Relationship Between Land Use and Transportation in European Cities - Essay Example

Increased land usage for preparing better transportation facilities is causing big problems in most parts of the world. “In the urban context, almost 80% of the citizens of the European Union are concentrated and most of transport related environmental, health and social problems occur there” (Achieving Sustainable Transport and land Use With Integrated Policies, p.4). “Although most land use factors have modest individual impacts, typically affecting just a few percent of total travel, they are cumulative and synergistic”(Land Use Impacts on Transport, p.3). This paper briefly analyses the relationship between land use and transportation in European cities, and how these help to address issues related to sustainability with the help of examples.

Around 80% of the EU15 population lives in urban areas, and the transport of goods and people in these urban areas accounts for an important share of all transport kilometres in Europe. Per capita car ownership rates have increased over the past decades in virtually all cities (Achieving Sustainable Transport and land Use With Integrated Policies, p.6). Compared to the people in other parts of the world, Europeans are staying mostly in urban areas and therefore their reliance on automobiles and other transportation infrastructure are more. . Better infrastructure related to transportation may motivate people to purchase more vehicles for their person al use whereas lack of transportation facilities may demotivate people from doing so.

Traffic congestion often leads toward road accidents and thousands of Europeans die in every year as a result of that. Increased land use for construction of roads and rails may cause decreased availability of land for other purposes. It should be noted that the market share of the public transports in Europe is decreasing every year because of the increase in private carriers. To achieve sustainability goals, Europe should think seriously about “decoupling of transport growth significantly from growth in Gross Domestic Product in order to reduce congestion and other negative side-effects of transport” (Achieving Sustainable Transport and land Use With Integrated Policies, p.9). More focus should be given to the development of rail facilities than road facilities.

Increased rail facilities and decreased road facilities would force the public to use public carriers more frequently and thereby sustainability goals with respect to transportation can be achieved up to certain extent. “Land use patterns affect accessibility, people’s ability to reach desired services and activities, which affects mobility, the amount and type of travel activity” (Land Use Impacts on Transport, p.6). In a rapidly moving world, the importance of transportation cannot be neglected.

The value of time is increasing virtually in very second and therefore better transportation facilities are necessary to avoid wastage of time. At the same time, it is unwise to expand the transportation facilities beyond certain limits. There should be a