There are several considerations when planning new housing developments,
and resultant problems require critical analysis. This thesis has focused on
studying some part of the potential issues in the case of a project in the city of
Falun.
The focus has been on energy and greenhouse gases (GHG)-efficient structures,
through the analysis of the relationship between the transport system and
residential development that can contribute to the reduction in emission’s harmful
effect on human health and the environment. The overall aim has been on the
sustainable location of housing with regards to transport energy, and it included
the review of densification in the development of city planning as a measure.
These courses of action, together with other considered measures been
explored, are to provide solutions which can contribute to the livability, a greener
environment and lower the levels of GHG, as well as the use of energy from
transport.
Densification is a significant concern when planning for future infrastructure and
developments in a city. It is not just about housing; dense cities use less energy
and the denser a city, the more sustainable they set to be.
The significance of the transport system in an urban environment is enormous
due to the level of its impact as a major user of energy, specifically petroleum
product consumption. It is essential to note the importance of the effect that GHG
and energy use from transport has on the health and wellbeing of city inhabitants,
the society, as well as humans in general. Therefore, it is most important to strive
to reduce the need for energy use from transport and to lower the levels of
transport GHG.
The city of Falun is planning for new housing development, with comprehensive
plans for future urban development of areas within and around the city. There is
a current proposal for the densification of central areas; however, they are also
proposing new large areas on the periphery, which may be counter-productive
from a transport point of view.
This circumstance could lead to more car travel within and around the city, which
leads to increases in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fuel use, and in turn,
increased in environmental pollution. Thus, the thesis purpose has been to
investigate the energy use and carbon dioxide emissions in related scenarios.
The aim is studying the proposed new housing development potentials to reduce
car travel through an urban strategy measure such as smart growth; therefore,
the selection of the following research questions below:
• Will the proposal in the detailed, comprehensive plan lead to transportation that
is more or less energy-efficient than today? And Is the proposed development in
line with previous empirical findings in the research literature?
• Can the amount of car travel be reduced by planning for a different location
strategy for future residential development in Falun?
• Can this analysis be made roughly using simple tools that are easy to use for
urban planners or architects (not only for advanced GIS-engineers and
researchers)
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A literature review facilitates reflection on these issues and studies measures for
strategies which could be a better alternative when exploited in such or similar
situation for preferable development. Thus, it’s exploitation in the thesis work.
This research has been carried out by performing an investigation of the new
housing development proposal, specifically through analyses of the assumed
additional usage of passenger cars in the ongoing planned area. Possible
alternatives are, therefore, examined, e.g. in the frame of options such as
spreading the housing system into more centrally located and connecting areas,
improving the relationship between the public transport system and new
residential development so they could work in tandem.
From the carried-out work, it has possible to be able to identify some disharmony
in the ongoing development plans as part of the possible future problems, i.e. the
case of possible unexploited solution for air pollution from transport energy,
related issues, and so on. An in-depth interview with two of the Falun city office
staffs and planners also opens-up on the problems of decision-makers and land
use policy. Also, site visits provide the perspectives of present and potential
owners who participated in an impromptu interview.
Meanwhile, the presented results show that the overall total energy usage
becomes higher per person with the Falun city´s ongoing-planning proposal, but
lower with the designed alternative planning scenario. The results were derived
through calculations, using the “Model for calculating energy use and carbon
dioxide emissions in different scenarios’’ for generating scenarios that take
modal split into account as seen in the data, calculation and result’s chapter,
further in the thesis.