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Guidelines for a Polycentric Region to Reduce Vehicle Use and Increase Walking and Transit Use

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  • Keunhyun Park
  • Reid Ewing
  • Sadegh Sabouri
  • Dong-ah Choi
  • Shima Hamidi
  • Guang Tian

Abstract

Problem, research strategy, and findings: The monocentric development pattern in the Alonso–Mills–Muth model underpinned theoretical discussions of urban form in the 1960s and 1970s and truly dominated theory up to the point when Joel Garreau published Edge City: Life on the New Frontier in the early 1990s. Monocentric development patterns remain dominant to this day among smaller metropolitan areas in the United States. However, for larger metropolitan areas in the United States, regional transportation plans suggest a paradigm shift to a polycentric structure. We review 126 regional transportation plans in the United States and find that a hierarchy of centers connected by high-quality transit has become the dominant vision for most of them. The plan for Salt Lake City (UT), for example, strives for a multicentered region even though secondary centers are only beginning to emerge beyond a dominant downtown. Generally missing from regional transportation plans are quantitative criteria for designating and guiding centers: In no case are the quantitative criteria empirically based on proven transportation benefits. Here we investigate how the built environment characteristics of centers are associated with people’s travel mode choices and vehicle use. We employ visual and exploratory approaches through a generalized additive model (GAM) to identify nonlinear relationships between travel outcomes and “D” variables (density, diversity, design, destination accessibility, and distance to transit) within centers. The model and plots help us recommend the built environment characteristics of centers.Takeaway for practice: The built environment thresholds and relevant tools provided here can enable planners to make informed decisions about future growth patterns, set realistic—yet visionary—goals, and improve the overall health of its residents and communities. We provide strategies and tools that planning agencies, such as metropolitan planning organizations, transit agencies, and municipalities, can adopt to channel developments into centers.

Suggested Citation

  • Keunhyun Park & Reid Ewing & Sadegh Sabouri & Dong-ah Choi & Shima Hamidi & Guang Tian, 2020. "Guidelines for a Polycentric Region to Reduce Vehicle Use and Increase Walking and Transit Use," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 86(2), pages 236-249, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:rjpaxx:v:86:y:2020:i:2:p:236-249
    DOI: 10.1080/01944363.2019.1692690
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Singleton, Patrick A. & Park, Keunhyun & Lee, Doo Hong, 2021. "Varying influences of the built environment on daily and hourly pedestrian crossing volumes at signalized intersections estimated from traffic signal controller event data," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    2. Daeyoung Kwon & Sung Eun Sally Oh & Sangwon Choi & Brian H. S. Kim, 2023. "Viability of compact cities in the post-COVID-19 era: subway ridership variations in Seoul Korea," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 71(1), pages 175-203, August.
    3. Gustavo de Siqueira & Ahmad Adeel & Petrit Pasha & Amal Al Balushi & Syyed Adnan Raheel Shah, 2021. "Sustainable Transportation and Policy Development: A Study for Impact Analysis of Mobility Patterns and Neighborhood Assessment of Walking Behavior," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(4), pages 1-18, February.
    4. Reid Ewing & Torrey Lyons & Seyed Hassan Ameli & John Hersey & Justyna Kaniewska, 2024. "Regional Policies, Practices, Tools, and Strategies to Implement Polycentric Development: Comparative Case Studies of Portland, Seattle, and Denver," Land, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-29, February.
    5. Jiemei Luo & Edwin H. W. Chan & Jinfeng Du & Linxia Feng & Peng Jiang & Ying Xu, 2022. "Developing a Health-Spatial Indicator System for a Healthy City in Small and Midsized Cities," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(6), pages 1-20, March.
    6. Jinlian Hao & Haitao Ma, 2022. "Spatial Heterogeneity of Public Service Facilities in the Living Circle and Its Influence on Housing Prices: A Case Study of Central Urban Dalian, China," Land, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-16, July.
    7. Mi Ye & Ben Derudder & Lei Jiang & Freke Caset & Yingcheng Li, 2023. "The Effects of Urban Polycentricity on Particulate Matter Emissions From Vehicles: Evidence From 102 Chinese Cities," Urban Planning, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(3), pages 135-147.
    8. Zhang, Zhaolin & Zhai, Guocong & Xie, Kun & Xiao, Feng, 2022. "Exploring the nonlinear effects of ridesharing on public transit usage: A case study of San Diego," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    9. Zhesong Hao & Ying Peng, 2022. "Comparing Nonlinear and Threshold Effects of Bus Stop Proximity on Transit Use and Carbon Emissions in Developing Cities," Land, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-21, December.
    10. Cats, Oded & Birch, Nigel, 2021. "Multi-modal network evolution in polycentric regions," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 96(C).
    11. Seung-Chul Noh & Jung-Ho Park, 2021. "Café and Restaurant under My Home: Predicting Urban Commercialization through Machine Learning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(10), pages 1-22, May.
    12. Ding, Chuan & Cao, Xinyu & Yu, Bin & Ju, Yang, 2021. "Non-linear associations between zonal built environment attributes and transit commuting mode choice accounting for spatial heterogeneity," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 22-35.

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