39. Land-Use Transport Interaction Models

The relationship between urban development and transport is not simple and one way but complex and two way and is closely linked to other urban processes, such as macroeconomic development, interregional migration, demography, household formation, and technological innovation. In this chapter, one segment of this complex relationship is discussed: the two-way interaction between urban land use and transport within urban regions. The chapter looks at integrated models of urban land use and transport, i.e., models that explicitly model the two-way interaction between land use and transport to forecast the likely impacts of land use and transport policies for decision support in urban planning. The discussion starts with a review of the main theories of land-use transport interaction from transport planning, urban economics, and social geography. It then gives a brief overview of selected current operational urban models, thereby distinguishing between spatial-interaction location models and accessibility-based location models, and discusses their advantages and problems. Next, it reports on two important current debates about model design: are equilibrium models or dynamic models preferable, and what is the most appropriate level of spatial resolution and substantive disaggregation? This chapter closes with a reflection of new challenges for integrated urban models likely to come up in the future.