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Operating Urban Transportation Engineering - Part 8

Posted by aditya | 6:56 PM | , | 2 comments »

Any such transportation engineering planning for new cities will have little impact on overall urban prob­lems. Only a few new cities will spring full-blown in the near future. Rather, much of the activity in planning urban areas in the years ahead will be directed toward redeveloping and reconstructing deteriorated sections of our cities and carefully planning and possibly controlling urban expansion where this is desir­able. This planning will be difficult because of the many and often conflicting goals of a variety of interests. First of all, although there are exceptions, most Americans seem to prefer owning a single-family home on its own plot of land in the suburbs as compared with occupying high-rise dwellings downtown. Next, those in the private sector feel free to profit from land development. This often involves expansion of housing, industry, shopping, and accompanying ac­tivities into areas on the urban borders.

Again, it may be more profitable to owners to let close-in property lie vacant or in a run-down condition than to develop it for business, industrial, or residential use. On the other hand, goals of the federal, certain state, and some local governments and numerous conser­vation and environmental interests have attempted to make near-in urban areas more compact and to limit expansion. Arguments for this approach include eco­nomic efficiency, cheaper public services, energy and land conservation, and reduced air pollution. Governmental strategies include inputs, of highway transportation and other money to abate air and noise pollution, rehabilitate run-down areas, and for joint development. Even so, projections are for a continued decrease in urban population density in the years ahead.44 It seems clear that no unanimity on policy for urban land development has emerged to date, and that, as discussed earlier under the heading of Institutional Constraints, any change of direction will be difficult and slow.

Title Post: Operating Urban Transportation Engineering - Part 8
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Author: aditya