CRC - Land use planning

Land use planning can have a powerful influence on the level of bicycle friendliness of a given area. Planning low density, car dependent developments may impact negatively on the attractiveness of cycling as a transport or recreational option. Conversely, higher density, mixed use planning often results in an environment conducive to bicycling, as trip distances are shorter.

The following documents offer an overview of the various land use planning considerations impacting on bicycle friendliness:
Australia:

Planning Institute of Australia - Healthy Spaces and Places project
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promoting best practice in urban planning and active transport integration.
Dodson, J. and Sipe, G. 2008, "Unsettling Suburbia:The new landscape of oil and mortgage vulnerability in Australian cities" Urban Research Program, Research Paper 17, Griffith University, Brisbane.
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This paper has four aims. First it reviews the basis for the increases in global oil prices seen since 2004. Next the paper considers some of the emerging evidence of socio-economic impacts arising from higher fuel prices and mortgage interest rates. Third, the paper presents the results of the 2006 VAMPIRE and compares them to the 2001 VAMPIRE results. Finally the paper makes observations about the policy implications of the changes in oil and mortgage vulnerability within Australian cities – including advocating for urgent government action to address the oil vulnerability of Australian cities and suburbs and reiterating our earlier call for more in-depth research on this increasingly unsettling issue.
Dodson, J. and Sipe, G. 2006, "Shocking the suburbs: Urban location, housing debt and oil vulnerability in the Australian city", Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Brisbane.
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Shocking the suburbs outlines the vulnerability of Australian communities to rising fuel prices, automobile dependence and housing debt. It has important implications for land use planning, with particular emphasis on the creation of communities less dependent on motor vehicles and an increased role for the bicycle.
Dodson, J. and Sipe, G. 2005, "Oil vulnerability in the Australian city", Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Brisbane.
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Oil vulnerability in the Australian city documents the precarious position, particularly of outer suburban communities to future rises in the price of petrol. It provides a strong case for improvements to land use and transport planning that increase mode choice for the less dominant transport forms of walking, cycling and public transport.
Dodson, J. and Sipe, G. 2006, "Suburban shocks: Assessing locational vulnerability to rising household fuel and mortgage interest costs", Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Brisbane.
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This study undertakes a locational ‘vulnerability assessment for mortgage, petrol and inflation risks and expenses’ (VAMPIRE) to assess how potential adverse impacts from rising fuel costs would likely be distributed across Australian cities. The study uses ABS Census data to create a vulnerability index that can identify areas of greatest risk, and conversely, those areas where the impacts of rising fuel costs are likely to be less extensive. The study reflects on the capacity of existing urban structures and transport systems to accommodate behavioural responses to rising fuel costs and changing household financial pressures. The conclusions of the research identify a number of potential policy directions to address oil and mortgage vulnerability with an emphasis on equitable spatial provision of public transport services.
Yigitcanlar, T., Dodson, J., Gleeson, B., 2005, "Sustainable Australia: Containing travel in master planned estates", Urban Research Program, Griffith University, Brisbane.
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This paper examines the relationship between urban form and travel pattern. It explains how land use planning can have a strong influence on travel behaviour – with high density, mixed use development acting to reduce car use and promoting alternative modes, including cycling, due to lower trip distances. It recommends a refocus of transports goal, from mobility to accessibility.
National Heart Foundation of Australia, June 2004, "Healthy by design: a planners' guide to environments for active living"
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In line with the heart foundation's ethos of promoting healthy lifestyles, this resource is designed to make it easier for planners to incorporate healthier design considerations into daily planning decisions.
Kent, E. (2007) 2 August - Melbourne, Australia After a Decade of Focus on Public Spaces, NYC Streets Renaissance - StreetsBlog
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This blog discusses the transformation of Melbourne as viewed by a US visitor to the city.

