PPDE 644: LAND USE AND TRANSPORTATION PLANNING
Department of Urban Planning and Spatial Analysis
Sol Price School of Public Policy
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PPDE 644 Spring 2018 Giuliano
PPDE 644, Spring 2018
Day/Time: Monday, 2 – 5:30 PM
Room RGL 219
Prof. Genevieve Giuliano
Office: RGL 216
Ph. 213-740-3956
Email:
Office Hours: Monday, 12 – 2 PM
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PPDE 644 Spring 2018 Giuliano
DESCRIPTION:
We often think about planning problems and solutions in the abstract: more people should use public transportation, cities should become more dense and diverse, or housing should not be built near freeways. These are laudable goals, yet public transit ridership is declining, cities are becoming more dense in some places but less dense in others, and urban freeways are lined with apartment complexes.
The examples above are all premised on the relationship between land use and transportation, the topic of this graduate seminar. The land use – transportation link has become a staple of urban planning. Hardly a transportation plan is written nowadays that does not seek to integrate land use patterns and transportation, or to leverage the interactions between transportation and land use. This is not a new idea. In 1954, Mitchell and Rapkin published Urban Traffic: A Function of Land Use, and the idea that traffic patterns depend on flows between trip origins and destinations (hence, land use) is obvious and as old as transportation itself.
It is also obvious from urban history that transportation and land use are somehow linked. The structure of cities that were built in the era of non-motorized transport is distinctly different from those built in the era of mass transportation, which are again different from those developed in the automobile era. Pedestrian cities – the inner cores of Rome, Madrid, or Athens – are characterized by densely packed narrow streets. The subway, elevated railway, and streetcar led to the emergence of the modern downtown surrounded by rail-oriented residential suburbs. The automobile and truck replaced that rigid, linear structure with the dispersed metropolis, which in turn is being restructured into complex mega-regions.
Beneath these stylized facts, however, the transportation – land use relationship is far more complicated, and our understanding of many aspects is quite limited. The policy context plays an important role, arguably more important today than in the past. This course is built around four propositions.
1. The ‘land use – transportation’ link is behavioral. We will develop the key aspects of social scientific theory that illuminate how land use patterns influence travel and how transportation infrastructure influences the spatial pattern of urban growth.
2. Economics is helpful. This is not a course in economics, but students must understand the markets involved in interactions between land use and transportation. There are two directions of the land use – transportation interaction: (a) the impact of transportation infrastructure on urban structure and growth patterns, and (2) the influence of patterns of origins, destinations, and accessibility on travel decisions. Each involves different markets, and the theory and evidence for each will be discussed.
3. Policy is critical and should be theoretically grounded. While economics is helpful, transportation and land use is not simply a function of markets. Public policy can incentivize or direct the behavior of people and firms. Thus it is important that you learn the key theories and the nature of the empirical results on land use and transportation in this class and be able to apply them to policy design.
4. Planning must be holistic. Land use – transportation planning is a comprehensive, holistic, and context sensitive endeavor. We learn the theories and the empirical relationships in order to achieve a policy goal -- to build vibrant transit-oriented developments, or to improve mobility and air quality in specific places. In each case, the ultimate design suggests that there is a totality to the urban experience that cannot be reduced to individual markets and a multitude of elasticities. Transportation is intimately bound up with our daily lived experience in the built environment. We will learn the constituent parts, in a scientific manner, but ultimately any good planner must integrate those parts into a larger totality – a plan.
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
Students will learn:
1. The key theories that undergird land use – transportation interactions
2. How an understanding of land markets and the derived-demand approach to travel behavior provide useful frameworks for land use – transportation planning,
3. How existing evidence can inform land use – transportation planning,
4. How land use – transportation interactions vary across modes and levels of geography
5. The role of freight in transportation and land use interactions
6. The basics of forecasting transportation and land use interactions
7. Applications of land use – transportation planning policies and their impacts
Additionally, through a term paper students will practice linking theory and evidence to an existing project.
COURSE INFORMATION:
Required text: There is no required text for this course. All required and optional readings are provided on the Blackboard course site.
