UC Berkeley/Sacramento Program
The Institute of Urban and Regional Development

The Institute of Urban and Regional Development (IURD) serves faculty and students of the University of California, Berkeley, conducting research into processes of urban and regional growth and decline, and effects of governing policies on the patterns and processes of development. Institute research is supported by federal and state government agencies and by private foundations.

Current research focuses on: 

• sustainable development and regulation of urban growth and land use

• the social and economic impacts of changes in urban life with a focus on inner city inequality

• evolving patterns of suburbanization and central city reconstruction

• transportation alternatives, including high-speed rail and transit-based land development

• information technology applications in urban development

An integral part of the Institute's research is its Community Partnerships Office under the leadership of director Judith Innes and research director Moira Kenney. The Institute produces newsletters, working papers and monographs describing current research and other topics of interest to researchers and professionals in the community. Information on current research and publications is available on this web site.

CURRENT RESEARCH IN TRANSPORTATION

Implementing the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act (ISTEA)

Principal researchers: Judith Innes, Department of City & Regional Planning; Judith Gruber, Department of Political Science

This is a study of the planning and decision processes of the Bay Area's Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). The purpose is to document and assess the collaborative effort of the Bay Area Partnership, a group of the nine county congestion agencies, the 28 transit agencies, and several federal and state regulatory agencies set up by MTC to assist in preparing the regional transportation plan and allocating state and federal transportation funds around the region.

Preliminary findings suggest that the creation of agreed-upon multimodal scoring criteria on a consensual basis represented an early success of the Partnership. It created a forum for discussion and new working relationships among the region's principal transportation-providing agencies and MTC, where issues could be discussed and strategies agreed on. Land use and the integration of broad-based environmental concerns into the regional transportation plan, however, is an area of mounting controversy as players outside the Partnership challenge some of MTC's decisions.

Adaptive Transit: A Global Assessment with a North American Emphasis

Principal researcher: Robert Cervero, Department of City & Regional Planning

Different approaches to adapting transit to better serve suburban markets were evaluated. Case-study methods were used to classify and evaluate alternative service approaches--bus-based service reforms; technological innovations; and small-vehicle service reforms--with a particular focus on service? and cost-effectiveness. Important factors in influencing outcomes included: market sensitivity and responsiveness; service improvements focused on increasing speed and reliability; development of transit centers for coordinating interconnections and transfer; flexibly routed and scheduled services; efficient and accountable institutional frameworks; supportive land-use environments; and cost-containment. Bus-based service reforms, in general, yielded the highest productivity benefits. The research findings have relevance to various federal and state transit programs, including the Federal Transit Administration's recently sponsored demonstration program on Bus Rapid Transit.

Influences of Mixed Use Development on Travel Behavior in Residential Neighborhoods

Principal researcher: Robert Cervero, Department of City & Regional Planning

This project focused on how the inter-mixing of retail, services, and other land uses in residential neighborhoods fundamentally alters travel demand. Several studies were carried out to explore the proposition that mixed land uses "degenerate" trips and promote alternative modes to the private automobile. One analysis compiled primary data on 50 census tracts in the San Francisco Bay Area, with data focused on density, diversity, and design --- or the " 3 Ds" --- of built environments. Diversity, or mixed use, was found to substantially reduce vehicle trip rates for non-work trips, particularly when in combination with higher densities. Another study using the 1985 American Housing Survey confirmed similar relationships across 11 U.S. metropolitan areas. Having shops and stores within walking distance of a residence was found to increase the odds of commuting by public transit. An additional study used matched pairs to evaluate relationships between two Bay Area communities --- Rockridge and Lafayette, places with comparable incomes. Mixed use settings were estimated to produce roughly a 15 percent decline in vehicle miles traveled for shop and service related trips. The research results have relevance to, and has been cited by, various policy programs that have been introduced, including the federal liveable communities program and California's transit village initiatives.

Transportation Policy Studies

Principal researcher: Elizabeth Deakin, Department of City & Regional Planning

This is a series of studies on topics of importance to the development of transportation policy. Early research focused on the future of motor vehicles in an environmentally constrained world and investigated the factors supporting the growing use of autos in Europe, North America, and Japan. Citizens in other advanced economies make far less use of the auto than do Americans, but European and Japanese auto ownership and travel are increasing rapidly, reflecting increased real income, improved roadway infrastructure, and suburbanization. This is in spite of fuel costs equivalent to about $4.00 per gallon. Research in 2000 focuses on strategies being used to manage the transport system in the face of this growing auto use, both in the U.S. and in Europe.