Urban Growth Structure and Travel Behavior in Tehran City

Abstract

This paper investigates major characteristics of Tehran’s urban growth structure, how various land use factors such as “density”, “diversity”, “design” and “accessibility” affect travel behavior, population growth and land use development, and future travel demands. Tehran city is currently developing in ways that are likely to increase sprawl and automobile-dependency, which increase problems including traffic and parking congestion, consumer costs, traffic accidents, pollution emissions and inadequate mobility for non-drivers. This analysis indicates that the growth management policies in Tehran’s Comprehensive Plan can significantly reduce vehicle travel and associated problems, resulting in a more sustainable urban development path. This information is useful for evaluating the ability of policies such as Smart Growth, New Urbanism and Accessibility Management to help achieve transport-land use planning objectives.