Lifestyles, spatial configurations and quality of life in daily travel: an explorative simulation study

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Abstract

The aim of this study is to compare a number of local spatial configurations of land use and transport facilities in a Dutch new town to address the question what impact these configurations have on the quality of life of different population categories. The results suggest that concentrating services near public transport nodes and increasing urban density, do have the potential to increase travel time and travel distance efficiency. High density offers the best opportunities to realize daily activities. More generally, this study highlights the necessity of a life-style oriented approach in planning the spatial configurations of residential areas.

Introduction

As a result of cultural, demographic, economic, and technological developments current society can be characterized by increasing opportunities for choice in different behavioural domains such as housing, the labour market, leisure and transport markets. Consequently, we observe a significant increase in the variety of household types and lifestyles that is accompanied by a differentiation in activity and travel patterns (Musterd and van Zelm, 2001; Bertolini and Dijst, 2003). However, these enlarged choice sets do not mean that individuals have complete freedom of choice. Highly individualized agendas increase coupling constraints and time pressures in the daily lives of many individuals.

In view of this changing social–cultural context, it is remarkable that policymakers and academics are predominantly interested in the environmental impacts of spatial and transport policies. For example, a substantial body of literature is concentrated on disentangling the relationships between the characteristics of spatial configurations (density and mixed land use, for example) and travel distance and mode choice, especially car use. For individuals, daily life travel time is an important criterion in decision-making (Pas, 1998). However, in the literature the association between urban form and travel time is underexposed (Schwanen et al., 2002). In our opinion, if a sustainable development is to be attained, environmental goals have to be supplemented with social goals. An evaluation of spatial configurations should, therefore, be based on both environmental criteria (such as travel distance) and social criteria (such as the feasibility of activities, travel patterns, and travel time).

In this paper we concentrate on the travel behaviour of some relevant population categories, such as single-earners, two- and one-earner households with or without children, and retired people. We address the choice opportunities these population categories have in different types of spatial configurations. We are particularly interested in the impact of spatial configurations on the efficiency of mobility behaviour from both a spatio-temporal and an environmental perspective. The simulation model MASTIC was used to analyse the impact of various density and land use mix configurations of shops, children's playgrounds, leisure facilities, dwellings, and parking places on the quality of life in daily travel. Three quality-of-life indicators were used: the feasibility of carrying out desired activities; travel time efficiency; travel distance efficiency. We have used data from a pilot study of residents of the Dutch new town of Zoetermeer.

The position of this paper with respect to prior research is briefly discussed in the next section. In Section 3 there are descriptions of the accessibility simulation model MASTIC used for the analyses of choice opportunities, the data, and the types of spatial configurations analysed. The current behaviour of the residents of the case study area are given in Section 4, followed by a description of the impact of spatial configurations on travel choices. Finally, we put forward some conclusions and a discussion of policy alternatives.

Section snippets

Prior research

The empirical literature on the impact of urban form on travel behaviour is extensive. The studies conflict with respect to the extent of the influence of such factors as density, land use mix, and pedestrian-friendly environments (Boarnet and Crane, 2001). Some recent reviews of empirical studies (Ewing and Cervero, 2001; Schwanen et al., 2004) make it possible to generalize on the direction of built-environment aspects at the level of the neighbourhood or city on trip length and mode choice.

Data: travel diaries from Zoetermeer–Rokkeveen

In this study, we drew on travel diaries from an earlier research project using MASTIC (Dijst et al., 2002). These diaries were collected from residents of Rokkeveen, a neighbourhood in Zoetermeer. Zoetermeer is a new town, developed around an old, compact village 12 km from The Hague (Fig. 2). Since the 1960s it has grown into a city with over 100,000 inhabitants and more than 40,000 jobs (with a working population of 52,000). The area of Rokkeveen was developed in the second half of the 1990s

The effect of spatial configurations on quality of life

Before discussing the simulation results for the different scenarios and variants, we first describe the mobility behaviour of the inhabitants of Rokkeveen within the existing spatial configuration of consumer services, dwellings, and transport facilities in Zoetermeer.

Conclusions and discussion

The central question of this study was to what degree, and in what ways, could spatial configurations of land use and transport facilities contribute to more efficient mobility behaviour from both a spatio-temporal and an environmental perspective. In western countries, government policies are usually aimed at the reduction of car use and the stimulation of alternative modes such as public transport and the bicycle. To reach these goals spatial planning measures are proposed, such as building

Acknowledgements

The authors thank the anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions.

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