Journal of Urban Planning and Development

This paper provides, for the first time, an insight into the influence of urban, political, demographic, and economic factors on several categories of municipal spending, after controlling for the spatial effects. The models of spatial two-step least squares (S2SLS), spatial lag, and spatial error are applied to a sample of 3,204 Spanish municipalities for the year 2005. The results show that the spending of a municipality is influenced by its neighboring municipalities’ spending. Concerning geographical factors, population density has a negative impact on municipal expenditures per capita. The negative impact of population density on per capita total expenditures has policy relevance because it indicates that planning decisions aiming at increase population density will reduce per capita government expenditures, both in small and larger cities. Political ideology does not influence spending. Nevertheless, strong political governments do spend more. Therefore, it is not that the incumbents belong to left or right, but their strong majority which allows them to carry out their policies by spending more. The policy issue at stake here is whether municipal political majorities should be tempered, so that opposition surveillance keeps spending under control.

Application of microscopic traffic simulation beyond the corridor level analysis is not widely seen in literature. This is partly because of the fact that a simulation model cannot capture behavior responses such as peak spreading. This study develops a framework that integrates agent-based travel behavior models with large-scale traffic simulation to capture the regional impacts of new development. The proposed model is then applied to the I-270/I-495/I-95 corridor in the north Washington, DC metropolitan area in a case study. Findings from this study reveal the potential of the proposed model to capture network dynamics and behavioral reactions. This framework also provides a valuable tool for the evaluation of new transportation infrastructure, such as the intercounty connector (ICC) corridor currently under construction, and its operation strategies.

Older adults, low-income individuals, and individuals with disabilities are generally considered “low-mobility” individuals, having less access to transportation options and often marginalized in the social environment of the community. This study assessed the transportation needs of low-mobility individuals using three dimensions: (1) travel characteristics, (2) social strength in terms of transportation assistance received from their social networks, and (3) accessibility to public transportation. A mixed survey method combining an in-person interview at the collaborating organizations and a mail-back survey were used. Results showed that older adults remain mobile and make more frequent short trips. The results also showed a much higher reliance on private vehicles among older adults and individuals with low income, whereas a much higher reliance on public transportation and much lower reliance on private transportation was found among individuals with disabilities. Individuals with disabilities were still active, as almost half of them travel to work frequently. However, the number of nonwork trips made by individuals with disabilities was significantly low. These findings indicated a positive relationship between transportation mode choices and social dependence with family and friends. Individuals with stronger family social ties were more likely to receive adequate help meeting their transportation needs. The accessibility analysis revealed that low-mobility individuals in Cache County, Utah, have difficulties accessing transit due to the long walking distances from their residences. These findings may be used to guide policy for improving public transportation and paratransit services to meet low-mobility individuals’ needs.

Accessibility is a widely discussed theme, approached by several disciplines, such as geography, urban and land-use planning, and transportation. This study assesses the relevance of accessibility for sustainable mobility planning and examines the existing analogies with the concept of centrality—a consolidated issue in social science, geographic and land-use modeling, and, more recently, intensively used in social-network analysis and transport-network analysis. Centrality measures the relative importance of nodes in a network, but it can be evaluated from different perspectives. In fact, different indexes are available to measure different ways for a node to be central. This paper also examines recent innovations in accessibility modeling and suggests improvement by proposing a new accessibility measure. This paper uses both traditional and lesser-known measures to analyze a case study, considering both accessibility and centrality indexes with the aim of investigating their potential correlation, efficacy, and suitability to support an integrated land-use and transport-planning approach.

The regional level is believed to be an important platform to carry out sustainable development (SD) strategies. In China, the rapid urbanization process causes city expansions. To protect environmentally sensitive areas between cities, some protected areas (PAs) have been established. This paper proposes a framework of translating general SD principles into specific practices at the regional level, particularly for the PAs. The framework is based on and illustrated by a detailed case study of the comprehensive SD planning of an environmentally sensitive area in China. A multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) technique, the analytic network process (ANP), was used to weigh the evaluation criteria and rank the proposed capital and social development projects. It was found that the framework was helpful in guiding the SD planning process and the ANP method provided insights on the interaction of various aspects of sustainability.

The recent decrease in physical activity among youth, which has resulted in increasing obesity and in overweight individuals, has attracted global attention and a renewed sense of investigation in both public and academic circles. However, using active modes of transportation (AMT) to and from school can serve as a bulwark against inactivity and the increase in cases of obesity and excess weight. In an attempt to study and counteract this growing phenomenon, more than 4,700 questionnaires were distributed in 92 schools throughout Tehran in a random stratified sampling method according to location and gender differences, and 3,441 responses were received (72% response rate). Significant factors affecting each gender’s propensity to choose active modes of transportation to and from school were separated and identified. Among females, 45% chose an AMT to school, and 52% did so for return trips home, both of which are higher than the males’ propensity to choose AMT. Among males, 39% chose an AMT to school, and 46% did so for the way back. Female tolerance in active modes of transportation also proved to be greater than that of males such that with an increase in costly factors (e.g., increases in travel time), economic considerations (e.g., household car ownership), and tougher topography, females substituted away from AMT less than males.