Spatial Structure and CO2 Emissions Due to Commuting: an Analysis on Italian Urban Areas

Andrea Cirilli (a.cirilli@univpm.it) and Paolo Veneri
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Andrea Cirilli: Universita' Politecnica delle Marche, Dipartimento di Economia

No 353, Working Papers from Universita' Politecnica delle Marche (I), Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Sociali

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to investigate whether and to what extent the spatial configuration of an urban area affects its level of environmental externalities. Starting from previous contributions to this field of research, it examines several features of urban spatial structure - such as compactness, monocentricity, concentration and functional diversity - and attempts to gauge their environmental implications in terms of per capita CO2 emissions associated with a given pattern of commuting (i.e., mode of commuting and distance travelled). The main finding of the analysis on the 111 largest Italian urban areas is that urban spatial configuration is an important determinant of travel patterns and the associated level of per capita CO2 emissions. In particular, smaller, more compact and less monocentric areas are associated with lower levels of CO2 per commuter, with socio-demographic characteristics also playing a role.

Keywords: CO2 emissions; commuting; environmental costs; urban spatial structure (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q56 R14 R41 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 33
Date: 2010-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env, nep-geo and nep-ure
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:anc:wpaper:353

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