Lucas, Karen (1998) Upwardly mobile: private transport, regeneration and environment in the Thames Gateway. PhD thesis, University of Greenwich.

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Abstract

The thesis presents case study research into private vehicle use as it relates to the process of regeneration in the Thames Gateway. In doing so, it investigates two key contemporary transport policy issues. The first is the burgeoning debate surrounding the nature and extent of the relationship between transport investment and economic activity. Secondly, it explores the ways and means of encouraging more environmentally sustainable and equitable forms and levels of personal mobility. It argues that, in their present form, regeneration strategies will undermine attempts to promote and implement sustainable transport policies in the area.

Part One of the thesis is a review of the theoretical literature and central government policy that focuses on the role of transportation in the regeneration process. It explores the implications of the new sustainability agenda for private car use against the background of the Thames Gateway. It concludes that the Thames Gateway offers both the physical opportunity for, and the legislative will to plan land use and transport together in an integrated manner. It recognises that the strategy needs to be capable of supporting the increased need for accessibility which regeneration requires, whilst simultaneously reducing many of the negative impacts of unfettered use of the private car. The chapter identifies a number of potential constraints on the realisation of such an approach at the delivery stage.

Part Two presents the findings of the first stage of the empirical research. Through an analysis of local plans and proposals and interviews with key actors, it investigates the extent to which centrally defined policy is being adopted and applied at the local point of delivery. It finds that, despite incorporation of the rhetoric of sustainability within local development plans, fundamental contradictions in terms of the principles of sustainability exist within the transport policy statements of some authorities. Furthermore, sustainable policy aims, as they relate to planning the location and transportation needs of new developments, are often not applied in practice.

Part Three assesses the implications of the current transport strategy on private car use in the Thames Gateway for future sustainability targets. It uses the data collected through the research from a local travel survey of car users, currently resident in the Thames Gateway area, to make projections for future car use in the context of a regenerated scenario, developed according to the present land use and transport policy framework. Future levels of CO2 emissions arising from private vehicle use are estimated on the basis of current car use, identified within the survey sample population and proportionately extrapolated to the wider population. These are set against the wider context of national figures for CO2 emissions and internationally binding government agreements to reduce these by the year 2005.

On the basis of the evidence presented, the research concludes that the projected levels of CO2 emissions arising from increased private vehicle use in the Thames Gateway, as a outcome of the regeneration process and based on a 'do nothing' transport policy scenario, run counter to the principles of sustainability.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Additional Information:	uk.bl.ethos.571372
Uncontrolled Keywords:	environmental policy, transport, regeneration, Thames Gateway,
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HD Industries. Land use. Labor H Social Sciences > HE Transportation and Communications
Pre-2014 Departments:	School of Earth and Environmental Sciences
Last Modified:	24 Aug 2018 09:26
URI:	http://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/8746

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