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• SEA can learn from adaptive management to address its inherent limitations. • Learning loops and adaptive cycles help detecting SEA problems and addressing them. • A Limits-Oriented framework suggests when to recognise and to deal with SEA issues. • SEA in diversified contexts can improve adopting a Limits-Oriented framework. In the face of global environmental change, decision-makers need effective environmental assessments to shape policies and plans aiming at sustainable human development. In this paper, we propose a new approach to address the needs of Strategic Environmental Assessment. We develop a Limits-Oriented Adaptive framework that is useful not only to recognize and address existing SEA problems (its limits), but also to incorporate elements of social and institutional uncertainty. This framework conceptualizes the need to first identify existing SEA limitations (e.g. procedural, legislative) through learning loops, and then to address them with incremental or transformative change through adaptive cycles. The first part of this paper presents existing frameworks of adaptive policy-making, adaptive management and loops of learning that can contribute shaping better environmental assessments. In the second part, we present our framework and we illustrate how the contributions from different disciplines relate to the procedural and technical sides of Strategic Environmental Assessment. Last, we present the results of the experimental application of our method in an Australian and an Italian case study. We then discuss our findings, outlining how SEA can learn from adaptive management to overcome its limitations and to embrace incremental and transformational change. We tie these lessons to the needs of different groups of SEA professionals, developers, legislators, and the broad public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A city can be divided into areas that are served by transit and those that are not. In this study, the former is referred to as "transit-served areas (TSAs)". To quantify, monitor and visualise the TSAs of the Southeast Queensland (SEQ), this study analyses half-year smartcard data between 2012 and 2013 from TransLink, the transit agency for SEQ. Four scenarios are prescribed and four corresponding metrics (the minimum, actual, random and maximum travels) are calculated, which reflect transit riders' different levels of elasticity of distance travelled (EDT) relative to the cost of travel within or between TSAs and how transit riders could possibly travel as EDT varies. The total trips generated by or attracted to TSA and the temporal and spatial variations of these metrics across days are used to monitor TSAs, especially transit trips within or between them. The results indicate that transit trips attracted to, and generated by TSA and transit trips between TSAs vary significantly over time and across space. Across the scenarios, the temporal variance tends to be larger as EDT becomes more inelastic. The above results provide useful references for decision-makers to understand better the ranges of transit demand (by TSA) across the space and time when EDT is a variable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Transformation of the motor vehicle fleet has been an important feature of the world’s peak car phenomenon. Very few urban transport studies have explored such important changes in large urban cities. Using an innovative green vehicle datasets constructed for 2009 and 2014, this paper investigates the ongoing change in urban private vehicle fleet efficiency (VFE) in Brisbane. The spatial patterns of VFE change were examined with social-spatial characteristics of the urban area. The results showed that the social and spatial effect of VFE changes remain uneven over urban space. The inner urban areas have experienced higher level of VFE change, whilst people in the outer and oil vulnerable areas showed a low tendency in shifting to more efficient vehicles. The implication of VFE change for future household vehicle adoption was also evaluated based on a cost-benefit analysis of new vehicle technology costs and expected fuel savings for households that choose a fuel efficient vehicle. The results show that imposing a stronger national fuel economy target in the long term would accelerate evolution of vehicle fleets and oil vulnerability reduction in Brisbane. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Clear and effective legislation is a requisite to bring sustainable development from theory into practice. This paper develops a methodology to investigate how Italian regional legislation disciplines the use of Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), the procedure used in the European Union (EU) to pursue sustainable development of policies, plans, and programs (PPPs). Our case study is the Italian regional level, examined to identify eventual flaws and areas for improvement for each regional legislative framework. For this purpose, this study refers to a selection of analytical criteria recurring in the international debate on sustainability assessments. Statistical multi-dimensional analysis is used to identify Italian regions with similar SEA legislation. We recognize four taxonomies, depending on the way regional legislation provides information about i) legislation and guidelines, ii) integration between SEA and PPPs, iii) sustainability goals, iv) technical organization, v) participatory organization, and vi) monitoring. The results suggest that Italian administrators should cooperate to improve legislation at the regional level. Acknowledging the institution-centred nature of SEA, this methodology could drive the EU to better support SEA development in countries with diversified traditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trees along footpath zones (or verges) grow on the “front-line” of urban forest ecosystems, increasingly recognised as essential to the quality of human life in cities. Growing so close to where residents live, work and travel, these street trees require careful planning and active management in order to balance their benefits against risks, liabilities, impacts and costs. Securing support and investment for urban trees is tough and robust business cases begin with accurate information about the resource. Few studies have accounted for spatial heterogeneity within a single land-use type in analyses of structure and composition of street tree populations. Remotely sensed footpath tree canopy cover data was used as a basis for stratification of random sampling across residential suburbs in the study area of Brisbane, Australia. Analysis of field survey data collected in 2010 from 80 representative sample sites in 52 suburbs revealed street tree population (432,445 ± 26,293) and stocking level (78%) estimates with low (6.08%) sampling error. Results also suggest that this population was transitioning to low risk, small-medium sized species with unproven longevity that could limit the capacity of the Brisbane’s Neighbourhood Shadeways planting program to expand from 35% footpath tree canopy cover in 2010, to a target of a 50% by 