Urban and Regional Planning Review Vol. 1(2014)

The inventory of housing near train stations is rapidly expanding along the urban railway corridor after a decade of its first operation in Bangkok, Thailand. There is still no clear reason why people buy or rent property near the stations. Past studies claimed that one important aspect in assessing housing location decisions is its relation with travel choice. The objective of this study is to understand the relationship between location behavior and travel patterns of residents living in close proximity to public transport. This research seeks to model the relationship between residential location and mode choice within a behavioral analysis framework, focusing on the self-selection question.
A discrete logit model is employed to jointly estimate the probability individuals residing near a rail station will commute by rail transit, using the interview data of station-area residents. The empirical results reveal that the inclusion of travel-related attitudes in the model can significantly explain travel behavior through residential choice. The parameter estimation shows a positive attitude toward the rail transit in that choosing to live within the station area can strongly influence rail commuting decision of the residents. This states that Bangkokians could develop more pro rail attitudes after experiencing convenient travel by train when living near a rail stop. However, in case of Bangkok, distance to the nearest station has limited impact on transit ridership and therefore has less influence on travel choice behavior.

In recent years, the concept of compact cities has permeated the sustainability discourse under the premise that compact high density developments can effectively reduce car use levels and promote use of alternative modes such as transit and non-motorized means. However, these arguments hinge on the existence of a true causal mechanism between built environment and travel behavior. Using panel data from a survey on new movers to a high density mixed use development in the Kashiwanoha area, Chiba prefecture, several models are estimated to test the effect of changes in the built environment on activity frequency by mode. Findings suggest that even after controlling for residential self-selection, the built environment exerts a significant effect on activity frequency for some activity types such as shopping and eating-out conditional on travel modes. Mode substitution effects were observed between frequencies of nearby activities reached by non-motorized means and faraway activities reached by car given changes in accessibility levels around home location. Asymmetric effects of changes in car ownership on activity frequency were also identified. Findings provide a good insight on the potential effects of retrofitting low density suburban areas through densification and land use mixes, an issue of critical importance in the context of rapidly ageing and depopulating cities and regions in Japan.

This paper considers the introduction of doctor-helicopter systems into an existing ground ambulance system. The doctor-helicopter delivers an emergency medical doctor at or near an accident point to provide primary care to patients. Since helicopters cannot always land at demand locations, rendezvous points are required at which helicopters can meet an ambulance carrying the patient. We propose a maximal covering location model that determines the locations of the helicopters and the rendezvous points simultaneously. Two types of coverage criteria are considered. The first type of coverage is achieved when a patient can access primary medical care within a given time by helicopter but cannot reach a hospital within the same time by ambulance. In the second type, each location is covered when a helicopter can reduce the transport time by more than a threshold time in comparison with access to a hospital by ambulance. The model maximizes the weighted sum of the total demands met by the first and the second types of coverage. We provide a 0-1 integer formulation of the model. Some optimal solutions of the model are analyzed by using geographical and population data, and the locations of the actual emergency medical centers in Japan.

This study analyzes the equilibrium and optimal location of retail stores that today have to compete with mail order businesses. Here, we present a competitive location model in a one-dimensional city model, such as the Hotelling model. The model includes two competing retail stores and one mail order business, and assumes that the consumers’choice of store is modeled by the production constraint spatial interaction models. As the attraction of the mail order business increases, the two retail stores move from a central concentrated location to two separate locations, before returning to one central location. In this study, we investigate the characteristics of the equilibrium and optimal location for these stores using different parameter settings.

Road space reallocation measures for traffic safety have attracted attention recently. In Europe, measures including Shared Space have been implemented. Recent reports have described their effects on traffic safety. However, in Japan, few case examples of measures have been reported. Therefore, little is known about effects and problems associated with these measures. This paper clarifies the effects of road space reallocation on traffic safety based on resident attitudes, and verifies its effects through the investigation of changes in actual traffic conditions.
First, we administered a questionnaire survey at Shinmon-dori Street, where a social experiment for traffic calming had been implemented. Results show that the share of good evaluations of walkability increased. The share of evaluations of drivability was unchanged. Next, we examined the relation between the evaluations and effects of road space reallocation, and clarified that “It became easier for me to walk abreast”, “I became able to walk with a secure feeling”, and “I became able to drive at low speeds” are major effects of the measure. Finally, we conducted pedestrian and vehicle behavior surveys at the street to elucidate these major effects in actual traffic conditions. Results show that pedestrians are more likely to walk abreast and on sidewalks under social experimental conditions than under usual conditions. In addition, results show that drivers drive to the middle of the street. Therefore, pedestrians are able to walk on wider sidewalks with a more secure feeling. However, we were unable to confirm a change of vehicle speeds.

Collaborative governance is a topical regional issue and is considered as a tool to establish, steer, facilitate, operate and monitor arrangements to address cross-jurisdiction public policy problems. It has been receiving attention in the developed countries for decades before starting to emerge in many developing countries in the 1990s. Following the decentralization in 1999, Indonesia experienced the sudden transformation from a centralized to a decentralized system. The rapid change of system together with increasing demand of urban service push the local governments to search for a new mechanism of regional governance through collaboration that correspond to the current system. This paper aims to identify the structure of current collaborative governance in Indonesia through in depth analysis of the existing institutional structure of horizontally and vertically linked organizations in four metropolitan regions. Findings suggest that the structure and variation of collaborative governance varied according to the tendency of vertical and horizontal interaction adopted in the jurisdiction. Interaction between actors, thus, plays consequential role in the development of collaboration that are more visible in institutionally fragmented regional setting.

In Vienna, in 1992 the municipality created a new zoning class, “EKLW: a recreational area Kleingarten for all year living”. Wiener Kleingartengesetz (the Viennese Allotment Gardens Act) was then amended so that gardeners could build a larger house in EKLW-type Kleingärten. This study investigates the amendment's influence on the spatial characteristics of Kleingärten focusing on housing renovation. The comparison of traced land use in 2011 with the data of the past study in 1999 demonstrated that EKLW-type Kleingärten actually have larger houses than EKL-type Kleingärten and that the largest variation in house areas were found in the older EKLW-type Kleingärten. The main reasons for this, inferred from interviews with the gardeners, were as follows: that some of small houses built initially for seasonal stays still remain as they have been because the gardeners have used their plots for a long time or have inherited their plots with memories of their family; and that old narrow paths demand extra costs for housing renovations.In contrast, the newer EKLW-type Kleingärten have only houses large enough to live in year round. Thus, both the older and newer EKLW-type Kleingärten are becoming residential places although their speeds are different. Indeed, this housing renovation of EKLW-type Kleingärten has negative effects considering the loss of green spaces inside urban areas. Nevertheless, it can be evaluated positively in that it prevented the release of green belt land and the urban sprawl beyond the Green Belt. Thus, the amendment of Wiener Kleingartengesetz contributed to keep Vienna's urban form compact.