Rethinking Urban Transport After Modernism

"For the last seven decades, urban settlement policy worldwide has been increasingly dominated by modernist precepts and by urban decisions made in discipline-specific 'silos'. The urban management consequences have been invariably negative, with increasing sprawl, fragmentation and separation resulting in a wide range of environmental, social and economic problems. This book explores the role of movement in a more integrated approach to urban settlement, and how thinking, policies and actions need to change. South Africa is used as a particularly good case study, since patterns of sprawl, fragmentation and separation have been exacerbated by apartheid, while recent legislation has demanded a reversal of these tendencies."--Provided by publisher.

For the last seven decades, urban settlement policy worldwide has been increasingly dominated by modernist precepts and by urban decisions made in discipline-specific ’silos’. The urban management consequences have been invariably negative, with increasing sprawl, fragmentation and separation resulting in a wide range of environmental, social and economic problems. This book explores the role of movement in a more integrated approach to urban settlement, and how thinking, policies and actions need to change. South Africa is used as a particularly good case study, since patterns of sprawl, fragmentation and separation have been exacerbated by apartheid, while recent legislation has demanded a reversal of these tendencies.

This edited volume discuses urban transport issues, policies, and initiatives in twelve of the world’s major emerging economies – Brazil, China, Colombia, India, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, Turkey, and Vietnam - countries with large populations that have recently experienced large changes in urban structure, motorization and all the associated social, economic, and environmental impacts in positive and negative senses. Contributions on each of these twelve countries focus on one or more major cities per country. This book aims to fill a gap in the transport literature that is crucial to understanding the needs of a large portion of the world’s urban population, especially in view of the southward shift in economic power. Readers will develop a better understanding of urban transport problems and policies in nations where development levels are below those of richer countries (mainly in the northern hemisphere) but where the rate of economic growth is often increasing at a faster rate than the wealthiest nations.

"This book concentrates on one particular and fast-growing application of mobile technologies: data acquisition for the tourism industry, providing travel agents, visitors, and hosts with the most advanced data mining methods, empirical research findings, and computational analysis techniques necessary to compete effectively in the global tourism industry"--Provided by publisher.

The on-time delivery of goods is regarded as a primary factor of the urban economy and is being monitored by businesses and government alike. However, much analysis of freight transportation and the flow of goods into, out of and within urban areas focuses on functional, business-related approaches. This book examines the interrelationship between logistics development on one hand and urban development and geographical issues, such as land use and location, on the other. Avoiding certain one-dimensional views on 'logistics impacts on the city', it discloses the complex interaction of the logistics system with the entire urban environment. It also bridges the gap between recent geographical research into new production systems and (post)modern consumption patterns. Illustrated with case studies from the United States, Germany, France, The Netherlands and the United Kingdom, it examines issues such as: the historical nexus between urban areas and logistics; current urban developments with regards to goods distribution; city-region related characteristics of freight flows; locational dynamics; and specific freight related urban problems and conflicts.

Although cities constitute the key contributors to unsustainable development, especially due to their ecological and equity impacts, they are also viewed as the vehicle for the transition to a sustainable future for humanity both in terms of technologies as well as policies and lifestyle changes. This book introduces the theoretical principles which underpin the required transition to sustainable cities in general and Cape Town in particular. The subsequent fourteen chapters tackle more specific areas of interventions and the key constraints towards realisation of related transition interventions in the city of Cape Town.

This book explores the growing spatial inequality in contemporary cities, and the opportunity of reframing the role of public open space as a tool of inclusion in a context of an increasing economic gap between the urban poor and rich. The first part outlines the geographical and theoretical frames of reference, which are then tested in the analysis of a case study: Cape Town. This city in South Africa was selected since its spatial aspects of separation are particularly evident due to the legacy of both apartheid and modernism. The examination of the policies of the City of Cape Town confirms the rising attention to public space since the 1990s. This slow progress of desegregation is tested through a critical study of one of the most disadvantaged areas of the city, Khayelitsha. The book explores the relevance and impact of an urban-design project, and reframes the role of public open space not only as a tool for restructuring the apartheid city, but also for reinterpreting other fragmented contemporary cities.

Sustainable mobility has become the new imperative for transport policy. There have been a number of policy attempts at sustainable mobility globally, such as the development of more efficient conventional transport technologies, the promotion of efficient and affordable public transport systems and the encouragement of environmental awareness. Such policies have so often been presented as prerequisites for sustainable mobility that they are now taken for granted. But are any of these policies really successful? To what extent do they actually contribute (or fail to contribute) to sustainable mobility? Why do some policies succeed and others fail? Using an interdisciplinary approach which brings together various theories and methodologies, this book tests each of these policies - or hypotheses, as the author sees them - with detailed empirical investigations. It also argues that leisure-time travel should be included in any sustainable mobility policies, as it now accounts for 50 per cent of all annual travel distance in developed countries. The book concludes by suggesting fourteen theses of sustainable mobility for the EU and a new model for future best practice.