2031. This study advances the use of contemporary techniques for sampling extensive, unevenly distributed urban tree populations and the value of accurate resource knowledge to inform evidence-based planning and investment for urban forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regional sustainability is an important focus for natural resource management. Measuring how social and economic systems are progressing to sustainability is therefore a critical need. But it is dependent upon the development of analytical and methodological tools to measure progress, particularly, we argue, at the regional level. Achieving sustainability at the regional scale is important since it's at this scale where social institutions and ecological functioning are most closely linked. However, our recent study that evaluated the effectiveness of current sustainability assessment methods at the regional scale found methods developed for the global, national and state scales are not entirely effective at assessing sustainability at this spatial scale. Following on from this critique, we developed and tested a new method for assessing sustainability, which we believe is applicable at the regional scale. The framework, Sustaining Human Carrying Capacity (SHCC), evaluates the sustainability of regional human activities by considering the pressures these activities have on regional ecosystems. SHCC was tested and evaluated at the regional scale, demonstrating its potential to be an effective method for monitoring sustainability. It also has potential to be used to inform the community and decision makers about the sustainability of their region, and help guide strategic planning to progress sustainability. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

• Develops an urban mobility conceptual framework to identify and contrast planning approaches at the major metropolitan scale. • Contrasts three Australian major metropolitans by land use and transportation policy, development applications, and parking demand, supply, and price. • Demonstrates that comprehensive parking data collection can identify surplus parking, and enable policy calibration and adaptive reuse. • Employs spatial models to explain why and where active and more sustainable transport modal choices are chosen throughout three Australian cities. • Demonstrates that metropolitan level coordination of land use and transport policy is essential and provides key recommendations. Together, globalisation and urbanisation are accelerating the densification of cities while disruptive technologies such as micro-mobility and ride-hailing are transforming urban mobility. Amidst this change, urban planning officials and practitioners typically remain constrained to the same urban footprint, left to grapple with earlier car-oriented development, and yet must accommodate a growing population and variety of travel modes operating within the same space. Further, they must operate alongside government officials whose re-election could depend upon appeasing suburban residents that are unable or unwilling to relocate along active transport corridors, near public transit nodes, or forgo the flexibility and comfort of private automobiles. As a result, private automobiles can become necessary for traversing urban forms already enlarged by parking, driveways, roads, highways, and flyovers. Likewise, alternatives such as public and active transport can become impractical and dangerous within urban forms that are fragmented by congestion or fast traffic. Given that urban mobility research typically focuses on keeping our pre-existing modal choices moving rather than the side-effects, daily commutes have remained unchanged for decades, and planners are better equipped to continually accommodate rather than influence our modal choices. This volume of Progress in Planning aims to strengthen the evidence base for influencing modal choice by developing a comparative framework of urban mobility, and by examining how parking policy has influenced modal choice within the three largest Australian cities: Brisbane, Sydney, and Melbourne. In addition, it provides reproducible methods for estimating parking supply using land use audits, parking demand using a population census, and geo-statistical modelling for determining whether and where parking policy can explain more sustainable modal choices. As such, this volume sets a research agenda for metropolitan-scale examination and coordination of transport and land use planning for sustainable rather than temporary urban mobility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the multimodal mobility impact of implementing BRT as an open system with mixed services and transfers or as a closed system with separate BRT services. In large multimodal public transport networks, interchanges or transfers for passengers are inevitable. A zone-based fare system ensures there is no financial penalty for interchange thus minimising the interchange penalty. In Brisbane, South East Queensland, Australia, the zone-based fare system does not penalise transfers within the same zone but charges a full fare for an inter-zone transfer within a single journey. The open system BRT in Brisbane, Australia is used as a case study with a sensitivity analysis on transfer rates to understand how open system operation has facilitated multimodal mobility between conventional bus and BRT services. Web-based simulation maps compare a closed BRT scenario with the open BRT system in operation. The coverage and volume of passengers are significantly reduced in the closed system scenario, especially for routes inbound to the Central Business District (CBD), since far fewer passengers in suburban areas would have direct BRT services. In Brisbane's current open system, there are fewer opportunities for multimodal trips because buses travel on and off the BRT infrastructure. This analysis can help urban transport agencies to optimise their BRT operations and provide better public transport services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the planning community is aware that conventional minimum parking policies have potential impacts on housing, land use, and transport patterns, there is little to no evidence of who uses residential on-street parking. The articles are classified under three broad themes: (1) parking behaviour; (2) parking policy; and (3) parking futures. Emerging forms of shared parking or secondary parking markets should be explored by directly monitoring parking use or collecting self-reported data. [Extracted from the article]

