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Abstract
For at least thirty years urban growth management policies in Australian cities have focused on increasing residential densities as a method of addressing environmental issues. This view has been supported by a number of researchers who hypothesise that to achieve reductions in transport emissions individuals need to be encouraged to use public transport, and the most appropriate method of increasing public transport use occurs predominately from building residential areas at high densities around public transport nodes. This notion is integral to recent urban growth management policies in Sydney, which have sought to increase residential densities under the rubric of urban consolidation.
There are a number of researchers who have promoted the benefit of increasing urban densities as a way of increasing public transport use. In Australia, the most cited research in this area is that of Newman and Kenworthy. Nonetheless, there are a number of commentators who have criticised the emphasis of density in increasing public transport use. These commentators assert that factors other than density, particularly socio-economic factors, are more important in influencing public transport use. Nevertheless, a major gap within this concept is that the research is conducted at the macro-level with minimal analysis at the meso or micro level.
This thesis attempts to fill a gap in our knowledge by assessing the relationship between urban density and public transport use, particularly trains, at the macro, meso and micro level. The analyses used data across the Sydney metropolitan area and by geographical location to assess the implications of the density-public transport debate, and its articulation in urban consolidation policies. Such an analysis also has implications for other Australian cities who have promoted urban consolidation.
The study concludes that residential density is not as important as socio-economic factors in influencing one form of public transport use, namely trains. Variables such as car ownership, country of origin, housing tenure, and the type and location of employment are more important in influencing train use than density. The study concludes that at the macro level the notion of increasing densities increases public transport use is plausible, yet at the micro level the relationship between high density housing and public transport use (in this case train use) is more complex. This suggests that the promotion of urban consolidation policies as a means to increase public transport use needs to be re-assessed. Importantly, there is still much research to be conducted to fully comprehend the relationships between housing and transport in order to better inform urban growth management policies in cities, including Sydney.