Using GIS to evaluate travel behaviour is an important technique to increase our understanding of the relationship between accessibility and transport demand. In this paper, the activity space concept was used to identify the nature of participation in activities (or lack of it) amongst a group of students using a 2 day travel-activity diary. Three different indicators such as the number of unique locations visited, average daily distance travelled, and average daily activity duration were used to measure the size of activity spaces. These indicators reflect levels of accessibility, personal mobility, and the extent of participation respectively. Multiple regression analyses were used to assess the impacts of students socio-economic status and the spatial characteristics of home location. Although no differences were found in the levels of accessibility and the extent of participation measures, home location with respect to a demand responsive transport (DRT) service was found to be the most important determinant of their mobility patterns. Despite being able to travel longer distances, students who live outside of the DRT service area were found to be temporally excluded from some opportunities. Student activity spaces were also visualised within a GIS environment and a spatial analysis was conducted to underpin the evaluation of the performance of the DRT. This approach was also used to identify the activity spaces of individuals that are geographically excluded from the service. Evaluation of these results indicated that although the service currently covers areas of high demand, 90% of the activity spaces remained un-served by the DRT service. Using this data six new routes were designed to meet the coverage goal of public transport based on a measure of network impedance based on inverse activity density. Following assessment of public transport service coverage, the study was extended using a Spatial Multi Criteria Evaluation (SMCE) technique to assess the effect of service provision on patronage.

Background In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries have introduced non-pharmaceutical interventions, such as stay-at-home orders, to reduce person-to-person contact and break trains of transmission. The aim of this systematic review was to assess the effect of different public health restrictions on mobility across different countries and cultures. The University of Bern COVID-19 Living Evidence database of COVID-19 and SARS-COV-2 publications was searched for retrospective or prospective studies evaluating the impact of COVID-19 public health restrictions on Google Mobility. Titles and abstracts were independently screened by two authors. Information from included studies was extracted by one researcher and double checked by another. Risk of bias of included articles was assessed using the Newcastle Ottowa Scale. Given the heterogeneous nature of the designs used, a narrative synthesis was undertaken. From the search, 1672 references were identified, of which 14 were included in the narrative synthesis. All studies reported data from the first wave of the pandemic, with Google Mobility Scores included from January to August 2020, with most studies analysing data during the first two months of the pandemic. Seven studies were assessed as having a moderate risk of bias and seven as a low risk of bias. Countries that introduced more stringent public health restrictions experienced greater reductions in mobility, through increased time at home and reductions in visits to shops, workplaces and use of public transport. Stay-at-home orders were the most effective of the individual strategies, whereas mask mandates had little effect of mobility. Conclusions Public health restrictions, particularly stay-at-home orders have significantly impacted on transmission prevention behaviours. Further research is required to understand how to effectively address pandemic fatigue and to support the safe return back to normal day-to-day behaviours.

Travel behaviour, Transport disadvantage, Rural form, Social exclusion, Northern Ireland,

In an era of change and uncertainty, the need for resilience is high on urban agendas. To date, multiple resilience concepts have been adopted into urban design with minimal substantiation. Resilience theory can potentially improve practice by rebalancing contemporary discourses in order to better value procedural aspects of urban design. The paper establishes theoretical links between urban design and resilience, where the integration of social and ecological systems, and the ability to enable adaptability and transformability, are key. In pursuit of shared principles between the two fields, a literature review identifies cross-cutting themes of diversity, social capital, innovation and learning.

Regional spatial planning in Northern Ireland is directly linked to the transition from conflict to peace, as identified in the Belfast Agreement of 1998. Political consensus, a rare commodity, was secured in the Northern Ireland Assembly for a regional development strategy (RDS), the first spatial planning document of its kind in the UK. This paper explores the deployment of collaborative planning in creating the RDS. Given Northern Ireland's divided socio-political context, the paper seeks to ascertain the influence on meaningful policy debate and strategy-making arising from the collaborative planning approach. The paper investigates the application of collaborative planning measures in Northern Ireland through an analysis of spatial policy relating to economic development. Evidence presented in this paper suggests that socio-political cohesion was given primacy above potentially contentious physical growth patterns necessary for regional economic development, the result of an inability by institutions to grapple with troublesome issues.