Toward Livability Ethics

Abstract

“Livability” has become a popular term in planning, design, and engineering circles, yet there continues to be a lack of clear consensus about what livability actually means, let alone how to measure it and how to achieve it. In response, this article draws deeply on the literature to develop a comprehensive understanding of this complex concept. The presented analysis suggests that livability is best understood as an individual's ability to access opportunities to improve his or her quality of life. However, one person's pursuit of quality of life can actually detract from the livability of another. This concept is particularly true in transportation, as one person's travel inherently touches the lives of others along the pathway. As wealth and social status often play a key role in determining whose pursuit of quality of life wins, a moral and ethical framework must be at the heart of the achievement of livability. Therefore, livability in a just society requires that all individuals be ensured equal access to such opportunities. Rather than one monolithic definition of livability, a need exists for a theoretical moral basis to measure, understand, and judge activities toward livability achievement through a set of clear, concise, and easily applicable livability ethics. Toward this goal, this paper first presents a comprehensive examination of the literature and then provides guidance to professionals on the application of livability concepts in practice by articulating (a) an overarching definition of livability and a set of supporting metaprinciples, (b) a set of ethical livability principles, and (c) a set of livability process principles.

Crowdsourcing Bicycle Volumes: Exploring the role of volunteered geographic information and established monitoring methods

“…Researchers and practitioners are urged caution in the application of a potentially growing field of crowdsourced datasets, for they may or may not represent the given population that is considered in a transportation planning context. Furthermore, the performance measures facilitated by traffic volumes standing alone should not be mistaken for a comprehensive and ethical planning process (Appleyard, Ferrell, Carroll, and Taecker 2014).…”

Toward a Guide for Smart Mobility Corridors: Frameworks and Tools for Measuring, Understanding, and Realizing Transportation Land Use Coordination

“…At its core, transportation and land use coordination (TLC) is an integrative concept that ties together access through both (a) mobility via transportation policy, and (b) proximity via land use policy (Cervero, 2000;Cervero et al, 1999;El-Geneidy and Levinson, 2006;Levine et al, 2012Levine et al, , 2009Levinson, 1998;Wagner and Caves, 2012). Therefore, TLC can be viewed as a key component of best planning practices connected to the provision of access to "livability opportunities" (Appleyard et al, 2014;US EPA, 2016;Moore et al, 2007) and "smart growth" (Cervero, 2000) by both practitioners and academics alike. For example, in Chapter 11 of Wagner and Cave's book Community Livability, Dr. Ruth Steiner establishes the EPA's ten smart growth principles as a mainstay of livability planning operating through transportation and land use coordination.…”

“…However, in the absence of substantial institutional changes to transportation and land use that allows stakeholders to work in a truly coordinated fashion, we are left to seek methods with data, performance measurement, and policy guidance frameworks to achieve more holistic TLC approaches. As discussed in Appleyard et al (2014Appleyard et al ( , 2016Appleyard et al ( , 2019, transportation agencies, such as Caltrans, can best achieve sustainable, livable, and equitable outcomes when they work in concert with others, especially local land use agencies. Therefore, a major focus of this report is to help guide staff in state DOTs, regional MPOs, and local land use authorities to develop frameworks to measure performance of corridors in terms of their transportation/ land use coordination (TLC), be able to understand what those measurements mean, and then guide actions, decisions, and policies toward realizing stronger TLC.…”

Implementing the living streets concept by transforming streets in the central business district of Peshawar, Pakistan

“…Therefore, taking into account the quality of life is critical when developing a framework for living streets based on the idea of liveability (Miller et al, 2013). The association between these two components demonstrates that there is a profound affiliation between various characteristics of situations and places that affect overall place-making efforts (Appleyard et al, 2014). The literature has pointed out a number of elements of living streets that play a significant role in improving the dynamics of a city and its living conditions.…”