Metropolitan dynamics, travel behaviour and the importance of new urban policies to achieve sustainable mobility: a local perspective

摘要

The impact of land use and transport systems on mobility patterns has been widely debated, where the danger of a strictly sectarian versus comprehensive approach to transport policies is highlighted. This paper explores issues of transport/land use integration, through a case study of a Portuguese metropolitan area. It analyses the emerging complexity and diversity of metropolitan development and mobility patterns, and emphasizes the crucial role of spatial planning strategies to provide sustainable mobility. The first part of the paper outlines the most important characteristics and trends of the spatial organization of an urban agglomeration in Portugal, the Metropolitan Area of Porto. These trends have assumed a determinative role in the design of spatial mobility practices in the metropolitan area, and, therefore, its knowledge is crucial to the development of sustainable metropolitan mobility. This analysis also traces the tendency of urban development to concentrate itself around the metropolitan center of Porto, as well as the complexity of this dynamic, illustrating the emergence of a compact urbanized 'ring'. The second part focuses on current mobility patterns in the Metropolitan Area of Porto, and comments on the emerging 'landscapes' of mobility. The paper then outlines the impacts of these changing structures of spatial organization and mobility patterns in a situation marked by conflicting sectarian developments perspectives within land-use and transport contexts. Finally, the paper explores the crucial role of innovative urban policies to promote a better land-use and transport integration in the Metropolitan Area of Porto. Therefore, a set of strategic planning options and criteria are listed, namely associated to urban regeneration, land use control and territorial governance.