• Intra-household interactions are captured in first and last mile travel mode choice. • This article reflects heterogeneity of group decision-making. • Car-oriented households have more young children and cars. • Households with fewer young children are likely to adopt walking for joint travel. In the context of public transport, the first and last mile (FLM) travel refers to access to or egress from public transport stations. The poor connection between trip origins and destinations impedes the transition towards sustainable transport by requiring commuters to initially use their cars to travel the FLM. Existing literature identifies that the built and natural environment characteristics influence the travel mode choice for FLM travel. However, this literature has yet to consider how individual FLM travel mode choices are influenced by other household members, i.e., intra-household interactions. Here, this study draws on the notion of household modality style (i.e., reflecting heterogeneity in group decision-making) to account for intra-household interactions in FLM travel mode choice. For broadening the understanding of intra-household interactions, the decision of joint travel is also considered in the current study when understanding FLM travel mode choice. By defining the latent class structure at the household level using a household travel survey for Brisbane, Australia, the latent class nested logit models identify two household modality styles: (1) car-oriented; and (2) multimodal. When considering the decision of joint travel, each household modality style group has a specific preference towards FLM travel time, public transport accessibility, station density, and road network intersection density. These findings provide evidence for policymakers aiming to develop transport integration policies targeting specific household types. The results also have implications in practice through prioritisations of distinct household modality styles more likely to shift towards sustainable transport modes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing global energy prices have created serious pressure on transport and energy in Australian cities. The rising cost of transport and energy, combined with the price of housing in metropolitan areas, has placed households under greater economic pressure. This paper investigates how increased household transport costs interact with housing costs in Brisbane, Australia. Drawing on data from journey to work and Australia’s Green Vehicle Guide, we estimated household transport costs associated with private vehicle fuel use for work travel. By linking household transport costs with housing costs across urban areas we were able to explore: 1) the spatial relationship between household transport fuel costs and direct spending on housing; and 2) areas of households under the highest pressure from transport costs and housing costs. We then estimated how rising fuel prices in Brisbane were likely to affect household housing location. We consider the trends of transport and housing costs and how they might affect urban spatial structure in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public transport (PT) has become important in everyday travels in Australian cities. Rising PT fares create a competitive disadvantage against private motor vehicles which is threatening PT ridership. This paper seeks to gain further insights into transport disadvantage by exploring spatial patterns of household transport expenditure on PT fares and private vehicle fuel use for the Brisbane metropolitan area. Several datasets are used to measure mode-specific transport costs, including the journey to work matrix, fuel efficiency of the private vehicle fleet and PT fares for the city. Through an advanced spatial analysis, the results show that PT was not a cost-effective means of transport for households when compared to private motor vehicles. The paper then compares mode-specific trip costs with patterns of suburban socio-economic disadvantage in Brisbane. We demonstrate that the high PT fares increase household exposure to higher transport costs and compound other forms of transport disadvantage and vulnerability, particularly in outer suburban areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an investigation of the open-system Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network on property values. An open-system BRT is one where bus feeder lines can enter and leave the BRT system, depending on their origin or destination so the BRT system infrastructure is shared by multiple routes. Brisbane, Australia is the empirical setting where smartcard (GoCard) data shows that 43% of bus passengers accessed the BRT system from feeder line stops. The paper investigates whether feeder line stops are important for increasing network accessibility in Brisbane's open-system BRT. The hypothesis underpinning the study is that the improved accessibility resulting from an open-system BRT network results in higher property values within feeder line corridors in addition to simply around the BRT system. A Geographically Weighted Generalized Linear Model (GWGLM) is used to investigate property value premiums and their spatial distribution. GWGLM makes an improvement over Geographically Weighted Regression Model (GWR) by providing flexible local and global variable settings that decrease the risk of multi-collinearity in local models. The results identify property value uplift of up to 1.64% for every 100 m closer to feeder bus stops with frequent services in western and eastern Brisbane suburbs. Future studies should pay attention to the type of BRT operation (whether open- or closed-) in investigating the value of accessibility from BRT implementation. The results are policy relevant for the debate between whether BRT systems should be open or closed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined the relationship between home risk and hospital treated injury in Australian children up to five years old. Women with children between two and four years of age enrolled in the Environments for Healthy Living (EFHL): Griffith Birth Cohort Study were invited to complete a Home Injury Prevention Survey from March 2013 to June 2014. A total home risk score (HRS) was calculated and linked to the child's injury related state-wide hospital emergency and admissions data and EFHL baseline demographic surveys. Data from 562 households relating to 566 child participants were included. We found an inverse relationship between home risk and child injury, with children living in homes with the least injury risk (based on the absence of hazardous structural features of the home and safe practices reported) having 1.90 times the injury rate of children living in high risk homes (95% CI 1.15–3.14). Whilst this appears counter-intuitive, families in the lowest risk homes were more likely to be socio-economically disadvantaged than families in the highest risk homes (more sole parents, lower maternal education levels, younger maternal age and lower income). After adjusting for demographic and socio-economic factors, the relationship between home risk and injury was no longer significant (p > 0.05). Our findings suggest that children in socio-economically deprived families have higher rates of injury, despite living in a physical environment that contains substantially fewer injury risks than their less deprived counterparts. Although measures to reduce child injury risk through the modification of the physical environment remain an important part of the injury prevention approach, our study findings support continued efforts to implement societal-wide, long term policy and practice changes to address the socioeconomic differentials in child health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]