Traditional neighborhood planning of a large mixed-use project in a restrictive growth management environment.

This paper describes the unique aspects of the methodology developed to analyse the Playa Vista project, a large multiple-use project in Los Angeles, that is designed using traditional town planning concepts. The growth management policies, applied to the project, required the development of detailed and creative techniques for analysing trip generation and trip distribution. A rigorous methodology to estimate internal and external travel was required, that would be defensible in terms of development approval. A sophisticated traffic assignment technique was used. The project will include very extensive commercial office space and retail space, integrated with housing, recreation facilities, open space, and civic, facilities, open space, and civic, cultural and institutional uses. Traditional neighbourhood planning principles, creating close proximity of complementary land uses, are intended to reduce car-based travel. Mixed-use trip generation for the project was modelled in terms of external, internal and linked trips; various types of trips are described. The assignment process used the emme/2 transport planning software, and assigned future development in three layers: (1) cumulative development; (2) external-internal trips; and (3) internal trips.