Transport In the Urban Core

How are transport problems and solutions different in the urban core to those in the suburbs? This chapter attempts to answer this question by emphasizing density and access issues that underlay a number of prominent scholarly debates, from the spatial mismatch of jobs and housing, to the role of density in reducing automobile dependence, to the feasibility of public transit for providing employment access for low-income workers. Central city residents and workers may travel differently, on average, to their suburban counterparts, but many indicators suggest that these differences are both nuanced and vanishing. In a world of rapidly decentralizing employment, the car is increasing king. Still, life in the urban core is less dependent on the automobile than elsewhere, and rising congestion will continue to encourage the use of other modes. In particular, city centers have virtually all the key traits that new urbanist advocates aspire to, including high residential and commercial densities, mixed land uses, transit access, pedestrian access, and so on. In the end, the urban core is much like the rest of the city, only more so: the transport challenges are more acute; and the opportunities are much more valued.