The impact of urban proximity, transport accessibility and policy on urban growth: A longitudinal analysis over five decades

Abstract

Transport accessibility is assumed to be a main driver of urbanisation. Like many other metropolitan regions, the Randstad, the population and economic core of the Netherlands has experienced significant urbanisation, transport network expansion and spatial policies aimed to channel urban growth. This paper investigates the long-term relationships between the development of railway and motorway networks, urbanisation, and spatial policies, by using a panel dataset consisting of grid cells measured at six time points from 1960 to 2010. Generalised Estimating Equations analysis was applied to model the built-up area. Predictors include proximity to and accessibility by transport infrastructure, vicinity of urban areas, and spatial policies. Results indicate that road and rail accessibility alike, stably influenced urbanisation, but less than proximity to urban areas. Spatial policies played a significant role in channelling new urbanisation, while preserving the centrally located green and mainly rural area. Remarkably, the legacy of earlier policies is still significant despite shifts in predominant Dutch spatial policies. The findings are expected to be relevant for comparable poly-nuclear areas.

A Spatiotemporal Assessment of Land Use and Land Cover Changes in Peri-Urban Areas: A Case Study of Arshaly District, Kazakhstan

“…Transport accessibility is assumed to be the main driver of urbanization [74][75][76] and city extensions intothe PUA. Accessibility is usually assessed in terms of connecting the AOI to transportation infrastructure (roads, railways, and airways), which facilitate communication with the main metropolitan area.…”

Simulating Uneven Urban Spatial Expansion under Various Land Protection Strategies: Case Study on Southern Jiangsu Urban Agglomeration

“…Most classifications correspond to original urban patches and involve the physical diffusion process, especially at flatlands where the expansion is not limited by landform but by the development of surrounding area [44]. To this effect, location and spatial proximity are crucial factors [38,45].…”

The Distribution Pattern of the Railway Network in China at the County Level

“…(2) based on the location of the county center and railway station, the railway network proximity was used to reflect the convenience of the county with respect to other counties, the higher the proximity, the better the traffic conditions, the higher the support for regional development, and the greater the potential for external connection [31,32]; (3) based on the train frequency data, the shortest travel time was used to reflect the accessibility of the railway network, and the train frequency data also reflected the external service capacity of each railway station. In China, the railway is the main mode of transportation for medium-and long-distance passenger transportation, and the shortest travel time directly reflects the importance and connectivity of the county in the national railway network [33,34]; (4) the above indicators combine social and economic factors, such as population, GDP, gross industrial value above designated size, and fixed asset investment, to depict the pattern of the overall railway network distribution.…”