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- Filling in the spaces: compactifying cities towards accessibility and active transportPublication . Monteiro, João Pedro Medina; Para, Marvin; Sousa, Nuno; Jesus, Eduardo Natividade; Ostorero, Carlo; Rodrigues, João CoutinhoCompactification of cities, i.e., the opposite of urban sprawl, has been increasingly presented in the literature as a possible solution to reduce the carbon footprint and promote the sustainability of current urban environments. Compact environments have higher concentrations of interaction opportunities, smaller distances to them, and the potential for increased active mode shares, leading to less transport-related energy consumption and associated emissions. This article presents a GIS- based quantitative methodology to estimate on how much can be gained in that respect if vacant spaces within a city were urbanized, according to the municipal master plan, using four indicators: accessibility, active modal share, transport energy consumption, and a 15-minute city analysis. The methodology is applied to a case study, in which the city of Coimbra, Portugal, and a compact version of itself are compared. Results show the compact layout improves all indicators, with averages per inhabitant improving by 20% to 92%, depending on the scenario assumed for cycling, and is more equitable.
- The impact of city form and active modes of transport on urban mobility energy consumptionPublication . Rodrigues, João Coutinho; Monteiro, João Pedro Medina; Sousa, Nuno; Jesus, Eduardo NatividadeThe transport sector is vital in any modern economy, but, during the past century, dependence on vehicles burning petroleum- based fuels has become a defining component of modern societies. Transport share of final global energy consumption is very important - for example, in the EU it accounts for about 32%. On the other hand, sustainable mobility issues, particularly urban mobility, are on the agenda, and it is even predicted that by 2050 there will be no cars running on conventional fuels in cities. The layout, or form of the city has a decisive impact on energy consumption in urban mobility and the modes of transport used. Active modes of transport, in particular, contribute to reduce transport energy requirements, making it important and timely to consider them in city planning. Estimations using computer models of cities implemented in a GIS environment allow the calculation and comparison of transport energy needs associated with different city forms and allow important conclusions to be drawn about the positive impact of adopting active modes of transport. This research presents test energy calculations carried out both for the current configuration of the city of Coimbra, Portugal, using real georeferenced data of buildings, facilities, jobs, transport infrastructure network, etc., and its redraft as other city forms (e.g., garden city, transit-oriented development city, compact city, 15-minutes city, etc.). Results allow conclusions to be drawn about the associated transport energy needs and modal share, and can provide valuable information to decision makers, infrastructure managers, and planners of more sustainable cities. In practice, the study reveals that in cities with planned urbanism, mobility requires significantly less energy.