Evaluation of Urban Form and Automobile Dependence A Case Study of Marne-la-Vallée New Town (Paris-France)

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Associate Professor, Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism, Department of Urbanism, Art University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran

Abstract

Automobile dependence is one of the most important symptoms of modern cities which have negative impacts on environmental, social, and economic aspects. The impacts such as injuries in accidents, air, water, and soil pollution, noise, townscape perturbation, traffic jams, and waste of time and energy are more known examples. In order to establish efficient strategies and policies to improve the situation, a complete and detailed evaluation of automobile dependence is necessary. The objective of the research is to evaluate the new town of Marne-la-Vallée in the east of Paris in France as the case study from the "automobile dependence" viewpoint. This research also confirms that the theory of "conceptual combinations of three urban fabrics" developed by Peter Newman is applied in this new town. As explained in this theory, usually in a metropolis the urban form is classified into three distinct urban fabrics: the first one is "walking urban fabric" which contains the core of the city, the second one is "transit urban fabric" which contains inner and outer urban fabrics and finally the third one "auto urban fabric" which is relatively automobile-dependent urban fabric. With a total population of 311851 in 2015, this new town has been planned as a hub of employment and residence in Parisian suburb. Marne-la-Vallée is formed by 4 sectors of (1) Porte de Paris, (2) Val Maubuée, (3) Val-de-Bussy, and (4) Val-d'Europe, which are consisted of 26 "communes". The key literature of automobile dependence is investigated in 6 dimensions: compactness/sprawl of urban fabric, accessibility to urban centers, sustainable transportation, population density, urban fabric clustering, and accessibility of green and open spaces, in each dimension a set of parameters has been defined and quantified to evaluate the state of automobile dependence related to the urban fabric. In this research, quantitative method has been used and data collection has been carried out with the assistance of the INSEE (The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies) database. The findings show that the new town of Marne-la-Vallée is relatively automobile-dependent and this dependency is a dependent variable of "distance from center" (Paris), which means the further away from the center, the more the rate of automobile dependence in 6 investigated dimensions.  Finally, in a spider chart, the result of car dependence is shown separately for each of the four parts of this new town. Despite the objectives of the planners for this new town, the urban form of Marne-la-Vallée is not successful according to sustainable urban transportation and automobile dependency concept. Also, the typical principles and rules concerning other suburbs are present here and this new town has to take the necessary measures to resolve the problem of automobile dependence.

