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Research Report 513 Impact of urban form on transport and economic outcomes

Published: | Category: Environmental impacts of land transport , Research programme , Research & reports | Audience: General

Urban form describes the physical shape and settlement/land use patterns of cities and towns.

This research addressed two key questions:

1) How urban form impacts on transport and economic outcomes, and

2) How regional and local council planning policies can contribute to a more efficient and durable urban form.

We found that urban form has modest impacts on transport outcomes, through reductions in vehicle ownership and drive mode share.

On the other hand, urban form was found to have relatively large impacts on economic outcomes, primarily by virtue of its impacts on agglomeration economies.

Several promising areas of further research have been identified that would seek to strengthen and deepen our understanding of the linkages between urban form, transport, and economic outcomes.

Keywords: economic, policy, transport, urban form

Publication details

  • Author:
  • Published: January 2013
  • Reference: 513
  • ISBN/ISSN: 978-0-478-40720-4