Mobility is a vital element of modern society. The movement of people and of goods enhances both our living standards and our well-being. However, it also brings in its wake train significant adverse effects. The vertiginous growth of road traffic, in particular, is causing problems: excessive emissions (particular CO2 and NOx), impaired access to towns and factories, degradation of the quality-of-life in both urban and rural areas. In combating these adverse effects the government has over the last decade adopted two different tasks. Firstly, the environmental standards applying to vehicles and fuels are being made gradually more stringent. This increases the eco-efficiency of individual vehicles. But this benefit is being partly offset by the growth in mobility. Since the late 1980s, environmental policy has therefore also sought to curb the growth in mobility, particularly passenger car use. Spatial planning measures have been a major component of government policy in this regard, involving in particular the creation of `compact cities' and locating industry so as to minimise transport needs. In its advice `Mobility within Reason' the Council of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment analyses the merits of the present policy towards road traffic, and draws up proposals for updating this strategy to produce a more favourable balance between the costs and benefits of mobility. If adequate solutions are to be devised, the adverse effects need to be analysed in terms of the geographical level (i.e. local, regional, national, global) at which they occur. (A)
Abstract