The following web links may be useful for data, articles and reports:
· Bureau of Transportation Statistics: an exhaustive repository of data and reports: www.bts.gov
· National Transportation Library: excellent, searchable, catalog of articles and reports on transportation – includes one of the best catalogs of agency reports -- http://ntl.bts.gov/
Prerequisites: None. If you have not yet taken PPD 634, there are some required additional readings.
Ph.D. Students: Doctoral students are welcome in this class. Doctoral students must do all the required readings, of course, plus some additional readings assigned by me. The term paper topic should be chosen in consultation with me by the end of the third week of class.
Course Blackboard site: All readings, assignments, instructions for in-class group assignments, and other materials needed for class preparation on available on the course Blackboard site. Powerpoint or other graphic materials included in class sessions will also be posted on Blackboard. Written assignments will be submitted via Blackboard.
Attendance: Attendance is mandatory. Any planned absence requires my approval in advance and a strong justification. If you are ill, let me know before class. The class meets from 2:00 PM to 5:30 PM. Please arrive on time and stay for the duration of the class. There will be a 15 minute break during each class. Please refrain from entering or leaving while class is in session.
Laptops and cell phones: You are welcome to bring and use laptops for class purposes. In order to reduce the temptation of checking emails, Instagram, Twitter, or doing your shopping on Amazon, please download class materials you need and stay offline during class. Phones need to be on silent and in your bag/purse/pocket.
How to get the most out of this class (and make it fun for the rest of us): Here are some suggestions for getting the best value for your time and effort.
1. Come to class having read the week’s reading assignment and prepared to ask at least two questions on each reading. Actively participate in class discussions and policy debates.
2. Be an active participant in group projects and presentations. Your future professional world is all about collaboration and communication.
3. Become informed: transportation and land use is all around you:
a. There are active (and controversial) plans for development around stations of the Expo Line. What are the justifications for these plans, and why are they controversial?
b. The City of Los Angeles is pursuing bike lanes and bike share facilities as part of its transportation plan. Will these facilities significantly change local travel?
c. Miles of sidewalks in Los Angeles are no longer passable. How does this impact walking in the city?
4. Become an astute field observer and ask yourself questions about what you observe. Why do some cities provide bike lanes and bike facilities, but others don’t? Why is parking free to the user almost everywhere, except DTLA?
5. Be a courteous class member. Arrive on time, observe breaks, avoid leaving while class is in session, and put away (and mute) all handheld devices.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS:
Assignments: The class includes four assignments, three reading facilitator assignments, and a term paper. All assignment instructions are available on Blackboard. Assignment due dates are given in the assignment instructions and in the course schedule. You are expected to submit all assignments by 5 PM on the due date. Facilitator summaries are due by noon on the day before class in order to give all class members time to read the summaries before class. Late assignments will be accepted only for illnesses or extraordinary emergencies, and will require documentation.
Grades: The course grade will be calculated as follows:
Item / Description / PercentAssignment 1 / Seminar presentations / 5
Assignment 2 / Jobs-housing balance essay / 10
Assignment 3 / Transit station field analysis / 15
Assignment 4 / High-speed rail essay / 10
Reading facilitator (2) / Summary and discussion of class readings / 10
Term paper / Abstract / 0
Term paper / Short draft / 10
Term paper / Final paper / 25
Class participation / 10
Readings: All assigned readings are to be completed before class. You should be prepared to discuss the readings and have at least two questions on each reading. Some readings are more difficult to understand than others. Do not hesitate to ask questions on parts that you don’t understand. In most classes, students will serve as facilitators and lead the discussion of readings for part of the class (see reading facilitator instructions on Blackboard).
Organization of the class: This is a graduate seminar, and emphasis is placed on discussion and interaction among instructor and class members. Each class will include some combination of student-led discussion, lecture, and in-class policy discussions. You are expected to be an active participant in all discussions, and active class participation constitutes 10 percent of your grade.
