Integrated Transport and Land Use Modeling for Sustainable Cities

Abstract

Integrated transport and land use models are an increasingly used tool for evaluation of urban policy and large scale projects. Although there is a well-built theoretical background supporting the existing models, there are few exhaustive descriptions of the methodological implications and implementation efforts behind these tools.This handbook describes the modeling effort, methodological contributions, and results of the SustainCity project. SustainCity, financed by the European Union, implemented integrated microsimulation models for European cities, generating a quantitative tool for policy evaluation, specially focused on sustainability issues. The book describes the implementation of an improved, UrbanSim-based platform for three European cities: Brussels, Paris, and Zu¨rich. The analysis is focused on the methodological contributions that resulted from the modeling effort and the practical aspects of microsimulation models as policy evaluation tools.