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This article surveys the results of research carried out in the Nordic countries on the influence of various aspects of urban form and settlement patterns on travel behavior and discusses these results in the view of studies carried out in other European, American, Australian, and Asian countries. There is overwhelming evidence that urban spatial structures matter to travel behavior. However, whereas much of the research in America and parts of Europe has focused on the influences of local neighborhood characteristics on travel, the Nordic research shows effects on travel behavior mainly from urban form characteristics at a higher geographical scale: the overall population density within continuous urban areas and the locations of residences and workplaces relative to the city-level or metropolitan center structure.

Sum m ary. A study of six com panies in G reater O slo indicates that both the m odal split and the energy use for journeys to w ork are to a high exten t in¯uenced by the geograp hical location of the work place. Em ployees of work places in perip heral, low -density parts of the urban area are far m ore freq uent car drivers and use con siderab ly m ore energy for journeys to work than em ployees of workplaces located in central, high-density areas. A study of long-term con sequences of w ork place relocati ons within the urban area shows that the im m ediate increase in average com m uting distan ce of a work place m ovin g to the urban frin ge, has not been reverse d by subsequent turnover and resid ential changes am ong the em ployees.Petter Nñ ss and Synnù ve Lyssand Sandberg are at the

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