12 DEC 2003 (FRI) | 19:00-20:00
Room 201, Map Library, Hui Oi Chow Science Building, The University of Hong Kong.
Speaker:Prof Harry Timmermans Professor of Urban Planning, Eindhoven University of Technology
Professor Timmermans (1952) is currently the Master of Arts of Transport Policy and Planning (MATPP) External Examiner (2003-2005). He was appointed Professor of Urban Planning at the Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands in 1985. He currently is Head of the Urban Planning Group and Director of the European Institute of Retailing and Services Studies (EIRASS). His research interests concern the development of models of spatial choice behaviour and the development of decision support systems in a variety of application domains, including transportation, retailing, tourism and recreation, and housing. One of his most recent research endeavours concerns the development of Albatross, currently the only fully operational rule-based, computational process model of travel demand, developed for the Dutch Ministry of Transport. He has (co-)authored close to 200 refereed articles in geography, transportation, urban planning, marketing, artificial intelligence, tourism, and applied computer science.
Professor Timmermans is founder editor of the Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, and has acted as (European/Associate) editor of TESG, Geographical and Environment Modelling and Leisure Sciences. He (has) served and is still serving on the editorial board of many journals, including Geographical Analysis, Transportation Research, Tourism Analysis and Sistemi Urbani.
Abstract:
The presentation will report the results of some studies in which the author has been involved to assess the impact of urban form on mobility and activity-travel patterns. Many urban planners and geographers claim to contribute to sustainability by appropriate urban forms, which will reduce mobility. The results of these studies will be positioned against the background of existing studies. It will be argued that many previous studies have serious methodological flaws. Criteria for improved research into this topic will be outlined. Based on this set of criteria, the results of two different studies will be presented. Both studies suggest that the impact of spatial factors on mobility is less than commonly claimed.
Organizers:Master of Arts in Transport Policy and Planning, HKU (MATPP)
All are Welcome!!