Melbourne's central business district is as dense and urban as any U.S. city other than New York. Like New York City, Melbourne—the fastest growing city in Australia, with a population of nearly 4 million—has a lively public life. But it hasn't always been so. A “New World” city, designed on a grid, Melbourne went as far, or further, than its U.S. counterparts in planning itself around the automobile.
Burke, M. and Brown, L. (2005) "Rating the Transport Sustainability of New Urban Developments: a starting point and ways forward^",Conference Publications (Full Written Paper - Refereed)
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With the 'sustainable city' now the dominant paradigm in Australian urban planning there is growing acceptance of transit oriented design (TOD) and New Urbanist concepts in planning policy and practice. Responding to increasingly extended journey-to-work and other trip movements, land use developers are being encouraged to ensure new development proposals create the potential for populations to make shorter journeys and to make mode shifts away from the private motor car and towards walking, cycling and public transport. Planning instruments are seeking increased land use mixing, densification around nodes, as well as a series of urban configurations and built form attributes that are considered conducive to sustainable travel behaviour.
Burke, M. and Brown, L. (2005) "Rating the Transport Sustainability of Transit Oriented Developments: will developments achieve objectives?", Conference Publications (Full Written Paper - Refereed)
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Transit oriented developments (TODs), be they greenfields developments, in-fill or redevelopments of existing sites, have been included as a key component within a number of recent metropolitan strategies within Australia, including the South East Queensland regional plan. Responding to increasingly extended journeys-to-work and other trip movements, TODs are one land use planning intervention that creates the potential for populations to make shorter journeys and to make mode shifts away from the private motor car and towards walking, cycling and public transport. For instance, while there may be increased opportunities to reach line-haul public transport for longer trip purposes, designs could actually create less sustainable behaviours for other trip purposes, such as journeys to and from school or to and from local shopping.
Burke, M. and Brown, L. (2006) "Building an area-based travel sustainability tool: rating the residential travel performance of new urban developments^",Conference Publications (Full Written Paper - Refereed)
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Figure 1 Conceptual model of the determinants of the transport energy consumption and human physical activity of new urban developments We are interested in the sensitivity of the location and design of developments to such matters as vehicular energy consumption (which relates to both the distance travelled by each travel mode and Infrastructure 02 Area-Based Travel Sustainability Tool INFRASTRUCTURE 02 ? 3 greenhouse gas emissions) and to human physical activity (given the recent policy focus towards the health implications of urban environments in terms of transport/land-use relationships.
Healthy Spaces & Places - creating sustainable communities, Planning Institute Australia
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The Healthy Spaces and Places project is developing a national planning guide and accompanying materials, addressing the relationship between people’s health and the built environment. The project also aims to raise awareness of this cross-disciplinary area and to contribute to national policy setting.
Visit Site Fact Sheet No 1 - About Health and the Built Environment
Visit Site Fact Sheet No 2 - About Healthy Spaces and Places project
Your Development - Creating Sustainable Neighbourhoods
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A website that provides information on all aspects of sustainability when developing land. The site provides news, case studies fact sheets and more on: ecology, place making, estate design, access & transport, recycling, water / energy / sustainability management and climate change adaption.

New South Wales:

Ryde City Council Award Winning Case Study - Ryde Integrated Transport and Land Use Strategy
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This Strategy is an excellent example of sustainable planning and design towards an improved transport future for the City of Ryde. The document is a strategic plan integrating transport options with land use planning requirements. It provides a series of actions and recommendations, structured around a City Wide and 6 key centre reports.

The Strategy identifies key transport and land use development corridors within Ryde. These corridors are significant to traffic movements across Metropolitan Sydney and are locally significant to residents of Ryde.

