Christopher D. Higgins

Varieties of Logistics Centers: Developing Standardized Typology and Hierarchy

Despite the growing interest in the development of intermodal logistics centers by scholars and public- and private-sector actors, there is no consensus on the definitions of these centers. The purpose of this paper is to explore the literature and propose a unified and standardized typology and hierarchy of logistics centers. Several current terms and definitions are presented and used to establish criteria for creating a combined typology of logistics centers. This information is used to form a hierarchy of facilities according to their size, influence, value-added activities, and function in freight and logistics processes. The resulting typology and hierarchy are useful as a foundation for advancing research in this area.

Forty years of modelling rapid transit’s land value uplift in North America: moving beyond the tip of the iceberg

ABSTRACT Identifying and measuring the land value uplift (LVU) impacts of rapid transit are important for a number of reasons. However, despite the general notion that rapid transit does confer positive LVU benefits, our comprehensive and critical review of more than 130 analyses across 60 studies completed in North America over the past 40 years finds significant heterogeneity in research outcomes, leaving many significant questions unanswered. Beyond high-level differences in study inputs, we argue that a fundamental source of variability is a lack of empirical specificity from the use of proximity as the dominant way in which LVU benefits are captured. This use of a proxy leads to the potential for omitted variables and unobserved relationships, and exposes previous work to the potential for misvalued results. To overcome this issue, we outline recommendations for future research, namely a recognition of relative accessibility and the possibility of LVU impacts from transit-oriented development. Incorporating measures related to these factors into LVU models can reveal their implicit prices, resulting in research that is more theoretically inclusive, empirically comprehensive, comparable, and able to provide important information to inform policy analysis and prescription.

Light rail and land use change: Rail transit's role in reshaping and revitalizing cities

Planners and policymakers often cite the tangible objective of land use change as a primary motivation and justification for an investment in light rail transit (LRT). But how has light rail performed with respect to achieving this goal? This paper reviews and synthesizes the previous literature on LRT and other rail rapid transit systems in North America, demonstrating that rail transit alone is not a primary driver of land use change and that six beneficial factors affect the ability of these systems to have a measurable impact on reshaping and revitalizing cities.

Public Money and Mickey Mouse: Evaluating Performance and Accountability in the Hong Kong Disneyland Joint Venture Public-Private Partnership

Abstract Joint venture public–private partnerships (PPPs) allow partners to share in the risks and rewards of joint production. But the literature offers little theoretical guidance on assessing performance and accountability in this type of PPP. This article fills this gap by examining joint ventures as PPPs and formulates a comprehensive performance evaluation framework. Its application to the case of Hong Kong’s Disneyland Resort reveals a project that has endured several challenges related to achieving objectives, ensuring cooperation among partners, and upholding principles of democratic accountability. Outcomes from this study offer new insight into an underexplored aspect of PPP research.

Rapid Transit, Transit-Oriented Development, and the Contextual Sensitivity of Land Value Uplift in Toronto

Rapid transit projects that increase accessibility should result in a localised land value uplift (LVU) benefit for locations near stations. A rich history of research has tested this hypothesis, generally operationalising transit accessibility by proxy through distance from a transit station. However, a growing body of research has also demonstrated LVU effects from transit-oriented development (TOD) as individuals sort themselves into locations that best match their preferences and willingness to pay. Considering the interdependence of transportation and land use in the urban system, we argue that these benefits create a spatial bundle of TOD goods around transit stations and hypothesise that households are willing to pay a premium for locations in more transit-oriented station catchment areas. Utilising latent class analysis, we quantify station area TOD submarkets. Next, interactions between these submarkets and station proximity in spatial hedonic regressions reveal that TOD is capitalised into land values in Toronto, though the maximum amount and spatial impact area of this capitalisation differs by TOD context.

Infrastructure or Attraction? Image-led Planning and the Intangible Objectives of Rapid Transit Projects

Many rapid transit projects are justified by a desire to achieve intangible city image and branding goals such as promoting messages of modernity, economic growth, global competitiveness, and world city status. The relationship between rapid transit and city image is poorly understood in the planning literature. In response, this article presents a theoretical framework of rapid transit in image-led planning. The framework and examples of rapid transit in image-led planning in practice reveal that while important, rapid transit alone is not a sufficient condition for wholesale image change, and image-led planning must be mindful of a host of important practical considerations.