Urban Transport in the OIC Megacities
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Figure 1: Relationship between transport and land use
Source: Rodrigue et al, 2013
3.3.2.2. Land use and urban form of megacities in developed countries
The combination of the features of 20th century modernism and rise of the automobile before and
mostly after World War II created some distinct, particularly unsustainable urban land use patterns
in many of the cities of the developed world. On the one hand, the urban planning ideology of
modernism introduced separation of the uses of the city and emphasized free standing individual
buildings that did not relate an urban context, a history or a local community. On the other hand, as
automobile technology developed, it made it possible for a city to develop in any direction and at lower
densities. In addition, as a reaction to the industrial city, town planning began separating functions by
zoning, followed by decentralization and dispersion of the city (Gehl, 2010; Jacobs, 1961; Newman
and Kenworthy, 1996).
Relatively different patterns are observed between American and Australian, and European cities.
Many cities in Europe, such as Stockholm, managed tomaintain a transit, and non-motorized transport
oriented urban core. Car based suburbs and villages on the fringe are also a common European feature,
for example in many cities in the UK, Oslo and Frankfurt. On the other hand, Australian and North
American cities like Canberra and Phoenix have grown exclusively along with the rise of the
automobile. Their automobile based, low density suburbs became a normal living environment for
their citizens who largely had not been in contact with other styles of urban development. However,
suburbs that were beyond a distance of 50 km from the city centre became inevitably isolated from
traditional urban functions as the levels of traffic increased and the benefits of automobile decreased
(Newman and Kenworthy, 1996).
A departure from automobile oriented and modernist planning practices has been observed over the
past two decades. Smart growth and compact city development have gained wide policy interest in
North America, Europe and Australia. Valuable progress has been made in spatial planning aiming to