Papers by Thomas Straatemeier
Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material inf... more Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible.
Transport Policy, 2017
Defining Car Dependency (CD) as a lack of travel choices to daily destinations, this paper explor... more Defining Car Dependency (CD) as a lack of travel choices to daily destinations, this paper explores how possible changes in the spatial context of a post-growth, mid-sized urban region can affect the conditions for CD. In the most rural parts of the region distances to schools and shops will exceed walking and biking distances. Distances to work will increase on average. With the bicycle and e-bicycle fewer jobs will be accessible, although the ebicycle shows greater reach than public transport. Despite the population and job decline, more jobs will be accessible by car, as a result of current investments in road infrastructure. This is enhanced by the ongoing development of economic centers along the highways, resulting in a growing mismatch between the rail system and the spatial economic structure of the region. We developed policy scenarios to explore spatial conditions for reducing car-dependence within the region. Intensifying land uses along the axes of public transport has a limited effect in a shrinking region. Introducing direct and fast public transport connections to the existing economic centers however does have effect. We tested two transport policy scenarios, one based on improving Inter City (IC) rail services on the existing rail network and one based on creating Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) services on the existing highways. The IC-scenario makes more jobs accessible outside the current daily urban system, while the BRT-scenario intensifies relations within the region. With regards to CD 'three worlds' seem to be emerging in this medium-sized, 'post growth' region. Rural areas (10-15% of the population in 2030) are increasingly becoming completely car dependent, suburban areas (65-75% of the population) are offering travel choices to daily amenities, but increasingly becoming more car dependent in relation to jobs, and central urban areas (15-20% of the population) are providing travel choices to amenities as well as jobs, but only under the condition of improving the regional public transport system.
European Planning Studies
In both the scientific and professional community, the need to integrate transport and land-use p... more In both the scientific and professional community, the need to integrate transport and land-use policies in order to achieve more sustainable urban development is widely recognized. Accessibility can provide a conceptual focus for this integration because it relates to both features of the transport system (e.g. speed, and travel costs) as well as the land-use system (e.g. density and functional mix). The concept of accessibility is well known within the scientific literature. The understanding of how it can improve transport land-use planning integration in practice, however, is still limited. In order to address this gap between theory and practice, we discuss two case studies in the Netherlands in which policy-makers from both transport and land-use planning developed and used accessibility indicators to generate and select effective combinations of transport and land-use interventions. For each case, the type of accessibility indicators used and the way they contributed to an integrated assessment of the quality of the transport and land-use system and the different policy options that resulted from the assessment are discussed. Finally, we reflect on the potentials and limits of this approach, and on the opportunities and barriers for its implementation in day to day planning practice.
Journal of Transport and Land Use, 2013
Adapting cities and region to facilitate car use is not only a technical issue. It has made socie... more Adapting cities and region to facilitate car use is not only a technical issue. It has made society heavily car-dependent, increasing the vulnerability of society to adverse changes in social, economic, environmental, or other spheres. This paper analyzes how the spatial context shapes conditions for car dependency, specifically focusing on the case of the Netherlands. Our research shows that, except in the periphery of the country, most daily amenities are within walking or biking distance, both in cities as well as in suburban and rural areas. However, regarding accessibility to jobs, there is no competitive alternative to the car-even in central city areas, which provide many more travel choices. The differences are not only related to population density or land use within the city, as is often thought, but also to the position of the urban area in the regional spatial context (i.e., its location relative to other urban areas). The bicycle as an alternative transport mode to the car scores highest in monocentric urban regions and in the central areas of cities close to a coastline or a national border. Public transport scores highest in central areas of medium-sized cities in polycentric regions and satellite towns near big cities.
It is difficult to prove a direct causal link between the spatial patterns of economic activities... more It is difficult to prove a direct causal link between the spatial patterns of economic activities and the quality of the transport system. But it seems obvious that the transport system creates conditions, which enable economic activities to interact with each other. The concept of potential accessibility – or what and how can be reached from a given point in
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2008
In both the scientific and the professional communities, the need to integrate transport and land... more In both the scientific and the professional communities, the need to integrate transport and land use policies to achieve more sustainable mobility patterns is widely recognized. Three challenges to attaining integrated strategies are identified. The first challenge is to find a common language and concepts that stimulate communication between disciplines. The second challenge is to create more explicit links between
Transport Policy, 2008
In order to address some of the shortcomings of traditional urban transportation planning, it is ... more In order to address some of the shortcomings of traditional urban transportation planning, it is argued that a shift is needed from planning for mobility to planning for accessibility. Accessibility is a well-known and studied concept within the scientific literature. Its use in practice however is limited. This paper explores the ways of using the concept of accessibility in planning practice, with a special focus on the phase of policy design. Using the Amsterdam Region as an example, it is illustrated how simple accessibility measures can help planners with the design of integrated transport and land-use policies that call for different solutions than the traditional approach. r
Environment and Planning B: Planning and Design, 2010
1 Research in planning as a design science Planning is not just concerned with understanding the ... more 1 Research in planning as a design science Planning is not just concerned with understanding the world, but also, and fundamentally, with changing it. Academic research in planning should reflect this fact, which sets it apart from research in most natural and social sciences. These are primarily concerned with comprehending phenomena, and only secondarily and indirectly with influencing them (if at all). In this respect, research in planning appears closer to research in disciplines such as management, law, engineering, or medicine, which, in spite of great differences in their domains of application, are all primarily concerned with how to affect (rather than just describe and explain) their objects of study. Much academic research in planning does not seem, however, to acknowledge this. In this paper, we will argue why we believe so, and propose an approach to academic research in planning that might better reflect its primary concern with changing, rather than just understanding, planning practices. However, first we need to elaborate further on the notion of an orientation of research towards understanding as opposed to an orientation towards change, and on the implications of the difference.
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Papers by Thomas Straatemeier