Ifsttar PhD subject

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Title : Land planning through accessibility: improving soft daily mobility

Main host Laboratory - Referent Advisor LVMT  -  BONIN Olivier      tél. : +33 181668868

Director of the main host Laboratory ZEMBRI Pierre  -

PhD Speciality géographie

Axis of the performance contract 3 - COP2017 - Planning and protecting regions

Main location Marne-la-Vallée

Doctoral affiliation UNIVERSITE DE MARNE-LA-VALLEE

PhD school VILLE, TRANSPORTS ET TERRITOIRES

Planned PhD supervisor BONIN Olivier  -  Université Gustave Eiffel  -  LVMT

Planned financing Contrat doctoral  - Ifsttar

Abstract

Sustainable spatial planning is a major challenge for the development of urban agglomerations. This involves developing programmes to reduce the use of energy resources, particularly fossil fuels, ensure economic efficiency and improve social cohesion while respecting the environment. These objectives often lead to the implementation of a transport policy that aims to reduce car use in favour of soft modes, often by combining price signals (fuel prices, parking, etc.) and speed signals (speed limits, prohibited directions, baffles, pedestrian zones, etc.). This policy inevitably introduces inequalities between households according to their location in the urban area if it is not accompanied by land planning actions.

Rather than referring to planning paradigms such as the densification of centres or transit-oriented development, this thesis proposes to address the issue of reconfiguration of daily mobility through accessibility, on the scale of an interco or a set of interco's. Accessibility, in the sense introduced by Hansen in 1959, is a measure of the performance of access to a destination complex, and therefore reflects a potential for access to different jobs, businesses, services and amenities from each location. If this potential is high, the use of mechanized modes such as the private car will be less necessary.

Home-to-work mobility is based on a regional and not local logic and therefore partly escapes local public policies. This thesis therefore focuses on the daily mobility of access to shops and services, at all spatial scales and considering recurrent mobility as the most rare.
This object raises several questions, centred on households on the one hand:
- how are the facilities distributed over a territory, with what spatial structure and hierarchy?
- what are the distances considered satisfactory by households to access the various resources, according to modes?
- how to identify the equipment deficits of a territory?
and on the equipment on the other hand:
- what is the population needed to ensure the economic viability of an equipment?
- is the space consumption of new equipment justified in relation to other potential uses of the space?

These are all questions that spatial planners are likely to encounter when considering the revision of a document or a study of a specific territory. However, the implementation of such evaluations faces different challenges, some methodological and others practical. A conceptual blur surrounds the very notions of "accessibility", "equipment", "proximity", or "deficit". The thesis specifically aims to clarify these different points. The field of application of this work could be the Marne-la-Vallée territory on the outskirts of Paris, which offers a certain diversity of amenities and modes of transport in a particular urban development context.
First of all, it will be necessary to question the very notion of territory and the choice of perimeters for accessibility calculations. Adopting a multi-scale approach, both spatial and temporal, seems to be a relevant approach to assessing the accessibility of the territory as a whole without losing its relationship with the surrounding territories and the coherence of its internal composition.

Similarly, one of the main difficulties in implementing accessibility calculations will be in selecting potential destinations to be included in the calculation. What amenities should be considered? Households do not just use shops and market services. They also aspire to access green and recreational spaces. Based on a theory of needs, we will develop a hierarchical typology of amenities, notably according to the degree of proximity necessary to achieve the well-being of the inhabitants. This typology must therefore be brought into line with the hierarchical spatial structure proposed by the multi-scale planning concept.

Finally, dealing with the strengthening of accessibility will require a reflection on the criteria of economic realism that can strongly constrain the location of businesses and services. Estimates of barge areas by type of activity will need to be included in accessibility calculations, taking into account competitive distance or mutual reinforcement by grouping strategies, to assess the profitability of activities based on the potential user population.

From a methodological point of view, this thesis will be based on a mixed method that combines an analysis of urban planning documents and household practices with a multi-scale modelling using fractal geometry. The in-depth study of the recommendations identified in the planning documents (SCoT, publications of urban planning agencies, etc.) will make it possible to take into account the practices of local decision-makers. The databases made available by INSEE (SIRENE file, regular squared grid census data) will also be significant sources. The use of fractalopolis software will allow multi-scale assessments that take into account the diversity of urban forms, in addition to existing GIS tools.

