Ivonne Audirac

Information technology and urban form

This article explores the link between information technology (IT) and urban form. It does this by examining recent literature pertaining to two urban theorizing traditions: the deconcentration and economic-restructuring schools. Whereas in the deconcentration school, IT–urban form relationships are the newest stage in a sequence of technological innovations in transportation and communications posing new challenges to the geography of accessibility, in the restructuring school, these relationships are theorized as pervasive sociotechnical change transforming the organization of production, institutions, and everyday life. Despite their paradigmatic differences, both schools explore urban decentralization and/or centralization questions and identify urban dispersing effects related to synergies between IT and the automobile society. The author uses a Dutch and a U.S. case to illustrate the challenges that informational or New Economy development pose to urban and regional planning.

Accessing Transit as Universal Design

Universal design is a design philosophy couched in a public discourse of social inclusion. Spurred by disability civil rights legislation, growth of the older population, the information revolution, and markets, universal design has become a global design paradigm. This article reviews global dimensions of the paradigm and implementation strategies related to public transportation. Given universal designs overall inclusionary values beyond American Disability Act standards, the article asks, What is universal designs potential for redressing sociospatial exclusion among mobility-disadvantaged populations? Using a multitiered social exclusion/accessibility framework, the article addresses this question and draws conclusions about universal design applied to transit in the United States.

Information Technology (IT) and Urban Form: An Annotated Bibliography of the Urban Deconcentration and Economic Restructuring Literatures

Current urban planning discussion regarding the New Economy centers on planning, managing, and redesigning the form of cities and regions in order to attract and nurture knowledge economies. Enhancing the quality of life, by restraining urban sprawl, is seen as essential to urban competitiveness in the information age. However, the literature that examines the synergies between information technologies and urban form does not only point to potential reconcentration of certain economic activities but also to the furtherance of exurban development, sociospatial segregation, and traffic gridlock. This bibliography presents a panoramic shot of this vast and growing literature, as seen through the lenses of two theorizing traditions. It also the-matically classifies it according to four areas associated with (1) new forms of urban development; (2) economic, spatial, and travel synergies; (3) accessibility issues in spatial science; and (4) planning policy.

Shrinking cities in Latin America: An oxymoron?

1. Introduction Harry W. Richardson and Chang Woon Nam Part I: Global and Regional Issues 2. International Shrinking Cities: Analysis, classification and prospects Wendell Cox 3.Shrinking Cities in Latin America: An oxymoron? Ivonne Audirac 4. Urban Shrinkage in the EU Gert-Jan Hospers Part II: National Issues 5. Shrinking Cities: The United States Richard Morrill 6.The Landscape of Population Decline in the United States: Considering the roles of the demographic components of change and geography Rachel Franklin 7. Are Large German Cities Really Shrinking? Demographic and economic development in recent years Florian Bartholomae and Chang Woon Nam 8. Urban Shrinkage in Romania: Scope and determinants Alina M. Schoenberg and Daniela Luminita Constantin 9. Shrinking Cities and Processes in Estonia Peter Friedrich, Aivo Ulper and Kadri Ukrainski 10. Shrinking Cities in South Korea: The future Harry W. Richardson and Chang-Hee Christine Bae 11.When Growth Grinds to a Halt: Population and economic development of resource-depleted cities in China Sylvia Ying He 12.India Sukumar Ganapati 13. Are Cities in Taiwan Shrinking? Michael Cheng-Yi Lin Part III: Case Study Cities 14. Driving Shrinking Detroit George Galster 15. Planning for Regional Depopulation in Greater Buffalo Justin Hollander and Bernard Cahill 16. Innovation and Shrinking Cities: What can we learn from Clevelands regional innovation system? Michael S. Fogarty and Gasper A. Garofalo 17. Halle: A shrinking city in Eastern Germany Florian Bartholomae and Chang Woon Nam 18. The Urban Area of Naples: From shrinking city to the metropolitan area Gerardo Schettino 19. Losing Households in a House Divided: The case of Belfast Frank Gaffikin and Ken Sterrett Part IV: General Issues 20. Compact Development as a Factor in Income Resilience among Shrinking Counties in the United States: Statistical analysis with policy implications Arthur C. Nelson, Susan Petheram and Reid Ewing 21. Environmental Impacts of Shrinking Cities Tilman Rave 22. Conclusions Harry W. Richardson and Chang Woon Nam

Sharing Fast-Speed and Slow-Speed Roads with Bicyclists and Pedestrians: A Source of Female and Male Driver Frustration?

This paper explores gender differences in drivers’ attitudes toward slow-speed travelers, namely, bicyclists and pedestrians. In exploring the environment–driving–behavior relationship, it differentiates between fast driving environments (i.e., highways and arterials) and slow driving environments (i.e., collectors and neighborhood roads) and posits a dominant culture of fast mobility that engenders aggressive driving behaviors. In this culture, time- and stress-related frustration is a precursor of aggressive driving. The study described in this paper uses data from a survey of drivers in Florida to examine womens and mens attitudes toward slowing down to share the carriageway with pedestrians and bicyclists. It finds differences by gender, with slightly more women likely to be frustrated than men, but male drivers are more prone to behave aggressively.