Integrating transport and planning: a new approach

Nearly everyone agrees that traffic congestion and pollution could be reduced by better planning. The problem until now, however, is that planners have found it difficult to integrate conventional land-use and transport data into a single model, meaning planning policies tend to be formulated in isolation from traffic predictions and, more importantly, environmental impacts. This paper describes a new approach, in which a geographical information system is used to combine different data sources, including satellite imagery and modelling techniques, into a single and highly graphic planning, transport and environmental model. It then reports on two applications of the model-one theoretical and one practical-in eastern England.