[sustran] forwarded question on land devoted to transport

[Dr.Rajeev Saraf]

Another issue with calculating road space is the level (i.e., city level, 
zonal level, neighbourhood level) where we are calculating road space. In 
general, when we talk of city level roads ( masterplan roads, as is 
called in Delhi) zonal and neighbourhood roads are not included in the 
statistics. The city level road network only includes roads greater than 
24 metres row. At city level in Delhi, we have approximately we have 7 to 
8% of urban area devoted to road space. However at neighbourhood level, 
this number goes up to as high as 30 to 40%. 

___________________________________________________________________________
Dr Rajeev Saraf                 |
Urban and Transport Planner     |
SENIOR PROJECT SCIENTIST        |      PHONE : 91-11-6858703
APPLIED SYSTEM RESEARCH PROGRAM |      EMAIL : sarafrk at cbme.iitd.ernet.in
IIT DELHI 110016                |      FAX   : 91-11-6862037
INDIA                           |
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On Sat, 13 Sep 1997, Paul Barter wrote:

> This question appeared on another list, so if you reply to this list please
> cc to the original author (Stephen Marshall) as I am doing, so that he gets
> the benefit of your wisdom.
> 
> >Date: Fri, 12 Sep 1997 11:31:35 +0100
> >    To: urban-regional-planning at mailbase.ac.uk
> >    From: stephen marshall <ucftsma at ucl.ac.uk>
> >    Subject: Proportion of land used by transport - request
> >    Reply-To: stephen marshall <ucftsma at ucl.ac.uk>
> >
> >
> >    Proportion of land used by transport
> >    - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
> >
> >    "Cumulative figures show that, worldwide, at least one third of all
> >    developed urban land is devoted to roads, parking lots, and other motor
> >    vehicle infrastructure.  In the urban United States, the automobile
> >consumes
> >    close to half the land area of cities; in Los Angeles the figure approaches
> >    two thirds" - Southworth & Ben-Joseph (1997): Streets and the Shaping of
> >    Towns and Cities
> >
> >    I am interested if anyone knows of any other similar statistics, or sources
> >    of statistics, on this theme, including the following variants:
> >    - land devoted to all 'transport' infrastructure (including rail lines,
> >    yards etc)
> >    - land devoted to all space for movement including dedicated 'pedestrian'
> >    space and other public space
> >    - figures for other countries
> >    - figures for other cities
> >
> >    I will compile and send out a summary of findings if the responses are
> >    sufficient.
> >
> >    Thank you.
> >    Stephen Marshall
> >
> >    Bartlett School of Planning
> >    Wates House
> >    22 Gordon Street
> >    London WC1H 0QB
> >    UNITED KINGDOM
> >    Tel:  +44 (0)171 387 7050 Ext 4885
> >    Fax: +44 (0)171 380 7502
> 
> My comment:   Information on the area taken by transport is very powerful
> as it focuses attention on an important but neglected impact of the private
> car - namely its voracious appetite for urban space.  It is especially good
> if the data includes parking and all transport related land-use as the item
> above asks for.   BUT great care is needed in calculating these figures.
> 
> One common problem is that some people divide by the total area in the
> relevant jurisdiction.  This is invalid because it may include a large
> amount of agricultural and other non-urban land.   One must divide by the
> urbanised area only.  The Bangkok example below is for the more restricted
> concept of road area as a percentage of urban area (ie. not including
> parking space, etc.) but the same caution would apply to the more
> comprehensive measures.
> 
> This is one reason that we hear very widely varying figures for Bangkok for
> example. I have seen figures ranging from about 6% to 11% of Bangkok's area
> is devoted to roads.   The lower end figures come from using total area and
> often seriously underestimate the true figure.  Such figures are often used
> to justify claims that only a huge road building programme will solve
> Bangkok's problems....  The higher end figures come from using only the
> urbanised area (which would in turn probably be a slight overestimate since
> some of the road area in the calculation would be roads that pass through
> non-urban parts of the jurisdiction).   The higher end figures reveal that
> Bangkok is not much less endowed with roads that cities such as Paris
> (11%), Hong Kong (12%), Munich (13%), Tokyo (13%). (see Kenworthy, et al.
> 1995.  "Is Increasing Automobile dependence Inevitable in Booming
> Economies?"  IATSS Research, Vol. 19, No. 2, p. 63).
> 
> 
> A. Rahman Paul Barter
> <tkpb at barter.pc.my>
> 
> The Sustainable Transport Action Network for Asia & the Pacific (SUSTRAN)
> is dedicated to promoting transport policies and investments which foster
> accessibility for all; social equity; ecological sustainability; health and
> safety; public participation; and high quality of life.
> 
> 
>