The thesis work will lead to a toolbox for making accessibility diagnoses, and the proposal of different solutions to evaluate the effects of local reinforcement of businesses and services on a territory. In addition to providing an exhaustive description of the structure of shops and services and their access to the study area, this thesis work would provide both methodological elements for the multi-criteria analysis of accessibility to amenities and insights that will extend the existing scientific literature on the subject.

Bibliographie indicative
Birkin, M., Clarke, G., Clarke, M.P., 2002. Retail Geography and Intelligent Network Planning. Wiley.
Burchell, R. et al., 1998. Costs of sprawl - Revisited: The evidence of sprawl's negative and positive effects. Washington D.C: National Academy Press ed.
Christaller, W., 1966. Central places in Southern Germany. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (New Jersey), Etats-Unis d’Amérique.
Dawson, J. (Ed.)., 2012. Retail geography (rle retailing and distribution) (Vol. 7). Routledge.
Frankhauser P., Tannier C., Vuidel G., Houot H., 2018. An integrated multifractal modelling to urban and regional planning, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 67, 132–146.
Hansen, W.G., 1959. How Accessibility Shapes Land Use. Journal of the American Institute of Planners 25, 73–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944365908978307
Koenig, J.-G., 1980. Indicators of urban accessibility: theory and application. Transportation 9, 145–172.
Manzi, T., Lucas, K., Lloyd-Jones, T.,Allen, J., 2010. Understanding social sustainability: key concepts and developments in theory and practice. In: Manzi, T., K. Lucas, T. Lloyd-Jones &
Max-Neef, M. A., 1991. Human scale development. The Apex Press, New-York and London, ISBN 0-945257-35-X.
Rotem-Mindali, O., 2012. Retail fragmentation vs. urban livability: Applying ecological methods in urban geography research. Applied Geography 35, 292–299.
Sevtsuk, A., Kalvo, R., Ekmekci, O., 2016. Pedestrian accessibility in grid layouts: the role of block, plot and street dimensions. Urban Morphology 20, 89–106.
Zhang, J., Xie, Y., 2015. Optimal Intra-Urban Hierarchy of Activity Centers—A Minimized Household Travel Energy Consumption Approach. Sustainability, 11838–11856.

