Transit-oriented development and sparse settlement structures. The case of western Sweden

Charlotta Capitao Patrao

European Planning Studies, 2023, vol. 31, issue 10, 2170-2195

Abstract: This paper reports on a study of how TOD can contribute to sustainable development locally and regionally in sparse settlement structures. While TOD theory focuses on large cities and densely populated areas, it also tends to be applied in less populated areas. ‘Station communities’ are of great interest in Sweden, given the opportunities they apparently offer to combine economic growth through regional enlargement with decreased climate impact. This idea is, in many ways, inspired by the transit-oriented development (TOD) theory, and applied in the Västra Götaland region, aiming for regional development and increased public transportation use. The study has examined how the conditions for TOD are met in small towns with train stations located in sparse settlement structures through a case study and semi-structured interviews. The results indicate that train stations, together with planning approaches inspired by TOD theory, are regarded as important in municipal planning when identifying future developments, although the prerequisites for TOD are absent and the demand for new housing and businesses is weak. One conclusion is that a new concept is needed that does not focus on densification and urban qualities, but draws on the place qualities, where the connections to the train stations are enforced.

Date: 2023
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/09654313.2022.2114790 (text/html)
Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:taf:eurpls:v:31:y:2023:i:10:p:2170-2195

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.tandfonline.com/pricing/journal/CEPS20

DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2022.2114790

Access Statistics for this article

European Planning Studies is currently edited by Philip Cooke and Louis Albrechts

More articles in European Planning Studies from Taylor & Francis Journals
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Chris Longhurst ().