The document is in several parts this page Visit Site provide access to all the parts for you to download.
Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, 2001, Integrating Land Use and Transport: Improving Transport Choice – Guidelines for planning and development, Department of Urban Affairs and Planning, NSW Government, Sydney.
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Integrating Land Use and Transport covers a broad range of contemporary urban planning issues related to transport, including cycling. A strong emphasis is placed on planning with the aim of creating a wide variety of transport choices, with the view of reducing car use.
Department of Planning, 2004, Planning guidelines for walking and cycling, Department of Planning, NSW Government, Sydney.
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The Government is keen to support NSW Councils, communities and the development industry to improve planning for walking and cycling. It recognises that whilst there may be broad support for this aim, the challenge is how it can be integrated into the day-to-day work of urban planners and related professionals. These guidelines include information, concepts, case studies and illustrations designed to assist planners in meeting this challenge.
Designing Places for Active Living seeks to contribute to the range of initiatives addressing these and other issues by proposing key design considerations for urban places in metropolitan, regional and rural areas. These design considerations have the potential to positively impact individual and community health and well-being in the broadest sense, thereby meeting multiple health, environmental and social objectives.
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Local Government and Shire Association of NSW - sustainable transport web-page
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NSW Local Government is an important stakeholder in the planning and provision of appropriate pedestrian, cycling, parking and public transport facilities in local council areas.
City of Sydney, Sustainable Sydney 2030 Strategic Plan
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Final consultation draft of the City Strategy - A city for walking and cycling, supporting information.

Queensland:

Queensland Transport, 2006, Bicycle riding and new subdivision design, Queensland Transport, Queensland Government, Brisbane.
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Highlights the importance of considering factors affecting cyclist’s amenity in the development of subdivisions. An important introductory resource for local government and developers.
Burke, M. and Brown, L. (2007) "Active Transport in Brisbane: how much is happening and what are its characteristics?", Conference Publications (Full Written Paper - Refereed)
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Active transport is a term describing travel between destinations by walking, cycling and other non-motorised modes. Being 'active' this component of household travel is of interest to both the transport and health fields.

Victoria:

Department of Sustainability and Environment, 2002, Melbourne 2030, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victorian Government, Melbourne.
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Melbourne 2030 is the Victorian Government’s planning blueprint to manage Melbourne’s growth towards 2030. Melbourne is forecast to add 1 million new residents by 2030 and this plan commits to developing a more compact, sustainable city. Reducing car use through the encouragement of cycling is central to this objective. Policy 8.7 commits to increase the level of priority cycling receives in urban development and road system decisions.
Department of Sustainability and Environment, 2005, Safer Design Guidelines for Victoria, Department of Sustainability and Environment, Victorian Government, Melbourne.
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The Safer Design Guidelines for Victoria aim to assist government bodies, developers, designers and property owners by providing them with the information required to create environments that improve both actual and perceived safety. Many of the key concepts support the development of bicycle friendly design, due to cycling’s positive effect on community safety in such areas as passive surveillance.
Municipal Association of Victoria, Sustainable Transport Action Plan 2006-7
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Paper on Local governments role with regard to sustainable transport.

Australian Capital Territory:

ACT Planning and Land Authority, 2006, Bicycle Parking Guidelines, ACT Government, Canberra.
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These Guidelines are an initiative of The Sustainable Transport Plan for the ACT.1
The Plan aims to achieve a more sustainable transport system for the ACT over the next 25 years by achieving a shift away from car use and towards walking, cycling and public transport. For cycling, the objective is to increase the proportion of commuter trips from 2.3% in 2001 to 7% in 2026.

New Zealand:

Ward, M., Dixon, J., Sadler, B. & Wilson, J. (2007) "Integrating land use and transport planning. Land Transport New Zealand Research Report 333. Ward-Wilson Research and The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand1, 16pp
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Over the last decade, the integration of land use and transport has gained increasing international attention. In large part, this trend has been necessitated by the growing environmental and social impacts of road networks and motor vehicle use. These impacts are widely seen as being exacerbated by a lack of integration between land use and transport planning.
While the principle of integration is becoming established, its implementation remainsproblematic. Overseas experience shows there are often significant legal and institutional barriers to integration, many resulting from the traditional separation of land use and transport planning. Identifying and addressing these barriers is, therefore, critical if planning processes are to work together to achieve sustainable transport outcomes.
Land Transport New Zealand, 2006, Neighbourhood accessibility planning, New Zealand Government, Christchurch.
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Neighbourhood accessibility planning is designed to help councils improve walking and cycling access and safety.

