Accessibility instruments for planning practice: bridging the gap between academic research and decision-making.

One of the core objectives of urban planning practice is to provide spatial equity in terms of opportunities and use of public space and facilities. Accessibility is the element that serves this purpose as a concept linking the reciprocal relationship between transport and land use, thus shaping individual potential mobility to reach the desired destinations. Accessibility concepts are increasingly acknowledged as fundamental to understand the functioning of cities and urban regions. Indeed, by introducing them in planning practice, better solutions can be achieved in terms of spatial equity. The COST Action TU1002 "Accessibility instruments for planning practice" was specifically designed to address the gap between scientific research in measuring and modelling accessibility, and the current use of indicators of accessibility in urban planning practice. This paper shows the full process of introducing an easily understandable measure of accessibility to planning practitioners in Madrid, which is one of the case studies of the above-mentioned COST action. Changes in accessibility after the opening of a new metro line using contour measures were analyzed and then presented to a selection of urban planners and practitioners in Madrid as part of a workshop to evaluate the usefulness of this tool for planning practice. Isochrone maps were confirmed as an effective tool, as their utility can be supplemented by other indicators, and being GIS-based, it can be easily computed (when compared with transport models) and integrated with other datasets.

Integrating periurban agrarian ecosystem services into spatial planning to cope with urban pressure

According to Corine Land Cover databases, in Europe between 1990 and 2000,77% of new artificial surfaces were built on previous agrarian areas. Urban sprawl ¡s far from being under control, between 2000 and 2006 new artificial land has grown in larger proportion than the decade before. In Spain, like in most countries, the impact of urban sprawl during the last decades has been especially significant in periurban agrarian spaces: between 2000 and 2006, 73% of new artificial surfaces were built on previous agrarian areas. The indirect impact of this trend has been even more relevant, as the expectations of appreciation in the value of land after new urban developments reinforce the ongoing trend of abandonment of agricultural land. In Madrid between 1980 and 2000 the loss of agricultural land due to abandonment of exploitation was 2-fold that due to transformation into urban areas. By comparing four case studies: Valladolild, Montpellier.Florence and Den Haag, this paper explores if urban and territorial planning may contribute to reduce urban pressure on the hinterland. In spite of their diversity, these regions have in common a relative prosperity arising from their territorial endowments, though their landscapes are still under pressure. The three last ones have been working for years on mainstream concepts like multifunctional agriculture. The systematic comparison and the analysis of successful approaches provide some clues on how to reconsider urban planning in order to preserve agricultural land. The final remarks highlight the context in which public commitment, legal protection instruments and financial strategies may contribute to the goals of urban, peri-urban or regional planning about fostering agrarian ecosystem services