Mobility Patterns and Urban Structure

Despite extensive efforts to understand the overall effect of urban structure on the current patterns of urban mobility, we are still far from a consensual perspective on this complex matter. To help build agreement on the factors influencing travel behaviour, this book discusses the influence of alternative urban structures on sustainable mobility. Bringing together two existing and complementary methods to study the relationship between urban structure and mobility, the authors compare two case studies with distinct urban structures and travel behaviour (Copenhagen and Oporto). Of particular concern is the influence of urban structure factors, namely land use and transport system factors, and motivational factors related to the social, economic and cultural characteristics of the individual traveller. The research presented in this book highlights the relevance of centrality in travel behaviour and in more sustainable travel choices. Different operational forms of the centrality concept are revealed as important: it is shown that more sustainable travel can be influenced by several urban structure factors and that no particular combination is required as long as a certain level of centrality is provided. Finally, the book concludes that urban structure can, on the one hand, constrain and, on the other hand, influence travel choice.

Contents: Introduction, Paulo Pinho and Cecilia Silva; Recent changes in urban areas, Jose Pedro Reis and Fabrizio Giulietti; Empirical evidences on motivations for travel, Cecilia Silva, Petter Naess and Jose Pedro Reis; People, places and travel patterns in Copenhagen and Oporto, Miguel Torres, Petter Naess, Jose Pedro Reis, Fernanda Sousa and Paulo Pinho; The structural accessibility layer, Cecilia Silva; The explanatory qualitative-quantitative method, Petter Naess; Mobility choices enabled by urban structure, Cecilia Silva and Jose Pedro Reis; Residential location and travel behaviour, Petter Naess; Mobility patterns and urban structure, Paulo Pinho and Cecilia Silva; Annexes; References; Index.

Paulo Pinho and Cecília Silva both work in the Faculty of Engineering, Oporto University, Portugal.