PLANS OF COASTAL AREAS. THE CASE OF VALENCIA

[EN] Many uses of land, such as for building and all kinds of infrastructure, are concentrated in the metropolitan areas of coastal cities. Often, urban and infrastructure uses are dispersed across the territory, generating situations of urban sprawl. In addition, especially in coastal areas, new urban expansion and new infrastructures are in conflict with other uses, such as for agrological areas, beaches or natural areas. In general, the best agricultural zones on the Mediterranean coast are next to the sea. The more important touristic areas are also next to the sea. Therefore, contradictions between sustainability and development are very intense. All these conditions take place in the metropolitan area of Valencia. Now, regional government wants to develop a metropolitan plan to generate an equilibrium between the different uses and to reserve areas for new urban use and infrastructure. In reality, the area¿s population is now stable but, for economic activities to be competitive, new usage is required as logistic areas or to increase the rail network. A global vision is also needed for urban transport in the metropolitan area. On the other hand, the environmental impacts of current and planned uses can be significant. Moreover, the perception of environmental impacts has changed over time. It is necessary to preserve areas, such as agricultural areas or natural areas, but it is also necessary to produce the quality of landscape perceived by visitors or to generate a green infrastructure network, according to European policy. Finally, we must integrate all these elements with current and new urban and civil infrastructure uses through a public decision-making process. The objective of this paper is to introduce a methodology to integrate the process of public environmental assessment on the works to elaborate a metropolitan plan for a coastal city such as Valencia (Spain) next to the Mediterranean Sea.Miralles García, JL. (2017). STRATEGIC ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR METROPOLITAN PLANS OF COASTAL AREAS. THE CASE OF VALENCIA. International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning. 12(8):1272-1281. doi:10.2495/SDP-V12-N8-1272-1281S1272128112

Revising the basis for planning a new kind of progress: the case of Valencia's city

[EN] The paper analyses the contradictions in the regional planning process for revising the basis and criteria for future intervention and management in metropolitan areas such as Valencia with a new type of progress objective. Valencia, the Mediterranean coastal city, is the third largest city in Spain after Madrid and Barcelona. In the metropolitan area of Valencia about 1.3 million people live. ¿L¿Horta de València¿ is located in the suburban environment of the Valencian metropolitan area; it has agricultural land with high productivity. These agricultural lands include about 10,000 ha of historical fertile land and another 10,000 ha of fertile land irrigated more recent (about XIXs). In this metropolitan area, there are serious conflicts between different land usages mainly urban sprawl such as expansion of building and infrastructures, replacing fertile agricultural land use. In addition, there is strong competition between different urban uses, e.g. port, beach and tourist zones, high speed rail, industrial estates and new buildings zones. In addition, contradictions between sustainability and development are very intense, especially when the development is only an expectation. In 2000, civil society promoted the legislative initiative, ¿L¿Horta de València¿ Protection Act, while economic development in the period 1997¿2007 was based on speculative urban expansion. The main goal of this initiative is to ensure sustainable development while conserving natural resources needed for future generations. This initiative was refused based on two stated main arguments: i) protection would hinder the economic development and ii) elaborate a protection plan with other approaches. At the end of 2010 works of government about regional planning for ¿Horta de València¿ protection were finished. However, the plan is not approved yet. From the 2007 crisis, speculative urban expansion resulted in the impoverishment of many people; while, large areas of fertile agricultural land have disappeared.Miralles García, JL. (2017). Revising the basis for planning a new kind of progress: the case of Valencia's city. WIT Transactions on the Built Environment (Online). 148:3-14. doi:10.2495/CC150011S31414

The management of Natural Capital. The case of Valencian Country

This paper shows the case of Natural Capital management in Valencian Country. The objective is to analyse the efficiency of this management over the last years, and discuss about how we can improve it. Two kinds of aspects have been analysed: some indicators about the evolution of environmental resources; and the urban plans approved by a process of strategic environmental assessment. These analyses allow to know if Valencian Natural Capital improves or not and if the territorial planning processes have been efficient or not. The results allow a discussion about inefficient environmental management and suggest changes to improve it

Integration of high-speed train stations in cities: the case of Spain and Valencia city

