Throughout the development of transport planning since the 1920s, policies have focused on mobility, quantifiability, and efficiency through travel time reduction. A paradigm looking for efficient ways of moving people and goods was developed so that travellers minimize their travel time (Banister, 2008). However, Cervero et al. (2017) argue that cities should instead focus on urban recalibration – redesigning cities to focus on people and place, creating higher quality, compact and more socially inclusive urban spaces. In addition, the shift from mobility to accessibility implies that building and supply density, walkability, design diversity, and land-use mix are highly important. Accessibility can be defined as “the extent to which land-use and transport systems enable (groups of) individuals to reach activities or destinations by means of a (combination of) transport mode(s),” (Geurs & Van Wee, 2004, p. 128). However, due to remote working arrangements, accessibility needs to account for both physical and remote travel patterns.
For Twente, the regional strategic plan is to focus on urban development with economic innovation and increasing attraction. Twente is seen as a knowledge region (1 university, 1 Applied Science University, secondary schools focused on professional education), along with many companies in the Twente Region. Both University and companies attract commuters from just across the borders such as from Münster, Borken, Coesfeld, Steinfurt and Grafschaft Bentheim in Germany. However, the shift from mobility to accessibility implies that, due to remote working arrangements, accessibility needs to account for both physical and remote travel patterns. For the cross-border case study Zwolle-Twente-Münster, this study will develop an integrated physical-remote accessibility model to examine local and regional impacts due to remote working arrangements by different urban transport modes for various population segments (by age, gender, socio-economic characteristics etc). The model will be used to develop scenarios of remote working patterns together with local stakeholders. Furthermore, the localised results for the case studies derived from WP2 will be used (i.e., local relationships between remote working patterns and impacts) to assess the impacts of these scenarios. This methodology is helpful for this specific cross-border case study because the region Zwolle-Twente-Münsterland has specific ambitions to strengthen cross-border education, mobility, economic development and health care, so exploring potential scenarios for physical and remote accessibility will be of high importance for this cross-border region.
References
- Lent, S.J. van (2023) A new divide? Investigating the effect of hybrid teleworking on socio-spatial job accessibility inequalities among groups in the Dutch workforce.
- Banister, D., 2008. The sustainable mobility paradigm. Transport Policy 15, 73-80.
- Cervero, R., Guerra, E., Al, S., 2017. Beyond mobility: Planning cities for people and places. Island Press, Washington/Covelo/London.
- Geurs, K. T., & Van Wee, B. (2004). Accessibility evaluation of land-use and transport strategies: review and research directions. Journal of Transport Geography, 127-140.
Supervision
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