IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/transp/v40y2013i6p1159-1172.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Turning cities inside out: transportation and the resurgence of downtowns in North America

Author

Listed:
  • Martin Wachs

Abstract

North American urban areas have changed dramatically over the last four decades. While downtowns were thought to be in long-term decline 40 years ago, central business districts are today the most vibrant residential and commercial centers throughout a largely suburban continent. This paper examines the role of transportation technology and policy in the earlier decline and recent revival of American downtowns and examines challenges to the continuation of urban regeneration. Major recent investments in physical improvements in central cities have been complemented by a dramatic shift in the locus of logistical and goods processing activities from city centers to outlying areas. While many tout the energy efficiency and environmental benefits of walkable and denser inner cities, a more complete accounting of their impacts also requires analysis of increasing urban congestion and the steady rise in urban goods movement in support of the new development patterns. Copyright Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013

Suggested Citation

  • Martin Wachs, 2013. "Turning cities inside out: transportation and the resurgence of downtowns in North America," Transportation, Springer, vol. 40(6), pages 1159-1172, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:40:y:2013:i:6:p:1159-1172
    DOI: 10.1007/s11116-013-9501-6
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s11116-013-9501-6
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11116-013-9501-6?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Reid Ewing & Robert Cervero, 2010. "Travel and the Built Environment," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 76(3), pages 265-294.
    2. Taylor, Brian D., 2002. "Rethinking Traffic Congestion," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt2fb4t8wd, University of California Transportation Center.
    3. Eidlin, Eric, 2010. "What Density Doesn't Tell Us About Sprawl," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt92x6r12w, University of California Transportation Center.
    4. Crabbe, Amber E. & Hiatt, Rachel & Poliwka, Susan D. & Wachs, Martin, 2005. "Local Transportation Sales Taxes: California's Experiment in Transportation Finance," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt1jg9w662, University of California Transportation Center.
    5. Willson, Richard, 2013. "Parking Reform Made Easy," University of California Transportation Center, Working Papers qt8rq839r1, University of California Transportation Center.
    6. Marcial Echenique & Anthony Hargreaves & Gordon Mitchell & Anil Namdeo, 2012. "Growing Cities Sustainably," Journal of the American Planning Association, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 78(2), pages 121-137.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Kenneth Joh & Sandip Chakrabarti & Marlon G. Boarnet & Ayoung Woo, 2015. "The Walking Renaissance: A Longitudinal Analysis of Walking Travel in the Greater Los Angeles Area, USA," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(7), pages 1-27, July.
    2. Circella, Giovanni & Matson, Grant & Alemi, Farzad & Handy, Susan, 2019. "Panel Study of Emerging Transportation Technologies and Trends in California: Phase 2 Data Collection," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt35x894mg, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    3. Sakai, Takanori & Kawamura, Kazuya & Hyodo, Tetsuro, 2017. "Spatial reorganization of urban logistics system and its impacts: Case of Tokyo," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 110-118.
    4. Scheiner, Joachim, 2018. "Transport costs seen through the lens of residential self-selection and mobility biographies," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 126-136.
    5. Audrey C Jamal, 2018. "Coworking spaces in mid-sized cities: A partner in downtown economic development," Environment and Planning A, , vol. 50(4), pages 773-788, June.
    6. Circella, Giovanni & Tiedeman, Kate & Handy, Susan & Alemi, Farzad & Mokhtarian, Patricia, 2016. "What Affects U.S. Passenger Travel? Current Trends and Future Perspectives," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt2w16b8bf, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    7. David Hartgen, 2013. "Hubris or humility? Accuracy issues for the next 50 years of travel demand modeling," Transportation, Springer, vol. 40(6), pages 1133-1157, November.
    8. Circella, Giovanni & Tiedeman, Kate & Handy, Susan & Alemi, Farzad & Mokhtarian, Patricia, 2016. "What Affects Millennials’ Mobility? Part I: Investigating the Environmental Concerns, Lifestyles, Mobility-Related Attitudes and Adoption of Technology of Young Adults in California," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt6wm51523, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.
