Die Logik der kurzen Wege: Räumliche Mobilität und Verkehr als Gegenstand der Stadtforschung

Abstract

The logic of compact city and short distance: urban research perspectives on spatial mobility and transport. The paper covers the interrelationship of urban development and transport. Based on empirical findings about urban mobility in the context of settlement structures, effective planning strategies related to a city structure with short distances are discussed. Compact settlement structures are considered an important but not sufficient requirement for less transport- intensive environments, since further conditions have to be reflected. Due to the complexity and openness of this multi- facetted system of interdependencies, spatial mobility and transport cannot be directly managed through urban structures. In the context of more individualised patterns of spatial behaviour and an increasing level of personal freedom (income, leisure time), future research should be enlarged. First, towards socio-spatial aspects of individual activities (as an outcome of time- space-flexibilisation), secondly with regard to highly complex and dispersed urban structures (suburbanisation).