ABSTRACT
Transport has a major impact on the spatial and economic development of cities and regions. The attractiveness of particular locations depends in part on the relative accessibility, and this in turn depends on the quality and quantity of the transport infrastructure. At a general level, it seems that these links are well established, but as this book argues, the methods we have available for the analysis of the links between transport and urban development are not adequate, particularly in the context of the changing nature of cities and the globalization of the world economy. It is some 40 years since Mitchell and Rapkin published their seminal study, Urban Traffic-A Function of Land Use (Mitchell and Rapkin, 1954) where the links between land use and transport were first analysed in depth. Here it was argued that if activities associated with particular land uses could be measured, then quantitative estimates of the levels of traffic associated with those land uses could be made. The levels of traffic in the urban area were directly related to the land uses.