    9. Circella, Giovanni & Alemi, Farzad & Tiedeman, Kate & Berliner, Rosaria M & Lee, Yongsung & Fulton, Lew & Mokhtarian, Patricia L & Handy , Susan, 2017. "What Affects Millennials’ Mobility? PART II: The Impact of Residential Location, Individual Preferences and Lifestyles on Young Adults’ Travel Behavior in California," Institute of Transportation Studies, Working Paper Series qt5kc117kj, Institute of Transportation Studies, UC Davis.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chih-Hao Wang, 2020. "Does compact development promote a seismic-resistant city? Application of seismic-damage statistical models to Taichung, Taiwan," Environment and Planning B, , vol. 47(1), pages 84-101, January.
    2. Lee, Sungwon & Lee, Bumsoo, 2014. "The influence of urban form on GHG emissions in the U.S. household sector," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 534-549.
    3. Kristin Kjærås, 2021. "Towards a relational conception of the compact city," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 58(6), pages 1176-1192, May.
    4. Pyddoke, Roger, 2016. "Modelling effects of policy instruments for sustainable urban transport in Scandinavia," Working papers in Transport Economics 2016:29, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
    5. Vincent Viguié, 2015. "Cross-commuting and housing prices in a polycentric modeling of cities," Working Papers 2015.09, FAERE - French Association of Environmental and Resource Economists.
    6. De Gruyter, Chris & Davies, Liam & Truong, Long T., 2021. "Examining spatial variations in minimum residential parking requirements in Melbourne," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    7. Martin Scoppa & Rim Anabtawi, 2021. "Connectivity in Superblock Street Networks: Measuring Distance, Directness, and the Diversity of Pedestrian Paths," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-18, December.
    8. Christiansen, Petter & Engebretsen, Øystein & Fearnley, Nils & Usterud Hanssen, Jan, 2017. "Parking facilities and the built environment: Impacts on travel behaviour," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 198-206.
    9. Papa, Enrica & Bertolini, Luca, 2015. "Accessibility and Transit-Oriented Development in European metropolitan areas," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 70-83.
    10. Pyddoke , Roger & Norheim, Bård & Betanzo , Mari Fossheim, 2017. "A model for strategic planning of sustainable urban transport in Scandinavia: a case study of Uppsala," Working papers in Transport Economics 2017:7, CTS - Centre for Transport Studies Stockholm (KTH and VTI).
    11. Hirte, Georg & Rhee, Hyok-Joo, 2016. "Regulation versus Taxation," CEPIE Working Papers 05/16, Technische Universität Dresden, Center of Public and International Economics (CEPIE).
    12. David Perez Barbosa & Junyi Zhang & Hajime Seya, 2016. "Effects of the Residential Environment on Health in Japan Linked with Travel Behavior," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-23, February.
    13. Jing Li & Kevin Lo & Pingyu Zhang & Meng Guo, 2016. "Consumer Travel Behaviors and Transport Carbon Emissions: A Comparative Study of Commercial Centers in Shenyang, China," Energies, MDPI, vol. 9(10), pages 1-13, September.
    14. Choi, Kwangyul & Zhang, Ming, 2017. "The impact of metropolitan, county, and local land use on driving emissions in US metropolitan areas: Mediator effects of vehicle travel characteristics," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 195-202.
    15. Anderson, John E. & Wulfhorst, Gebhard & Lang, Werner, 2015. "Energy analysis of the built environment—A review and outlook," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 149-158.
    16. Mehzabin Tuli, Farzana & Mitra, Suman & Crews, Mariah B., 2021. "Factors influencing the usage of shared E-scooters in Chicago," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 154(C), pages 164-185.
    17. John Stanley & Janet Stanley, 2023. "Improving Appraisal Methodology for Land Use Transport Measures to Reduce Risk of Social Exclusion," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(15), pages 1-18, August.
    18. Marie Geraldine Herrmann-Lunecke & Cristhian Figueroa-Martínez & Francisca Parra Huerta & Rodrigo Mora, 2022. "The Disabling City: Older Persons Walking in Central Neighbourhoods of Santiago de Chile," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(17), pages 1-19, September.
    19. Li, Jingjing & Kim, Changjoo & Sang, Sunhee, 2018. "Exploring impacts of land use characteristics in residential neighborhood and activity space on non-work travel behaviors," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 141-147.
    20. Ding, Chuan & Wang, Donggen & Liu, Chao & Zhang, Yi & Yang, Jiawen, 2017. "Exploring the influence of built environment on travel mode choice considering the mediating effects of car ownership and travel distance," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 65-80.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:transp:v:40:y:2013:i:6:p:1159-1172. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.