International:

Schneider, Robert J. (2009) Incorporating Sustainable Transportation into the Development Assessment Process: Exploring Methods to Estimate Pedestrian, Bicycle, and Public Transit Mode Shares, University of California - Berkeley
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This study (2008 to 2011) will examine the number of pedestrian, bicycle, and public transit trips generated in a variety of urban, suburban, and exurban settings in different parts of the United States. In order to draw meaningful conclusions within the study timeframe, the analysis will focus on a specific set of common land uses. These may include single-family homes, apartments, residential condominiums/townhouses, schools, supermarkets, or convenience markets. The task of reviewing existing trip generation methods and creating new trip generation tools that account for walking, bicycling, and public transportation will require several phases.
US Environmnetal Protection Agency (2006) Parking Spaces / Community Places - Finding the Balance through Smart Growth Solutions EPA 231-K-06-001, January 2006
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The policies described in this report can help communities explore new,flexible parking policies that can encourage growth and balance their parkingneeds with their other goals.
Velo.Info - Cycling and Urban Efficiency
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This briefing outlines View PDF the following topic areas:
- The current situation
- Goals to be achieved
- The benefits of promoting cycling;
  - Quality of life
  - City vitality and prosperity
- sustainable society
Velo.Info - Cycling and Planning
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Planning has been considered in this briefing View PDF in two contexts:
- The provision of physical infrastructure and appropriate, ‘cycle-friendly’ highway design and transport engineering. This is concerned with improving transport infrastructure and providing the necessary facilities so as to allow safe, convenient access for cyclists. Key cycle infrastructure includes:
  - cycle routes and networks;
  - cycle parking and storage facilities;
  - cycle priority measures;
  - complementary traffic calming and speed reduction measures.
- Land-use planning.
Urban Transport - gTKP (global Transport Knowledge Partnership
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This section of the gTKP website is designed to facilitate knowledge sharing on urban transport. It provides a focal point for accessing detailed knowledge (policies, issues and actions) and information (key resources, organizations and expertise).

