When local access matters: A detailed analysis of place, neighbourhood amenities and travel choice

Abstract

How cities can become more conducive to sustainable travel patterns is a pressing matter in urban research. In the built environment–travel literature, several features potentially promoting sustainable mobility remain under-researched. One concerns the precise role of local accessibility – in terms of the number, variety and specific types of amenities – in promoting the slow modes of walking and cycling and in reducing car use. Another is the possibility that the standard assumption of a linear relationship between density and (un)sustainable travel is flawed. To fill these gaps, we explore specific local amenity supply types that stimulate a large share of residents to walk or cycle, avoiding long drives, to accomplish their daily activities. In a case study of the Västra Götaland region in Sweden, we analyse a combination of high-quality micro data from registers and the national travel survey using a stepwise statistical approach. We find evidence of non-linear discontinuities and significant geographical variation in how local accessibility affects travel behaviour. While more neighbourhood amenities contribute to more walking/cycling, the effect of establishing additional amenities varies amongst neighbourhood types and travel variables. Local everyday services, for example, grocery stores and preschools, are critical in triggering change. The findings inform urban planning by showing how a basic supply of essential amenities could contribute to better prerequisites for walking or cycling and reduced car dependence by inducing residents to choose local options.

Ecosystem Service Use and the Motivations for Use in Central Parks in Three European Cities

“…In addition to climate change, in many cities in Europe and elsewhere, challenges for planners and park authorities arise from ongoing urbanisation and densification as well as broad and potentially conflicting user demands increasing the need for (new) urban green infrastructure (UGI) [82]. Our results show that good accessibility and short distances between home or office and parks strongly influence the means of transport towards nonmotorised forms and the use of public transport, consistent with findings of Elldér et al [83]. Applying this knowledge, for example, in Vilnius, accessibility could be improved by providing additional entrances via bridges for pedestrians and bikers where possible in the northern sectors, to reduce road traffic and facilitate non-motorised park visits (see Figure 1; note that the North-West is a protected area, prohibiting bridges there).…”

“…Thus, knowledge about user motivations, their means of transport applied in an adapted city planning would result in a win-win-win for the environment, users and planners. This and similar opportunities in other cities contribute not only to the sustainability transformation of urban traffic [83] but also to increased UGS-accessibility of under-supplied neighbourhoods, contributing to SDGs 3 and 11.…”

Are neighbourhood amenities associated with more walking and less driving? Yes, but predominantly for the wealthy

“…Many scholars emphatically insist that having nearby neighbourhood amenitieslike proximity to city centre (Naess, 2006;Naess et al, 1995) or compact development in general (Ewing & Cervero, 2001Ewing et al, 2015;Kramer, 2013) encourages people to drive less and walk more. Closest to our work, a trio of studies from Sweden (Elldér, 2020;Elldér et al, 2020;Haugen & Vilhelmson, 2013) suggest that the presence of neighbourhood amenitiessuch as grocery stores, restaurants, convenience stores and banks, which we henceforth simply refer to simply as amenities influences travel time, mode and distance. Additionally, there are a variety of other important factors that appear to decrease car travel and increase walking, for instance, transport structure and pedestrian safety (Ewing & Cervero, 2001;Koschinsky et al, 2017).…”

“…We now discuss in more detail the results of three recent studies (Elldér, 2020; Elldér et al, 2020; Haugen & Vilhelmson, 2013) that leverage Swedish micro-data on amenity location in combination with travel surveys. First, consistent with the literature on compact development, Ellder and coauthors (Elldér, 2020) show that having more amenities nearby is associated with reduced travel time and more active transport, even when controlling for the five D’s of the built environment.…”

“…The majority of existing research on the relationship between amenities and transport behaviour is concentrated on Sweden (Elldér, 2020; Elldér et al, 2020; Haugen & Vilhelmson, 2013), while most analysis of the relationship between the built environment more generally and transport decisions focuses on the USA, Europe or China, with relatively few papers focused on developing country settings. Due to a rapid rise in automobile ownership (Yañez-Pagans et al, 2019), there is a pressing need to study the determinants of transport behaviour in Latin America in order to understand the extent to which built environment interventions might have the capacity to mitigate rising car use.…”