The social implications of residential car reduction : exploring mobility and community development at the neighbourhood scale

• Main Author: Hamiduddin, I.
• Published: University College London (University of London) 2013
• Subjects: 710
• Online Access: http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.626307

Physical qualities of the residential environment exert demonstrable influences on social interaction, lifestyles and personal well being. However, the importance of the neighbourhood in providing a context for home life, and increasingly a working life, is not necessarily reflected in the level of attention received. Although the car has had an important shaping effect on the qualities of residential space leading to outcomes that have been addressed in different areas of social research, virtually no attempt has been made to draw different strands of research together in a single piece of work, nor study the effects of car reduction in relation to mobility and social interaction at the neighbourhood scale. This thesis attempts to address both shortfalls; the former in the opening chapters, and the latter through empirical evidence drawn from a case study comparison of three neighbourhoods in the second part. At the core is a single question: what are the social implications of residential car reduction? In support of the main question, three sub-questions investigate specific matters of residential selectivity, access and opportunity constraint and whether lessons can be identified for future residential schemes. From analysis of the empirical evidence, four conceptual models of residential car reduction are developed. Critically, however, an argument emerges against adopting a neighbourhood-first approach. Instead the thesis argues that initial consideration should be given to what is termed the urban ‘operating system’ as characterised by the overall transport offer, urban structure and supporting planning policies that influence travel behaviour. This argument is supported both by a logic from historic evidence suggesting that urban form has a tendency to follow the dominant transport function, and by empirical evidence indicating that issues including exclusion and undue residential selectivity on mobility grounds can occur in car-reduced schemes where relation to the urban operating system is weaker.