[EN] Specialists have been discussing the best locations for railway stations for a long time; the first railway stations were built in the 21st century, and afterwards cities grew to the point of leaving the stations in central areas. Central stations provide train trips with several advantages over other means of transport. However, high-speed railway (HSR) introduces new variables when considering the best location for new stations. In 2000, the author¿s team started the discussion and assessment of possible locations for the new HSR station in Valencia (Spain) and undertook two studies to analyse this issue. This article provides a theoretical framework for train station location and the analysis of the case in Spain. Furthermore, it synthesizes the results from researches performed in 2002 and 2006 as well as their implementation in Valencia. In addition, this article examines recent experience in relation to new high-speed train station placement, and the case of the 2,400-km-long HSR network in Spain by the end of 2015. Since the HSR network has a different track gauge in relation to the historical railway network, adaptations in the old stations or new locations were required. This situation allowed us to analyse the evolution of HSR in Spain and confirm theories about territorial impacts and optimal rail-network design, particularly in relation to the best location for new HSR stations. This article also looks into the evolution and current trends in modern railway planning, which have progressively changed in Spanish cities such as Madrid and Barcelona.Miralles García, JL. (2017). Integration of high-speed train stations in cities: the case of Spain and Valencia city. International Journal of Transport Development and Integration (Online). 1(4):677-695. doi:10.2495/TDI-V1-N4-677-6946776951

Urban coastal development in Valencian country: a paradigmatic cas of non-sustainable development

[EN] The period between 1997 and 2007 was a period of economic expansion in Europe, and especially in Spain, where it was based on the real estate bubble. Valencian Country, in Mediterranean coast, is a special case inside Spain because its economy specialized in the housing construction sector for non-primary houses. House construction was possible due to the increase in private debt of developers and buyers. The (artificially self-generated) expectation of strong annual increases in housing values maintained an intense construction activity. In 2007, the price of houses peaked and then began a process of impoverishment due to the payment of debts. Today this process is still going on, but extensive data on the complete cycle of expansion and regression of the housing bubble are already available. This paper presents a real description of the complete process of non-sustainable urban development in Valencian Country and analyzes the process in economic, social and environmental terms. Finally, a general scheme of the process and a system of sustainability is proposed.S30131410

Exploring the link between travel behaviour and sustainable mobility

[EN] Today's society, which is built and developed based on time and access, seeks to consider these values in different modes of transportation. But what influences these values is the behaviour of users and the pattern they choose. The present study seeks to reveal the factors affecting the behaviour and travel pattern of transportation users and their changes over time by reviewing the relevant literature. Finding and recognizing these changes is critical to finding user behaviour patterns because transportation network performance, policies, planning, and sustainable mobility goals result from these behaviours and changing user patterns over the years and the interactions between them. On the other hand, we know that behavioural patterns are due to users' needs and are different in different population groups. Their preferences and choices will be very different in different situations. Thus, unstable economic, demographic, cultural conditions, existing or lacking infrastructure, mobility habits, technology, and shared mobility can change users' behaviour or lead to an urgent need to change the pattern. This principle can appear in different countries and under different policies and facilities. Therefore, understanding the behaviour of users in sustainable transportation life is extremely important.Pourramazani, H.; Miralles García, JL. (2022). Exploring the link between travel behaviour and sustainable mobility. WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment (Online). 260:217-228. https://doi.org/10.2495/SC22018121722826