gTKP has published an Urban Transport Glossary of frequently used terms and acronyms. Please feel free send your suggestions for editing and updating the glossary to the Urban Transport Theme Champion, Peter Midgley at peter.midgley@gtkp.com
Design New Haven website - Mind the Gaps: Connected Street Networks Key to Economic Stimulus
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The Visit Site , a leading (US) national voice for improved urban design and walkable (cyclable) development, has weighed in with a great argument regarding the proposed economic stimulus plan. Their argument dovetails with much of the work currently underway in Downtown New Haven.
Institute for Transportation and Development Policy (Visit Site ), Case Study - How Paris is Beating Traffic Without Congestion Pricing
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The mayor of a global metropolis, elected to his first term in 2001, set out to reduce driving and promote greener modes of transportation in his city. Congestion pricing turned out to be unfeasible, because influential political forces in the suburbs believed, rightly or wrongly, that charging people to drive into the urban core was regressive. Undaunted, the mayor found other means to achieve his transportation agenda.
Lübke, M. & Heuss, A. "Quartier Vauban, Freiburg, Germany"
Case Study - Quartier Vauban in the southwestern German city of Freiburg in Breisgau
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Case study from StreetsWiki an overview with links on Quartier Vauban. The sustainable neighborhood of 5,000 residents live in the historic college town of 225,000 residents. Planning for the neighborhood began in 1993 and development was largely completed in 2006. The 84-acre neighborhood is located on the southern border of the city, two miles from the historic OldTown. The Quartier Vauban represents the state of the art in environmental protection in terms of transportation, alternative energy production, and sustainable construction techniques.
Litman, T., 2007, Evaluating Transportation Land Use Impacts, Victoria Transport Policy Institute, Victoria, Canada.
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This paper examines how transport planning choices affect land use, and the economic, social and environmental impacts of these decisions. It outlines particular methods to ensure that planning decision are made to support rather than hinder economic, social and environmental objectives.
National Complete Streets Coalition (US), website, Complete the Streets
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Complete the Streets aims to improve street safety and amenity to all road users; pedestrians, cyclists, public transport users and drivers.
The European Network for Cycling Expertise, website, Cycling and Planning
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Cycling and Planning outlines the needs of cyclists, in terms of infrastructure and land use planning requirements. It describes the key criteria that must be satisfied in order to encourage people to cycle. Emphasis is placed on an integrated approach that accounts for both immediate infrastructure as well as broad land use planning concepts, such as urban density.
Knowledge base on Sustainable Urban Land Use and Transport, website, Transport Strategy: A Decision Makers’ Guidebook
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This guidebook is a straight forward, web based package to assist in the development of sustainable transport systems. Significant attention is placed on cycling. It has been developed for a range of potential audiences; politicians, transport planners, advisers and individual community members to name a few.
Pucher, J., Buehler, R., 2006, Why Canadians cycle more than Americans: A comparative analysis of bicycling trends and policies, Transport Policy, Vol. 13, p. 265 – 279.
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This research paper, although North American focused, offers an important explanation of how transport and land use policies influence rates of cycling.
Pucher, J., Dijkstra, L., 2003, Promoting safe walking and cycling to improve public health: Lessons from the Netherlands and Germany, American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 93, No. 9.
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This research paper assesses the public health consequences of unsafe and unattractive walking and cycling amenity. It does this through an examination of conditions in US cities and compares them to the Netherlands and Germany. This paper is instructive to Australian and New Zealand planners despite its US and European focus.
Kent, E. (2007) 2 August - Melbourne, Australia After a Decade of Focus on Public Spaces, NYC Streets Renaissance - StreetsBlog
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This blog discusses the transformation of Melbourne as viewed by a US visitor to the city.

Melbourne's central business district is as dense and urban as any U.S. city other than New York. Like New York City, Melbourne—the fastest growing city in Australia, with a population of nearly 4 million—has a lively public life. But it hasn't always been so. A “New World” city, designed on a grid, Melbourne went as far, or further, than its U.S. counterparts in planning itself around the automobile.
Eckerson Jr., C. (2007) " Transportation Ethics" (9.10 min video), NYC Streets Renaissance - StreetFilms.org
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Who knew that Randy Cohen, a guy who spends most of his day analyzing right and wrong as the New York Times Magazine’s acclaimed “Visit Site ,” turns out to be one of New York City’s most captivating and articulate voices for Livable Streets.

The Open Planning Project’s Executive Director Mark Gorton recently interviewed Mr. Cohen on the ethics of urban auto-mobility. The result has been condensed here into a 9 minute talk that touches on a multitude of topics ranging from Congestion Pricing to Parking Policy.
Katz, P. (2008), "Will Rescue Plan Simply Serve Sprawl?", Citiwire.net
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In 1993 I was attracted to (and helped represent) the rebellious group of architects and town planners called “New Urbanists.” We wanted a return to the kind of compact, walkable neighborhoods where many of our parents grew up. Such places, built mostly prior to the Great Depression of the 1930s, featured main streets and town squares, corner stores and small schools easily accessed by neighborhood children on foot or bicycle.
Peirce, N. (2008) "City Curbs on Cars: Now Accelerating" Citiwire.net
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The “Complete Streets” movement — urging city and neighborhood streets be made as welcoming and safe for pedestrians and cyclists as they are for autos — is gaining attention, now backed up by legislation pending in Congress.