Long-distance travel and urban systems : Development of a theoretical and methodological framework and empirical evidence from Western Europe

Abstract

It is evident in many countries worldwide that both the frequency and the distance of personal travel have grown concurrently with the proliferation of telecommunications that might substitute for travel. While the understanding of the determinants of long-distance travel is still limited in the literature, flows of people are relevant expressions of relations between metropolitan areas. This thesis has sought to enhance insight into the determinants of long-distance travel behaviour and to advance the understanding of the configurations of an urban system at the inter-metropolitan level on the basis of flows of people. To achieve this aim, the following four research questions were addressed:

1.To what extent do the participation in long-distance travel and mode choice for long-distance travel vary systematically with socio-economic and urban form factors?

2.What are the main characteristics of a suitable theoretical and methodological framework for characterising configurations of urban system on the basis of flows?

3.To what extent can the development of the configurations of urban system in the Netherlands be characterised based on the interaction perspective during the period 1992-2002?

4.To what extent do flows of people between urban areas and attributes of urban areas produce different outcome with respect to the position of urban nodes in the larger urban system?