Concept of accesibility in sustainable transport: criteria and perspectives

[EN] In today's world, accessibility is considered a key and complementary criterion while increasing the stability of a transportation system, in addition to the importance of proper density and spatial distribution of people and activities and land use development, which is known as urban policy and services and it is also considered a precondition for economic development. Although accessibility has been extensively explored in recent decades, transportation planners still face many challenges. Therefore, it is important to know the factors and criteria affecting access in each time period. These criteria can include mobility, quality and cost-effectiveness of transportation, the connection of transportation systems, mobility alternatives, land use patterns and socio-economic characteristics that can affect the concept of access differently; on the other hand, a more comprehensive study of accessibility can increase the range of potential solutions to transportation problems. The present study provides a general but comprehensive overview of the various dimensions and indicators of access in the form of a literature review. The results show that there is a lot of interaction with the goals of integration and sustainability, which can be achieved under the key elements. The first element is the selection of techniques that can be presented in the light of evaluation along with specific and clear objectives that can be achieved in practice and reflect their ease. The second element is the use of techniques to provide sufficient indicators according to regional patterns, taking into account all objectives, of course, as general performance indicators that are not limited to social justice. Perhaps one of the effective options is the use of visualization tools. It means using maps that provide solutions. It provides a link between transportation gaps and benefits where access-based criteria can potentially influence transportation decisions. Also, the findings show that to strengthen the accessibility goal, accessibility indicators should be clearly considered, and a distinction should be made between this concept and mobility in transportation planning.Pourramazani, H.; Miralles García, JL. (2022). Concept of accesibility in sustainable transport: criteria and perspectives. WIT Transactions on the Built Environment (Online). 212:49-60. https://doi.org/10.2495/UMT220051496021

GIS analysis of the consequences of short-term urban planning in a mass tourism destination in Spain

[ES] La Manga del Mar Menor in the Region of Murcia every year reaches a population of more than 250,000 people during the summer, with only a few thousand in winter. This crowded environment with an asymmetric behaviour submits annual progressive impoverishment in its economic return. This questionable profitability is the result of a misguided urban development, and its results are analysed through the evolution of the land market and the resulting urbanization in the last 50 years using a GIS methodology.[EN] Urban planning is a lengthy and settled process which results usually emerge after several years or even decades. That is why it is necessary for a proper urban design of cities to use parameters that are able to predict and gauge the potential long-term behaviour of urban development. In the tourist towns of the Mediterranean coast, the long-term design is often at odds with the generation of business profits in the short term. We present here the results of this phenomenon for an interesting case of Spanish Mediterranean coastal city created from scratch in the 60s and turned into a tourist destination today hypertrophied. La Manga del Mar Menor in the Murcia region every year is reaching a population of more than 250,000 people during the summer, which are reduced to a few dozen in winter. This crowded environment with an asymmetric behaviour submits annual progressive impoverishment in its economic return. This questionable profitability is the result of a misguided urban development and the results are analyzed through the evolution of the land market and the resulting urban in the last 50 years with a SIG methodology.Miralles García, JL.; García-Ayllón Veintimilla, S. (2015). GIS analysis of the consequences of short-term urban planning in a mass tourism destination in Spain. International Journal of Sustainable Development and Planning. 10(4):499-519. https://doi.org/10.2495/SDP-V10-N4-499-519S49951910

Proceedings of the SUPTM 2022 conference

This book includes the proceedings of the 1st international Conference on Future Challenges in Sustainable Urban Planning & Territorial Management celebrated on January 17-19, 2022. Urban planning is an essential tool in our global society's journey towards sustainability. This tool is as important as the territorial management to execute the plans. Both, planning and management, must be efficient to achieve the goal of sustainability inside the general framework of Sustainable Development Goals of United Nations. It does not exist any B planet so, identify urban & territorial challenges in our territories such reaching sustainable mobility, diagnose natural hazards and control land resource consumption is mandatory for our XXI century generation. Planning land uses compatibles with the ecosystem services of territory and manage them by public-private cooperation systems is a greatly challenge for our global society. Human activities do not have very frequently among their objectives to maintain ecosystem services of territory. Therefore, this field of research must help to guarantee the maintenance of natural resources, also called Natural Capital, necessary for social and economic activities of our global society. This conference aims to be a space to share research works, ideas, experiences, projects, etc. in this field of knowledge. We want to put in value that planning and management are subjects that include technological and social matters and their own methodologies. Laws, rules and cultures of different countries around the world are or can be very diverse. But the planet is only one. Technologies are shared, methodologies to analyze territories are also communal to share experiences about the global goal of sustainability, so these events are a necessary way to build our joint future. We trust that the success of this first edition of the SUPTM conference (which has been attended by more than 200 researchers from the five continents) will be an opening step towards international collaboration and the dissemination of knowledge that is so important in this field of urban planning and territorial management