Keywords

References

-   Banister, D. (1992). Energy use, transport and settlement patterns. In M. Breheny (Ed.), Sustainable development and urban form (160-181). London: Pion.
-   Boarnet, M. G., & Sarmiento, S. (1998). Can land-use policy really affect travel behaviour? A study of the link between non-work travel and land-use characteristics. Urban studies, 35(7), 1155-1169. 
-   Bramley, G., Dempsey, N., Power, S., Brown, C., & Watkins, D. (2009). Social sustainability and urban form: evidence from five British cities. Environment planning A, 41(9), 2125-2142. 
-   Breheny, M. (1992). The compact city: an introduction. Built Environment, 18(4), 240-246. 
-   Breheny, M. (1995). The compact city and transport energy consumption. Transactions of the institute of British Geographers NS, 20(1), 81-101. 
-   Buehler, R., Pucher, J., Gerike, R., & Götschi, T. (2017). Reducing car dependence in the heart of Europe: lessons from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. Transport reviews, 37(1), 4-28. 
-   Burton, E. (2000). The potential of the compact city for promoting social equity. In K. Williams, E. Burton, & M. Jenks (Eds.), Achieving sustainable urban form (19-29). London and NewYork: Spon Press, Taylor & Trancis Group.
-   Burton, E., Jenks, M., & Williams, K. (2003). The compact city: a sustainable urban form? London and New York: Spon Press, Taylor & Trancis Group.
-   Campbell, C. J. (1991). The golden century of oil 1950–2050: the depletion of a resource (Vol. 19). Netherlands: Springer Science & Business Media.
-   Cao, M., & Hickman, R. (2018). Car dependence and housing affordability: An emerging social deprivation issue in London? Urban studies, 55(10), 2088-2105. 
-   Chen, H., Jia, B., & Lau, S. (2008). Sustainable urban form for Chinese compact cities: Challenges of a rapid urbanized economy. Habitat international, 32(1), 28-40. 
-   Clifton, K., Ewing, R., Knaap, G. J., & Song, Y. (2008). Quantitative analysis of urban form: a multidisciplinary review. Journal of Urbanism, 1(1), 17-45. 
-   Conley, J., & McLaren, A. T. (2009). Car troubles. Critical studies of Automobility Auto-Mobility. Burlington: Ashgate. 
-   Dieleman, F., & Wegener, M. (2004). Compact city and urban sprawl. Built Environment, 30(4), 308-323. 
-   Elkin, T., McLaren, D., & Hillman, M. (1991). Reviving the city: Towards sustainable urban development. London (United Kingdom): Friends of the Earth Trust.
-   EPA-Marne. (2005). Établissements publics d'aménagement de Marne-la-Vallée; The map of Landuse (Marne-la-Vallée). 
-   Giuliano, G., & Dargay, J. (2006). Car ownership, travel and land use: a comparison of the US and Great Britain. Transportation Research Part A: Policy Practice, 40(2), 106-124. 
-   Green, R. (1996). Not compact cities but sustainable regions. In E. Burton, M. Jenks, & K. Williams (Eds.), The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form (143-154). London and NewYork: Routledge.
-   Guérois, M. (2003). Les formes des villes européennes vues du ciel. Une contribution de l'image CORINE Land cover à la comparaison morphologique des grandes villes d'Europe occidentale. Université Panthéon-Sorbonne-Paris I.
-   Hillman, M. (1996). In favour of the compact city. In E. Burton, M. Jenks, & K. Williams (Eds.), The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form (36-44). London & NewYork: Routledge.
-   Hong, J., Shen, Q., & Zhang, L. (2014). How do built-environment factors affect travel behavior? A spatial analysis at different geographic scales. Transportation Research Part A: Policy, 41(3), 419-440. 
-   IAURIF. (2006). Institut D’aménagement et D’urbanisme de la Région d’Ile-de-France; Les villes nouvelles, bassins de vie: l’exemple de Marne-la-Vallée. In Note Rapide: Population, Mode de Vie (6).
-   Imbert, C., Brune, A., & Rozenholc, C. (2011). Les villes nouvelles franciliennes. Un exemple de périphéries urbaines en cours de maturation, 2011/3, 591-602. 
-   INSEE. (2015). Sources statistiques et indicateurs, Recensement de la population, Zone d'emploi de Marne-la-Vallée (1102). L'Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques.
-     IPR. (2015). Les usages du sol à Marne-la-Vallée.
-     Kenworthy, J., Newman, P., & Vintila, P. (2013). Housing, transport and urban form. Australia: Australian Govt. Pub. Service.
-   Knight, C. (1996). Economic and social issues. In E. Burton, M. Jenks, & K. Williams (Eds.), The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form (114-121). London & NewYork: Routledge.
-   Levinson, D. M., & Kumar, A. (1997). Density and the journey to work. Growth change, 28(2), 147-172. 
-   Litman, T. (1999). The costs of automobile dependency. Canada: Victoria Transportation Policy Institute.
-   Masnavi, M.-R. (2000). The new millennium and the new urban paradigm: the compact city in practice. In E. Burton, M. Jenks, & K. Williams (Eds.), Achieving sustainable urban form (64-73). London and New York: Routledge.
-     McHarg, I. (1992). Design With Nature. Built Environment, 18(4). doi:10.2307/23288519
-     McIntosh, J., Trubka, R., Kenworthy, J., & Newman, P. (2014). The role of urban form and transit in city car dependence: Analysis of 26 global cities from 1960 to 2000. Transportation research part D: Transport environment, 33, 95-110. 
-     McLaren, D. (1992). Compact or dispersed? Dilution is no solution. Built Environment, 18(4), 268-284. 
-   Newman, P. (1992). The compact city: an Australian perspective. Built Environment, 18(4), 285-300. 
-   Newman, P. (2001). Forces that Shape Australian Cities. Global Transport Issues, 3, 242-261. 
-   Newman, P., & Kenworthy, J. (1989). Cities and automobile dependence: An international sourcebook. Brookfield: Gower Publishing Co.
-   Newman, P., & Kenworthy, J. (2006). Urban design to reduce automobile dependence. Opolis, 2(1), 35-52. 
-   Newman, P., Kosonen, L., & Kenworthy, J. (2016). Theory of urban fabrics: Planning the walking, transit/public transport and automobile/motor car cities for reduced car dependency. Town Planning Review, 87(4), 429-458. 
-   Newton, P., Tucker, S., & Ambrose, M. (2000). Housing form, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. In E. Burton, M. Jenks, & K. Williams (Eds.), Achieving sustainable urban form (74-83). London and New York: Routledge.
-   Pohlman, R. W. (1989). The Impact of the Car on American Urban Form. OZ, journal of the Kansas State University College of Architecture, Planning, and Design, 11(1), 12-17. 
-   Simmonds, D., & Coombe, D. (2000). The Transport Implications of Alternative. In E. Burton, M. Jenks, & K. Williams (Eds.), Achieving sustainable urban form (121-130). London and New York: Routledge.
-   Smyth, H. (1996). Running the gauntlet: a compact city within a doughnut of decay. In E. Burton, M. Jenks, & K. Williams (Eds.), The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form (87-97). London & NewYork: Routledge.
-   Stretton, H. (1996). Density, efficiency and equality in Australian cities. The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form,45-52. 
-   Thomas, L., & Cousins, W. (1996). The compact city: a successful, desirable and achievable urban form. In E. Burton, M. Jenks, & K. Williams (Eds.), The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form (53-65). London and NewYork: Routledge.
-   van de Coevering, P., & Schwanen, T. (2006). Re-evaluating the impact of urban form on travel patternsin Europe and North-America. Transport policy, 13(3), 229-239. 
-   Van der Valk, A., & Faludi, A. (1997). The Green Heart and the dynamics of doctrine. Netherlands Journal of Housing the Built Environment, 12(1), 57-75. 
-   Williams, K. (1999). Urban intensification policies in England: problems and contradictions. Land Use Policy, 16(3), 167-178. 
-   Williams, K. (2000). Does intensifying cities make them more sustainable. In E. Burton, M. Jenks, & K. Williams (Eds.), Achieving sustainable urban form (30-45). London and New York: Routledge.
-   Williams, K., Burton, E., & Jenks, M. (1996). Achieving the compact city through intensification: An acceptable option. In E. Burton, M. Jenks, & K. Williams (Eds.), The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form (83-96). London and NewYork: Routledge.
-   Williams, K., Burton, E., & Jenks, M. (2000). Achieving sustainable urban form: an introduction. London and New York: Routledge.
-   Wright, F. L. (1935). Broadacre City: A new community plan. Architectural Record, 77(4), 243-254. 
Journal of Architecture and Urban Planning
Volume 13, Issue 29
December 2020
Pages 51-71

Files

Share

How to cite

Statistics