Harry Geerlings

The integration of land use planning, transport and environment in European policy and research

There are increasing calls for greater policy integration within European policy documents and research programmes. In the area of land use planning, transport and environment policy, there is widespread acceptance that integrating decisions across these sectors is crucial for sustainable development. Despite this, relatively little European research has been (or is being) carried out on the issue of policy integration, particularly in relation to transport, land use planning and environment policies. Most of the research is mainly technical and mainly focuses on policy options, instruments or assessment methods, rather than on decision-making processes and/or implementation issues; little attention has been given to organisational and/or institutional aspects of policy integration and how this relates to theories from organisational, policy or political sciences. This paper provides a review of policy integration in academic literature, European policy documents and research activities. The paper aims to give a historical perspective to the issue of policy integration, summarise recent policy and research, identify key research gaps and identify promising new areas for future research. The paper is divided into five main sections. The introduction is followed by a short overview of academic literature concerning policy integration. The next section discusses the importance of policy integration in European policy-making and policy documents. This is followed by an assessment of the importance of policy integration for European research programmes and projects. The last section presents some conclusions and recommendations for promising areas of research concerning policy integration in relation to transport, land use planning and environmental issues.

Exposing weaknesses in interactive planning: the remarkable return of comprehensive policy analysis in The Netherlands

Decision-making on transport infrastructure projects in the Netherlands has been facing a remarkable wind of change in recent years. In the 1990s, academics and practitioners in policy analysis, public policy and planning all claimed that the traditional policy analysis methods were obsolete, yet they have experienced a sudden resurgence since 2000 in the form of OEEI (Overview of Economic Effects of Infrastructure), a refined application of cost-benefit analysis (CBA). This paper delves into why this new version of CBA has become so politically successful despite predictions made to the contrary. In addition, it focuses on whether this resurgence may lead to ‘econocracy’ (conceptual hegemony by economists and their ideologies and methods over other approaches), and, if so, how this can be prevented.

ESTIMATING CO 2 FOOTPRINTS OF CONTAINER TERMINAL PORT-OPERATIONS

At present there is increasing pressure on governments and industries to come forward with initiatives to reduce CO 2 emissions. This is particularly relevant for the transport sector, as the share of transportation is still increasing, while other sectors are reducing their CO 2 footprints. The main purpose of this paper is to present a methodology to analyze the CO 2 emissions from container terminals and gain a better understanding of the CO 2 emissions by container terminals in port areas. With a better understanding of the CO 2 emissions, more effective solutions to reduce CO 2 emissions by container terminals can be identifi ed. The study provides insight into the processes of container handling and transshipment at the terminals and calculates the contribution of these processes to the CO 2 emissions (or carbon footprint) of the container terminals. The model was validated by application on 95% of all sea and inland container terminals in the Netherlands.

Exchanging experiences in transport infrastructure policies between Denmark and the Netherlands

Under the influence of international benchmarking processes, attention paid to cross national, lesson drawing has risen substantially. It is often believed, and for good reasons, that transplantation of policy models between countries with similar legal, cultural and institutional characteristics, is easier. Though this may be true, spotting subtle institutional differences and practical policy problems on the side of the receiving country are keys to success. In this paper, it is claimed that Denmark and the Netherlands share quite a few important characteristics in the field of transport infrastructure policies, institutional as well as regarding citizen and policy preferences, making mutual exchange of experiences, promising. In addition, the Denmark-Holland comparison and inventory of exchange options serves as a stepping stone to conduct similar comparisons with other countries not studied here.

