Sustainable accessibility: a conceptual framework to integrate transport and land use plan-making. Two test-applications in the Netherlands and a reflection on the way forward

The integration of transport and land use planning is widely recognized as essential to the achievement of sustainable development. The concept of accessibility--or what and how can be reached from a given point in space--can provide a useful conceptual framework for this integration. More specifically, a shift of focus in urban transport planning from catering for mobility to catering for accessibility helps see how more sustainable transport options can, under certain land use conditions, provide a competitive degree of accessibility that matches less sustainable options. The authors have used the concept of accessibility as a framework for the interactive design of integrated transport and land use plans in two areas of the Netherlands. The objective of these exercises was identifying solutions where economic, social, and environmental goals could be combined, defined as the achievement of 'sustainable accessibility'. The existing situation has been evaluated, and alternative plans have been developed. In this paper we reflect on these experiences and sketch the way forward, with a focus on the methodological aspects of the undertaking. In this respect, a major challenge is finding a workable balance between an accessibility measure that is theoretically and empirically sound and one that is sufficiently plain to be usefully employed in interactive, creative plan-making processes.