Impacts of Residential Developments on Local Sustainability : A Case Study in

Along with urbanization and decentralization, the sustainability of metropolitan areas is considered one of the most significant challenges worldwide. Transportation-related problems, such as congestion, GHG emissions, and excessive energy consumption, have been imposing tremendous pressure on the sustainability of metropolitan areas. As a noticeable component of urban form, local residential developments may have great influence on local and regional sustainability. However, few studies have addressed the impacts of individual residential development projects on local sustainability and the underlying implications for regional plans in detail. The purpose of this study is to propose an analytical framework that can reveal different transport-related impacts of individual residential developments located in different types of communities, to examine whether new residents have travel patterns similar to existing residents, and to explore why such impacts differ across the selected developments by analyzing the built environment characteristics of each development. Nine residential developments constructed during 2000-2005 have been selected based on various criteria. Two Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) indicators VMT per vehicle and VMT per household are computed to represent the level of sustainability for each development. The study also estimates the average VMT indicators for the neighboring areas (750m buffer areas) and the towns where the selected projects are located. A comparison of the results suggests that residential developments do have different impacts on local sustainability in terms of VMT indicators and that new residents do not always have travel patterns exactly the same as those of existing residents. The built environment characteristics of the development areas, their surrounding areas, and their towns are investigated to analyze why the transport-related consequences vary across the selected developments. Some indicators are calculated including densities (population density and road density), land-use mix, location (distances to public transit and major roads), and other factors (job accessibility and neighborhood building age). The results illustrate that population density, land-use mix, distance to major roads, and job accessibility have greater influence over resultant VMT variations. Thesis Supervisor: Joseph Ferreira, Jr. Title: Professor of Urban Planning and Operation Research Thesis Reader: Tim Reardon Title: Senior Regional Planner, Metropolitan Area Planning Council