Toward Active Transport as a Utilitarian and Recreational Form of Sustainable Urban Mobility

Abstract

The ongoing growth of motorized transport modes poses serious challenges to urban environments such as air and noise pollution, adverse health impacts, and improper allocation of space in the city. Over time, the paradigms of transport planning have shifted gradually toward active transport as a utilitarian and recreational form of sustainable urban mobility with desirable ecological, economical, and social properties. Active travel modes, concerning the physical activity of locomotion, generally include walking and bicycling, which have environmental benefits such as a decrease of carbon and reduction of traffic congestions. Besides, active transport, as a form of an active lifestyle, is one of the most usual physical activities which have numerous benefits regarding health and wellbeing, including reducing risk factors of chronic diseases, such as overweight and obesity, and increasing happiness, contentment, and engagement. Therefore, active transport has been increasingly considered in transportation and urban planning studies as an alternative for motorized transport and a sedentary lifestyle. Studies have shown that the built environment can facilitate active transport by walking or cycling to destinations and accordingly contributes to residents' physical activity. Hence, this study aims to explore and explain the association between the built environment and active transport by urban residents through a literature review. Insights such as there are important natural/physical and macro/micro environmental characteristics that encourage the tendency for active transport as well as socioeconomic and sociodemographic attributes differently affect this indicative relationship, are subsumed in a conceptual framework that can guide future empirical studies.

Spatially Varying Impacts of Built Environment on Transfer Ridership of Metro and Bus Systems

“…Metropolises focus on improving the built environment as a strategy to reduce the negative impacts of uncontrolled urbanization and car dependency on the transport system, the environment, and health [25]. The effects of the built environment on transit ridership are multifaceted.…”

“…A substantial literature on transportation has examined the association between travel demand and the built environment, which is typically quantified through measures such as density, diversity, and design [26,27]. High density, mixed land use, small block structure with high intersection density, increasing availability of public transportation, and reduced distance to ideal destinations have generally been found to be positively associated with the promotion of public transportation and reduction of car dependence in urban areas [3,25,28]. Hence, a thorough investigation into the effects of the built environment on public transportation is essential [29].…”

Active Transport Network Design Based on Transit-Oriented Development and Complete Street Approach: Finding the Potential in Qazvin

“…Factors affecting active transport are divided into two categories: (1) observable and measurable characteristics and (2) invisible and perceptual characteristics. Studies suggest that measured environmental characteristics affect perceptual characteristics and play a more important role in active transport [10]. In some countries, including Japan, urban planners pay more attention to providing equal access for users, including the elderly and the disabled, due to the Anti-Discrimination Act, the high average age, and the large population.…”

“…In reviewing the literature in regards to complete street urban planning, eleven criteria are used to identify candidates. These criteria are: (1) bicycle network, (2) bus network, (3) citizen dimension, (4) connectivity, (5) human activity density, (6) pedestrian flow, (7) safety, (8) social and material deprivation, (9) street width, (10) urban planning, and (11) urban tree canopy index [11]. Complete street design has been shown to lead to economic efficiency, environmental sustainability, and social justice in access to sustainable modes of transportation [4,12].…”