Measuring the impact of urban policies on transportation energy saving using a land use-transport model

Various projects all over the world are attempting to build smart cities in hopes of achieving energy-efficient and livable communities, but most of them are aiming to fulfill their goals technologically. However, the energy efficiency and livability of a city are affected by not only these technological factors but also urban structures that encompass residential areas, offices, transportation networks, and other facilities. Urban policies intervene in transportation and land-use conditions and thereby change how citizens consume energy and go about their daily lives as the actors in the urban system alter their behavior. This means that energy efficiency and quality of life share close ties. Assessments of urban policies thus need to consider the reactions of actors to the intervention. This study demonstrates the applicability of a land-use transport model to the assessment of urban policies for building smart communities. First, we outline a model that explicitly formulates the actors' location-related decisions and travel behavior. Second, we apply this model to two urban policies - road pricing and land-use regulation - to assess their long-term impact on energy saving and sustainability using the case of a simplified synthetic city. Our study verifies that, under assumed conditions, the model has the capacity to assess urban policies on energy use and sustainability in a consistent fashion. (C) 2014 International Association of Traffic and Safety Sciences. Production and hosting by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.