Regional Urbanisation through Accessibility?—The “Zweite Stammstrecke” Express Rail Project in Munich

Abstract

Transport accessibility is one of the most significant locational factors for both households and firms, and thus a potentially self-reinforcing driver of urban development. The spatial structure and dynamics of accessibility hence have the potential to alter the locational choices of households and firms significantly, leading to concentration and de-concentration processes. In spite of recent innovations in automotive technologies, public transport systems remain crucial for the functioning of metropolises. In this paper, we use the case of public transport in the Munich Metropolitan Region (MMR) in Germany to (1) discuss whether public transport in the past has contributed to regional urbanisation, the blurring of urban and suburban spaces; (2) model future accessibility changes due to the ongoing mega-infrastructure project “second trunk line” (“Zweite Stammstrecke”) for suburban trains and their likely effects on processes of regional development; (3) compare the balance of accessibility and functional density at stations in the MMR and (4) recommend a planning strategy based on an integrated urban and transport planning philosophy. We argue that particularly the monocentric design of the project means that it will intensify and extend the scope of suburbanisation and metropolisation, while planning should aim for a greater regionalisation of economic activity.

Metropolisation through Regionalisation? Spatial Scope and Anchor Points of Metropolitan Functions in German Urban Regions

“…Through the functional, cultural and institutional integration of these cities, the surrounding area gains in functions and forms the basis for metropolisation beyond the core city into the surrounding area. While cities might be obvious anchor points for polycentric regional development around metropolises (Lüthi et al 2010;Meijers et al 2016;Volgmann & Münter 2018;Wagner & Growe 2020), other 'new centres' (Kane et al 2018;Krehl 2018) -such as so-called 'edge cities' (Garreau 1992;Bontje & Burdack 2005) or airport locations (Growe 2012;Wenner et al 2020) -can be drivers of regionalisation. Agglomeration economies are no longer confined to core cities, and different places can 'borrow size' in order to access greater benefits, as the necessary resources operating at the urban region scale become available to them (Alonso 1973;Phelps et al 2001).…”

“…2018; Krehl 2018) – such as so‐called ‘edge cities’ (Garreau 1992; Bontje & Burdack 2005) or airport locations (Growe 2012; Wenner et al . 2020) – can be drivers of regionalisation. Agglomeration economies are no longer confined to core cities, and different places can ‘borrow size’ in order to access greater benefits, as the necessary resources operating at the urban region scale become available to them (Alonso 1973; Burger & Meijers 2016; Phelps et al .…”

Population mobility and sustainable development in the Mamminasata Metropolitan South Sulawesi, Indonesia

“…Segmentation of people's mobility tends to vary but is usually associated with attitudes toward modes of transportation and level of mobility (Jing et al, 2018). The cost has a significant effect on short-distance travel modes, and waiting time is considered the most crucial factor in the short-range scenario, and the transfer time is regarded as the most significant in the medium-and long-distance scenarios (Wenner et al, 2020). Furthermore, traffic congestion is becoming increasingly severe, which is unavoidable because traffic demand exceeds traffic supply and has become a critical problem that must be immediately resolved in most major cities of the world (Wen et al, 2019).…”

Land Use Change, Spatial Interaction, and Sustainable Development in the Metropolitan Urban Areas, South Sulawesi Province, Indonesia

“…Furthermore, the interaction between the two places is influenced by the amount of social activity and production produced by the community in the two places, the distance between the two places, and the magnitude of the effect of the distance on the two places. The authors of [42] stated that transportation accessibility is one of the most significant location factors for households and companies, and as such is a potential driver of urban development that has the potential to strengthen itself. Furthermore, accessibility is a measure of the convenience or ease of location and land use that interact with each other, and the ease or difficulty of the location is achieved through transportation [43].…”