Invisible Travels in the Compact City: Is Density the Way Forward?
Publication: Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 143, Issue 3
Abstract
Building on self-reports of a sample of 336 residents who have often experienced a shift from low to high density living in Tehran, this study tests a hypothesis suggesting that, in the context of attempts to escape and restore from chronic noise, contact load, and the sense of encapsulation, a compact city might increase discretionary car travel. Findings support the hypothesis as these density stressors increased the car travel time of 30–48% of respondents by at least 7–24% for escape and restoration. This appears to offset the trip-reduction benefit of higher density living. If a 5% reduction is assumed in car travel distance in the sample districts in the context of density, and, under the optimistic scenario, that the time-distance ratio is 1 in high density areas, this finding feeds into the conclusion that high density might have had no positive effect on, or even increased to a limited degree, the overall time of car travel. Caution is, however, advised in the direct application of these findings because of sample and literature adaptation limitations.
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Journal of Urban Planning and Development
Volume 143 • Issue 3 • September 2017
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©2017 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Mar 8, 2016
Accepted: Feb 7, 2017
Published online: May 31, 2017
Published in print: Sep 1, 2017
Discussion open until: Oct 31, 2017
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