ABSTRACT
According to theories of transport geography and transport economics, the travel between different destinations is influenced on the one hand by the reasons people may have for going to a particular place, and on the other hand by the discomfort involved when travelling to this location (Beinborn, 1979; Jones, 1978). Or, in other words, by the attractiveness of the locations and the friction of distance, respectively. The concept of friction of distance refers to the impediment which occurs because places, objects or people are spatially separate: movement involves a cost (Lloyd and Dicken, 1977). By creating proximity or distance between activities, and by facilitating different modes of travelling, the urban structure makes up a set of incentives facilitating some kinds of travel behaviour and discouraging other types of travel behaviour. Still, people travel, not buildings or geographical distributions of urban facilities. The causes of travel behaviour of course also include individual characteristics of the travellers, such as age, gender, income, professional status, as well as their values, norms, lifestyles and acquaintances. The emerging travel habits are a result of people’s resources, needs and wishes modified by the constraints and opportunities given by the structural conditions of society (see Figure 2.1). Among the structural conditions the spatial and physical urban structures of course make up only a few out of several categories, but for urban planning these very structures are of particular interest.