USC DISABILITY SERVICES
I am happy to work with USC’s Office of Disability Services to accommodate student needs. Students should contact the Office of Disability Services in the first two weeks of the semester, or prior to the semester. I allow accommodations as recommended by the Disability Services office, but I will only allow accommodations specifically recommended by that office in writing and in advance of assignment due dates. Please allow enough time for coordination between the Disability Services office and me. Consult this web page for more information: http://scampus.usc.edu/disability-services/.
ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
USC is committed to academic integrity. The USC code of ethics is available at http://policy.usc.edu/ethics/. General principles of academic honesty include the concept of respect for intellectual property of others, the expectation that all work is individual work unless otherwise allowed by the instructor, and the obligations to both protect one’s own academic work from misuse as well as to not represent another’s work as one’s own. For a description of academic integrity offences and consequences, see Part B of SCampus, which can be accessed at https://policy.usc.edu/scampus-part-b/. Academic integrity sanctions will be followed in this class.
Students should pay particular attention to plagiarism, which includes:
· The submission of material authored by another person but represented as the student’s own work, whether that material is paraphrased or copied in verbatim or near-verbatim form.
· The submission of material subjected to editorial revision by another person that results in substantive changes in content or major alteration of writing style.
· Improper acknowledgment of sources in essays or papers.
· Acquisition of term papers or other assignments from any source and the subsequent presentation of those materials as the student’s own work, or providing term papers or assignments that another student submits as their own work.
· Using any portion of an essay, term paper, project or other assignment more than once, without permission of the instructor(s).
Penalties for violations of academic honesty are severe, and typically involve a minimum of a zero grade for the assignment for minor infractions, with larger penalties (F in the course) for more serious cases. If you have any question regarding proper referencing or use of materials from others please discuss with me.
Discrimination, sexual assault, and harassment are not tolerated by the university. You are encouraged to report any incidents to the Office of Equity and Diversity http://equity.usc.edu or to the Department of Public Safety http://capsnet.usc.edu/department/department-public-safety/online-forms/contact-us. This is important for the safety of the whole USC community. Another member of the university community – such as a friend, classmate, advisor, or faculty member – can help initiate the report, or can initiate the report on behalf of another person. The Center for Women and Men http://www.usc.edu/student-affairs/cwm/ provides 24/7 confidential support, and the sexual assault resource center webpage http://sarc.usc.edu describes reporting options and other resources.
COURSE SCHEDULE
Here are the topics and reading assignments for the semester. All readings are available on the course Blackboard site. Reminder: Readings are to be completed before each class meeting. Full references for all readings follow the course schedule.
PART 1 Theory and concepts
Week 1 / 1/8/18 move to 1/12/18 / IntroductionThe land use/transport relationship; theory, measurement issues, endogeneity, self-selection bias; urban form and travel behavior
Class discussion: Questions on land use and transportation
Readings / Moynihan 1960
Boarnet and Crane chapter 1, and chapter 2, to p 22
Giuliano and Agarwal in Giuliano and Hanson, 2017(for those who have not taken PPD 634)
Assignment 1
Prep for next class / Seminars
Reading facilitator assignments
Week 2 / 1/15/18 / Martin Luther King Holiday – no class
Week 3 / 1/22/18 / Fundamentals of urban structure and growth
Agglomeration economies, transportation and economic growth; regional economics and growth
Facilitator presentations on Sullivan, Krugman, and Puga
Lecture: transportation and economic growth
Readings / *Sullivan, 1990, pp 22-29
*Krugman, 1991, pp 59-67
*Puga, 2010, section 3
Boarnet,1997 (optional)
Lakshmanan, 2011 (optional)
Term paper assignment
Week 4 / 1/29/18 / Urban structure and the standard urban model
The standard model, model extensions to employment, polycentric cities; empirical evidence
Lecture: the standard model and extensions; empirical evidence
Class discussion: questions on lecture and readings; what is missing from the standard model, and how might these factors affect the land use – transport relationship?
Readings / Alonso, 1960
Giuliano, 1988
Spivey, 2008
Giuliano and Small, 1993 (optional)
Agarwal, Giuliano and Redfearn, 2012 (optional)
Assignment 2 / Jobs, housing, and travel
PART 2 Travel Behavior