Disciplines : géographie, aménagement, science régionale

Lien avec des initiatives IFSTTAR : projet fédérateur Ville 2050

Keywords : land planning, accessibility, active mobility, fractal modelling

Main host Laboratory - Referent Advisor	LVMT - BONIN Olivier tél. : +33 181668868
Director of the main host Laboratory	ZEMBRI Pierre -
PhD Speciality	géographie
Axis of the performance contract	3 - COP2017 - Planning and protecting regions
Main location	Marne-la-Vallée
Doctoral affiliation	UNIVERSITE DE MARNE-LA-VALLEE
PhD school	VILLE, TRANSPORTS ET TERRITOIRES
Planned PhD supervisor	BONIN Olivier - Université Gustave Eiffel - LVMT
Planned financing	Contrat doctoral - Ifsttar
Abstract Sustainable spatial planning is a major challenge for the development of urban agglomerations. This involves developing programmes to reduce the use of energy resources, particularly fossil fuels, ensure economic efficiency and improve social cohesion while respecting the environment. These objectives often lead to the implementation of a transport policy that aims to reduce car use in favour of soft modes, often by combining price signals (fuel prices, parking, etc.) and speed signals (speed limits, prohibited directions, baffles, pedestrian zones, etc.). This policy inevitably introduces inequalities between households according to their location in the urban area if it is not accompanied by land planning actions. Rather than referring to planning paradigms such as the densification of centres or transit-oriented development, this thesis proposes to address the issue of reconfiguration of daily mobility through accessibility, on the scale of an interco or a set of interco's. Accessibility, in the sense introduced by Hansen in 1959, is a measure of the performance of access to a destination complex, and therefore reflects a potential for access to different jobs, businesses, services and amenities from each location. If this potential is high, the use of mechanized modes such as the private car will be less necessary. Home-to-work mobility is based on a regional and not local logic and therefore partly escapes local public policies. This thesis therefore focuses on the daily mobility of access to shops and services, at all spatial scales and considering recurrent mobility as the most rare. This object raises several questions, centred on households on the one hand: - how are the facilities distributed over a territory, with what spatial structure and hierarchy? - what are the distances considered satisfactory by households to access the various resources, according to modes? - how to identify the equipment deficits of a territory? and on the equipment on the other hand: - what is the population needed to ensure the economic viability of an equipment? - is the space consumption of new equipment justified in relation to other potential uses of the space? These are all questions that spatial planners are likely to encounter when considering the revision of a document or a study of a specific territory. However, the implementation of such evaluations faces different challenges, some methodological and others practical. A conceptual blur surrounds the very notions of "accessibility", "equipment", "proximity", or "deficit". The thesis specifically aims to clarify these different points. The field of application of this work could be the Marne-la-Vallée territory on the outskirts of Paris, which offers a certain diversity of amenities and modes of transport in a particular urban development context. First of all, it will be necessary to question the very notion of territory and the choice of perimeters for accessibility calculations. Adopting a multi-scale approach, both spatial and temporal, seems to be a relevant approach to assessing the accessibility of the territory as a whole without losing its relationship with the surrounding territories and the coherence of its internal composition. Similarly, one of the main difficulties in implementing accessibility calculations will be in selecting potential destinations to be included in the calculation. What amenities should be considered? Households do not just use shops and market services. They also aspire to access green and recreational spaces. Based on a theory of needs, we will develop a hierarchical typology of amenities, notably according to the degree of proximity necessary to achieve the well-being of the inhabitants. This typology must therefore be brought into line with the hierarchical spatial structure proposed by the multi-scale planning concept. Finally, dealing with the strengthening of accessibility will require a reflection on the criteria of economic realism that can strongly constrain the location of businesses and services. Estimates of barge areas by type of activity will need to be included in accessibility calculations, taking into account competitive distance or mutual reinforcement by grouping strategies, to assess the profitability of activities based on the potential user population. From a methodological point of view, this thesis will be based on a mixed method that combines an analysis of urban planning documents and household practices with a multi-scale modelling using fractal geometry. The in-depth study of the recommendations identified in the planning documents (SCoT, publications of urban planning agencies, etc.) will make it possible to take into account the practices of local decision-makers. The databases made available by INSEE (SIRENE file, regular squared grid census data) will also be significant sources. The use of fractalopolis software will allow multi-scale assessments that take into account the diversity of urban forms, in addition to existing GIS tools. The thesis work will lead to a toolbox for making accessibility diagnoses, and the proposal of different solutions to evaluate the effects of local reinforcement of businesses and services on a territory. In addition to providing an exhaustive description of the structure of shops and services and their access to the study area, this thesis work would provide both methodological elements for the multi-criteria analysis of accessibility to amenities and insights that will extend the existing scientific literature on the subject. Bibliographie indicative Birkin, M., Clarke, G., Clarke, M.P., 2002. Retail Geography and Intelligent Network Planning. Wiley. Burchell, R. et al., 1998. Costs of sprawl - Revisited: The evidence of sprawl's negative and positive effects. Washington D.C: National Academy Press ed. Christaller, W., 1966. Central places in Southern Germany. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs (New Jersey), Etats-Unis d’Amérique. Dawson, J. (Ed.)., 2012. Retail geography (rle retailing and distribution) (Vol. 7). Routledge. Frankhauser P., Tannier C., Vuidel G., Houot H., 2018. An integrated multifractal modelling to urban and regional planning, Computers, Environment and Urban Systems, 67, 132–146. Hansen, W.G., 1959. How Accessibility Shapes Land Use. Journal of the American Institute of Planners 25, 73–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944365908978307 Koenig, J.-G., 1980. Indicators of urban accessibility: theory and application. Transportation 9, 145–172. Manzi, T., Lucas, K., Lloyd-Jones, T.,Allen, J., 2010. Understanding social sustainability: key concepts and developments in theory and practice. In: Manzi, T., K. Lucas, T. Lloyd-Jones & Max-Neef, M. A., 1991. Human scale development. The Apex Press, New-York and London, ISBN 0-945257-35-X. Rotem-Mindali, O., 2012. Retail fragmentation vs. urban livability: Applying ecological methods in urban geography research. Applied Geography 35, 292–299. Sevtsuk, A., Kalvo, R., Ekmekci, O., 2016. Pedestrian accessibility in grid layouts: the role of block, plot and street dimensions. Urban Morphology 20, 89–106. Zhang, J., Xie, Y., 2015. Optimal Intra-Urban Hierarchy of Activity Centers—A Minimized Household Travel Energy Consumption Approach. Sustainability, 11838–11856. Disciplines : géographie, aménagement, science régionale Lien avec des initiatives IFSTTAR : projet fédérateur Ville 2050
Keywords :	land planning, accessibility, active mobility, fractal modelling

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