Planetary Boundaries and Low Carbon Urban Mobility

Useful presentation and overview of the issues and trends by  Professor David Banister (University of Oxford) in a three part series "The Future of Sustainable Mobility".  The following introduces his presentation but for the full text please click here.



Professor Banister's presentation is in six parts:

1. Three sets of planetary boundaries – environmental, economic and social
2. Interfaces between them
3. Urban Mobility and the Sustainable mobility paradigm
4. Availability and use of space in cities
5. City structure and urban form
6. Conclusions

Sustainable Urban Transport Paradigm

(Synopsis from presentation)

1. Transport policy is defined by what works — including end users— participate in the policy-making process to ensure that plans and projects reflect actual needs.

2. Land use planning is part of the solution. To facilitate the provision of public transport and reduce the need for travel.

3. Transport demand is managed to supply and projects are centered on traffic restraint and the greater use of public transport.

4. Transport plans and projects reflect a wider city vision or spatial strategy. They are also affordable, adaptable, and implementable.

5. Policy effectiveness is demonstrated to a skeptical stakeholder community

 

Conclusions – Living within the Planetary Boundaries

1. Increasing levels of urban density and reducing levels of urban sprawl so that journey lengths and the levels of car dependence can be reduced;

2. Complementary distribution of services and facilities to minimise trip lengths and increase accessibility;

3. Concentration of destinations, as this allows multi purpose trips and less travel, as well as providing the flows for efficient public transport;

4. Allocation of space to different uses to make it clear as to whose space it is - this has implications for pedestrian, residential and shopping areas, as well as providing networks for cyclists and walkers, and it relates to the ownership of urban space.

 

* Click here for full presentation: http://www.bivec.eu/docs/activities/banister/lecture_1.pdf

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About the author:

David Banister is Professor of Transport Studies at the School of Geography and the Environment (SoGE). During 2009-2010 he was also Acting Director of the Environmental Change Institute in SoGE. Until recently he was Professor of Transport Planning at University College London. He has been Research Fellow at the Warren Centre in the University of Sydney (2001-2002) on the Sustainable Transport for a Sustainable City project and was Visiting VSB Professor at the Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam (1994-1997).  He is editor of the Journal Transport Reviews (2000-) and joint editor of Built Environment (1993-), and is on the editorial board of Town Planning Reviews (1993-), European Journal of Transport Infrastructure Research (1999-), International Journal of Sustainable Transport (2005-), Logistics and Sustainable Transport (2006-) and Environment and Planning B (2008-).

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About the editor:

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