The planning framework has also changed and has been subject to the dominance of market forces in the 1980s and 1990's. This has reduced the sole reliance on long-term strategic development plans for cities and introduced the need for greater flexibility and guidance while giving citizens the opportunity to articulate a vision for their city and neighborhood. Concerns over the quality of life and employment, social, and cultural opportunities within the city are paramount. The course is organized into two primary sections. The first half of the semester focuses on describing the environment.
Students examine the theoretical and analytical issues from an economic and spatial perspective.
This establishes the basic theoretical and empirical links between transport and urban development. This may be totally different for smaller geographic areas. The question of scale is introduced in order to illustrate the challenges inherent in measuring economic output and productivity. The second part of the course explores a range of case studies of transport and development concentrating in turn on all forms of transport - rail, air, water and road. Students review and are encouraged to challenge the basic assumptions implicit in much of the research on transport and urban development.