Connecting People While Preserving the Planet: Essays on Sustainable Development Book

Acknowledgments     xi
Foreword     xiii
Introduction     xv
Observing people's behavior in their own living area     1
For 25 years, people spend the same amount of time moving around the area in which they live     6
The daily number of people's trips does not change
The amount of time spent on trips each day does not vary
Time measured is much shorter than time estimated by the user
The monetary value of travel time expressed in standard-of-living units does not vary
For 25 years, people travel more quickly and go farther     11
The speed of travel increases when transportation improves
Speed leads to gains in space; living area expands
Monetary outlays for transportation, expressed in standard-of-living units, do not vary
For 25 years, living and recreational space expands; wealth and well-being increase     16
When the number of easily accessible jobs rises, salaries and wealth increase
When the number of easily accessible jobs increases, work and jobs improve
When the number of easily accessible green spaces increases, well-being increases
A living area behaves like a living organism
Interpretation of observations: the economic and natural performances of living areas     23
The results of transportation surveys can be modeled     29
Humans travel to seek desired goods and services unavailable on the spot
The more desired goods and services there are in a zone, the more reasons exist to go there
Themore time the trip takes, the more expensive it is and the less attractive the destination
The number of goods or services among which a pertinent choice can be made has an economic or ergonomic value     34
The diversity of goods or services accessible at the time of a trip is a source of value
The diversity of the totality of goods or services accessible from a given zone represents the creation of value of the living area surrounding this zone
In the case of heterogeneous urbanized areas, the formulation elaborated for homogenous urbanized areas provides a very good approximation of the creation of value
Urban and rural areas constitute a single living space     43
A grand continuity from town to country
It is the creation of economic or ergonomic value that matters, not the time gained
Applications of evaluation methods for economic and natural performances of living areas     49
The benefits of accessible destinations are easy to calculate and represent     54
It is simple to calculate the benefits of easily accessible destinations
The representation of the values of easily accessible destinations is instructive
The benefits of easily accessible destinations adapt to use     57
Benefits adapt to the reason for travel
Values/benefits adapt to the socioprofessional category of the residents
Benefits adapt to the means of transportation
Applications illustrate the coherence of the approach     62
The case of the Francilienne freeway in the west of Ile-de-France
Le Mans: do we go through town or around it?
Nancy and Rouen: private transportation and public transportation
Ile-de-France: Paris and Marne-la-Vallee
A wider vision: economic and natural performances of living areas in France and Europe     71
Comparison of economic and natural performances in 16 reference agglomerations     78
Salaries are correlated with economic benefits of work destinations
Gross domestic products are correlated with the benefits of all economic destinations
Well-being is correlated with the ergonomic benefit of destinations for open-air activities
Economic and natural performances of living areas in France and Europe     83
Study of living areas in France and nine neighboring European countries demonstrates the economic strength of urban areas
The GDPs of France's 22 regions are correlated to the economic performance rates of living areas
Natural performance rates in the living areas of France reveal an equitable geographical spread
A vision of European development: the urban phenomenon is at the heart of economic and natural vitality of living areas
Negative impacts caused by humans     95
Pollution caused by agricultural, industrial, and residential activities     98
Soil pollution
Water pollution
Atmospheric pollution
Negative impacts caused by transportation     104
The unsafe nature of transportation
Sound pollution
Effects on the landscape
Atmospheric pollution linked to means of transportation; the case of carbon dioxide; the greenhouse effect
The relative weights of negative impacts and of economic and natural performance rates of living areas     112
The respective weights of negative impacts linked to travel activities and of economic and natural performance rates of living areas
The virtuous circle
Attacks on the habitats of living species     117
The habitats of living species     122
The notion of a living species; the appearance and extinction of species
Territorial relationships among living species
The territories of bacterial, plant, and animal species
Attacks on the habitats of living species     128
Attacks on habitats of microorganisms
Attacks on habitats of plant species
Attacks on habitats of animal species
The need to demarcate and protect natural spaces, home to biodiversity
The dynamics of living areas occupied by humans     135
Predicting the evolution of living areas: urban development simulations     141
Factors affecting the evolution of living areas: economic and natural performance rates, negative impacts, servicing costs
Real estate costs, proof of the interest living areas hold
Urbanization trends: predictive models of urban development
Evaluation of the interest in an urbanization project in the present and in the future
Examples of urbanization projects, of wealth and well-being from a viewpoint of sustainable development     150
The new town of Marne-la-Vallee in the context of the master plan for Ile-de-France
Putting into operation the planning principles embodied in the master plan for Ile-de-France