Urban Transport and Accessibility

Urban transport and accessibility research examines how the physical design of cities — street layouts, land use patterns, proximity to destinations, and infrastructure like bike-sharing systems — shapes whether people walk, cycle, or drive in their daily lives. Because active travel is one of the most realistic ways for large populations to incorporate regular physical activity, the choices embedded in urban planning carry measurable consequences for public health, with health impact assessments increasingly used to quantify those stakes before projects are built. Researchers are actively working to understand which built-environment factors matter most across different urban contexts, since correlates of walkability in a dense North American city may not transfer cleanly to sprawling or lower-income settings. An open challenge is disentangling self-selection — whether active neighborhoods attract people already inclined to walk and cycle — from the genuine causal effect of design on behavior.

Works

123,955

Total citations

1,649,483

Keywords

Built EnvironmentActive TravelPhysical ActivityTransportationUrban DesignHealth Impact Assessment