Workshop SP 1,  Monday 19 June 16.00 - 17.30

Urban development policies

Dieter Apel, Scientist, Deutsches Institut für Urbanistik, Germany Traffic system, space demand and urban structure. Space demand is the one of the key problems of suburban development and traffic expansion. At first space demand is caused by tech-economic factors and by social changes. For example today we consume about 40 sqm. housing floor area per person than about 15 sqm. forty years ago. A similar expansion of specific space demands can also be seen for production, offices, retailing, leisure and other facilities. Secondly the expansion of space consumption for settlements and traffic facilities is caused, to a much greater extent, by car-based developments. We compare the settlement space including streets and other traffic facilities of different parts of an European region. For Germany we can state: in the old high density built up and pedestrian-based area near the city centre about 90 sqm. per person are consumed, in new settlements in the suburban ring the figure is over six times as high (600 sqm. per person). One third of this 600 sqm. are streets. The inter-relations between the traffic system and the urban structure can also be shown if we compare cities with different structures in Europa and in the USA. Regulating space consumption and traffic levels can be seen as major components of strategies for a more sustainable urban development. The only solution which seems successful, should adopt a chohesive approach to both. Such strategies and regulatory instruments are subject of the second part of the presentation which is founded on Difu-investigations.

Karel de Roy,  Region of Utrecht The use of bicycles in the two newly-designed cities. In the Netherlands, increasing the use of bicycles is one of the remedies against huge traffic congestion on auto-ways and in residential areas. In the vicinity of Utrecht, a city 30 kilometers south of Amsterdam, there are two locations where encouraging increased usage of bikes is of paramount importance. In Houten cycling is the most important means of transport. Containing 32,000 inhabitants, living in 16 neighbourhoods, the city is designed primarily for bicycle travel. To travel by car from one neighbourhood to another requires an indirect route utilising a ring road that surrounds the city. The co-use of the bicycle and public transportation is above the national average due to an important railway that intersects the city. Half of the shopping is done on bikes. Only 6% of the children are taken to school by car (national average 45%). The average number of traffic casualties per year is 1.1 per thousand (3.5 nationally). Leidsche Rijn is the country's largest new city project for almost 100,000 inhabitants. It has a bicycle network that consists of a gridwork of main routes with connecting lines to residential areas. Combined use of public transportation and bikes is encouraged. Leidsche Rijn will grow to become part of the densely built city of Utrecht with a wide range of municipal functions. The scale is incomparable to Houten's and it requires a totally different traffic structure. And although high priority is given to bike-usage, strict limitation on the accessibility of cars is out of reach. Despite the big differences, it is helpful to look at similarities that might lead to similar solutions.