Analysis of sustainable travel pattern in downtown neighborhoods by using a combination of space syntax and GIS (Case study: Districts 1 and 7 Qom city)

Abstract

Urban transport is one of the main sub-sectors of urban development and planning. Every day, citizens communicate with the networks of pedestrians, vehicles and various types of transport and use urban transport to respond to a range of occupational, educational, shopping, recreational and other needs; so transport has become one of the most important aspects of citizens' life quality. Unfortunately, in recent years, due to the vehicle route-based development, many transportational issues have emerged and as long as the urban development plans are based on vehicle routes it will not be possible to achieve sustainable transport. In order to overcome such problems, it is necessary to assess the urban transport from sustainability perspective in the first step and then propose solutions to improve existing conditions. The purpose of present research is to analyze the status of sustainable urban transport in areas which are located in the central texture of cities are selected as the sample and the current transport system of this area of cities has been studied. The research method is descriptive-analytical and is carried out with an emphasis on the relationship between the urban form and the patterns of travel using GIS and statistical analysis together. The results of statistical surveys show that commercial land use has a greater impact on the pattern of personal vehicle-travel compared to the public transport. Regarding the density in height, it was found that by increasing the density, people tend to walk more and desire to use personal vehicle decreases. It can be said about the communication network that the high proportion of spaces related to the network is increasing with the desire of individuals to drive with personal cars. For this reason, we tried to further assess this communication comprehensively and in an integrated manner through space syntax data