INTEGRATING TRANSPORT, LAND USE PLANNING AND ENVIRONMENT POLICY

Various recent policy documents stress the need for the integration of sectoral policies. In practice, policy-makers recognize the need for policy-integration but often do not have a complete picture of what it entails or how to put theory into practice. This paper reports on a research project that examines attitudes and approaches to integrating transport, land use and environment policies in three local authority case studies in Denmark, Germany and England.1 The paper reflects on how different institutional and political factors can affect policy integration, focusing particularly on the integration of transport, land use and environment policies. The institutional and political factors covered in this paper include the division of roles and responsibilities within an organisation, the nature of inter-departmental and inter-agency relationships, the diversity of professional skills and education of the workforce, and the role of political and public support.

The rise and fall of new technologies: Maglev as technological substitution?

Since the late 1970s, rail transport has made a comeback with the introduction of highspeed trains. Before then, trains had a speed of only 100–130 km/h. Today trains can achieve regularly three times those speeds and national railway organisations feel the pressure for reorganisation to improve the quality of services. Japan and Europe are the places where the high‐speed rail revolution is taking place. But we also see a tendency to base these high speed line systems on national rail standards. At the same time we observe new developments, which are likely to lead to a technological breakthrough, comparable with the development of the steamship, conventional train or automobile. This new system, called Maglev, is based on the principle of magnetic levitation. More than ever before, the chances of success for this new technology depend on the outcome of competition with improved conventional rail technologies. In this paper the present development of high speed rail systems in Europe, Japan and the United...

A renaissance in understanding technology dynamics? The emerging concept of transition management in transportation

Abstract For the last five years the technology factor (by which is meant both process and product innovation) has received renewed attention in the transport sector as society is confronted with new challenges. This leads to a call for change and transitions. Technology is considered as a potential answer to new needs and new problems, like the reduction of CO2 and the supply of alternative energy. It is important that there is a theoretical basis for the way of thinking on innovation and diffusion when it comes to technology dynamics. This paper, based on a literature study, addresses the question to what extent the theory of transition management can be considered as a new application of technology dynamics. The theory of technological innovations in the broad sense is analysed and applied to the transport sector.

Exploring 'weak signals'' as potential challenges in transport: an inventory of potential future technology developments

This article assesses the most likely technological developments in transport, not only by investigating current innovations but also by observing different approaches to confronting future developments. The article discusses technology forecasting and the meaning of environmentally sound technologies; some insights into technology development and the relevance of technological forecasting; the factors that influence technology development in transport; and, in this context, differentiation between exploration, expectation and forecasting. It goes on to identify, from four different perspectives, major developments of strategic relevance for the transport sector that might arise in the longer term. An assessment is made of the consequences of these observations for the implementation of innovations in transport.

TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATIONS IN THE TRANSPORT SECTOR: THE NEED FOR COOPERATION TO MEET ENVIRONMENTAL INTERESTS.

Environmental problems have become urgent in many countries. A large contribution to the solution of environmental problems is expected from technological change. This raises the issue of how technological change takes place, and more in particular how technological change can be promoted that is beneficial to long term sustainability objectives. In the paper we discuss this topic in the context of the transport sector. This is relevant because transportation contributes significantly to various types of pollution, existing trends might lead to even more negative impacts and finally there are high expectations about the potential of future technological development to reduce the environmental impact of transportation. We approach the issue of technological change towards more environmentally sound development from the perspective of technology dynamics and sustainable development. We argue that additional theoretical insights are needed especially when one wants to study technological change in the contex...

Transport Innovation: Coping with the Future

An efficient transport system is a crucial precondition for economic development and an asset in international mobility. Mobility of passengers and transport of goods are considered key elements for a modern society. The transport sector is also a sector of continuous technological innovation. However, there is considerable uncertainty surrounding future transport technology and policy, as well as a large variation in ways to deal with this uncertainty. With regard to the latter it may be helpful to use more than one foresight method, e.g. a combination of methods each with a different emphasis on expertise, creativity and interaction with actors. Such a multiple method approach allows for the identification of those futures or future developments that are robust. This paper provides an introduction to the topic of transport innovation as well as providing a context for the four papers which follow in this special issue, illustrating the importance of taking such a multiple method approach.