Preface

As the world population becomes more urban and our cities experience challenges with increasing pressures for supporting infrastructures, the issues with urban transport become even more critical. Transport not only provides accessibility for individuals to reach jobs, leisure activities, and other opportunities, but also ensures there is effective distribution of goods and services. This however has come at a price, especially in urban areas. Increased awareness and stricter environmental targets are driving cities to be bold in their approaches toward sustainable transport. It is this drive that sees many projects and related research developing in this direction.

This book presents a selection of chapters on the theme of sustainable urban transport. The contributions were first presented at the 2013 NECTAR Conference at the University of the Azores, which brought together over 100 scholars from around the world. The International Conference, entitled Dynamics of Global and Local Networks, included eight special sessions. This book represents a selection of papers from the sessions organized by Cluster 1: A Future for Non-Motorized Transport Modes: Walking and Cycling Networks, and Cluster 2: Policy and Environment.

We hope that the book will be beneficial to practitioners primarily, but also to researchers and students of urban studies, transport management, and policy. This book aims to contribute knowledge that will help meet the targets and challenges for sustainable urban transport.