Urban Street Design & Planning 73 A study on connectivity and accessibility between tram stops and public facilities: a case study in the historic cities of Europe Y. Kitao1 & K. Hirano2 1Kyoto Women’s University, Japan 2Kei Atelier, Yame, Fukuoka, Japan Abstract The purpose of this paper is to understand urban structures in terms of tram networks by using the examples of historic cities in Europe. We have incorporated the concept of interconnectivity and accessibility between public facilities and tram stops to examine how European cities, which have built world class public transportation systems, use the tram network in relationship to their public facilities. We selected western European tram-type cities which have a bus system, but no subway system, and we focused on 24 historic cities with populations from 100,000 to 200,000, which is the optimum size for a large-scale community. In order to analyze the relationship, we mapped the ‘pedestrian accessible area’ from any tram station in the city, and analyzed how many public facilities and pedestrian streets were in this area. As a result, we were able to compare the urban space structures of these cities in terms of the accessibility and connectivity between their tram stops and their public facilities. Thus we could understand the features which determined the relationship between urban space and urban facilities. This enabled us to evaluate which of our target cities was the most pedestrian orientated city. Finally, we were able to define five categories of tram-type cities. These findings have provided us with a means to recognize the urban space structure of a city, which will help us to improve city planning in Japan. Keywords: tram network, community, urban facilities, historical city. WIT Transactions on State of the Art in Science and Engineering, Vol 74, © 2013 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1755-8336 (on-line) doi:10.2495/978-1-84564-847-3/008 74 Urban Street Design & Planning 1 Introduction 1.1 The purpose and background The purpose of this paper is to understand urban structures in terms of tram networks by using the examples of historic cities in Europe. In order to achieve the concept of a ‘compact city’ as a sustainable society while maintaining the historical context of a city, the role of the tram network is important for the pedestrian activities of both citizens and tourists. The connections between the tram network and public facilities should be considered when we undertake city planning. We will introduce a city planning method which enables us to deal with urban facilities and a tram network as an integrated package, which we call the ‘package approach’. Recently, in order to create a pedestrian orientated urban space, the importance of this ‘package approach’ is increasing. As yet, we do not have enough experience and knowhow to perform overall city planning efficiently, but this approach to urban design can play a significant role in constructing/re-building a city. This paper shows how we could put together such a ‘package’ when developing city planning and transportation politics: e.g. what kinds of public facilities, such as pedestrian streets and social welfare facilities, should be closely associated with tram-stops? In Europe public transportation systems play a very important role in creating a sustainable society [1]. According to a discussion that took place at the IFOU Seminar, Prof. Jürgen Rosemann (TU-Delft) discussed what the next priority was after establishing a space of welfare, i.e. a liveable, comfortable, healthy and safe urban environment. (The theme of the seminar was ‘Traditional European Urbanism’, which took place at Department of Architecture, Delft University of Technology, the Netherlands in October 2007.) He said that ten cities in the world are considered to have the most ideal living environment and eight of them are European. There are three reasons why these ten cities are appreciated, 1) social integration, 2) a good environment, and 3) ease of mobility. There are many opportunities for architects to work towards making a sustainable society. Having established the welfare space, the role of architects and city planners should be to contribute to establishing a multicultural society in which social diversity will be accepted. In order to achieve ‘social integration’, the role of social housing is very important. To maintain a good environment, eco- orientated building technology will be more widely developed by architects and increased mobility within a city will give its citizens more freedom for urban activities. These three points are very important issues for creating a sustainable society. Our aim is to create a harmonious urban transportation system based on our observation of environmental issues and sustainable societies in Europe [2, 3]. An integrated tram system is of growing importance in achieving this goal. The ‘package approach’ in which city planners and architects are able to make a strategy for city planning, including the public transportation system, is a useful method for re-developing cities and urban facilities [4]. WIT Transactions on State of the Art in Science and Engineering, Vol 74, © 2013 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1755-8336 (on-line) Urban Street Design & Planning 75 Many specialists and engineers are drawing up plans for public transportation systems in Japan, learning from the rich experiences of European cities. In order to make public transportation plans for Japanese cities, we need to understand how the transportation system should be integrated into these cities. The urban structures of existing tram orientated cities can provide us with good examples. We will focus on tram-type cities which do not have a subway/underground, but in which tram and local bus systems are used, and we will also discuss the possibilities for the application of the ‘package approach’. 1.2 Previous studies in Japan The previous studies have been seen in the academic domain of transportation systems, city planning, environmental planning, geography, political science and urban landscaping [5, 6]. Among these academic domains several studies are close to our study. For example, Doi [7] showed the possibility of using Light Rail Transit (LRT) for enhancing commercial activities in the central area of a city. He explained the role of LRT in making a sustainable society. Nishimura and Hattori [8] applied politics to public transportation in Western countries, and he showed the role of the tram network in improving urban traffic issues. Matsunaka et al. [9, 10] examined several aspects of the social values of the tram system in Strasbourg (France) as a good example for re-building the tram network of a city. He analyzed several effects of the LRT system on commercial activity, the changed opinions of the citizens, and so on. He discussed the diversity of the social efficiency of the LRT system by using this experience. Most of the previous research projects have dealt with how a tram system can be useful and efficient in re-developing a city. There are no previous studies conducting comparative research on an urban structure in terms of its tram network. The unique feature of this study is the analyzing of the interrelationship between urban structure and urban facilities in terms of the tram network by using morphological analysis. This paper will contribute to decision making when constructing/re-constructing the tram network as a ‘package approach’. 2 The tram-type cities 2.1 Twenty-four tram-type cities in Europe In order to understand the relationship between the tram network and public facilities, we targeted tram-type cities in the 27 countries which form the European Union. We conducted research on previous studies, documents, books and the Internet [11–14]. In the 27 EU countries we found 191 cities with tram and subway/metro systems. Among these cities, there are 144 cities that do not have a subway/metro. From these 144 tram-type cities, we were able to extract 91 tram- type cities in west European countries (see Table 1). We found 45 tram type cities in Germany, and 15 in France. The names of the tram type cities in each country are listed in Table 1. WIT Transactions on State of the Art in Science and Engineering, Vol 74, © 2013 WIT Press www.witpress.com, ISSN 1755-8336 (on-line) 76 Urban Street Design & Planning We analyzed the population of these cities, and then we selected 31 cities from the 91 cities. These 31 cities have a population from a 100,000 to 200,000, because this population size is equivalent to the optimum size large area community [15] (see Table 1 and Figure 1). Table 1: The names of tram-type cities in West European countries (101 cities). Country City (91) Belgium (2), Oostende, Ghent, Portugal (3), Almada, Sintra, Margem Sul, Spain (5), Sevilla, Tenerife, Vèlez-Màlaga, Murcia, La Coruña, Austria (6), Innsbruck, Gmunden, Klagenfurt, Graz, Salzburg, Linz, Augsburg, Jena, Weinheim, Würzburg, Woltersdorf, Ulm, Erfurt, Oberhausen, Kassel, Kreferd, Chemnitz, Gera, Görlitz, Gotha, Cottbus, Saarbrücken, Schöneiche, Strausberg, Schwerin, Darmstadt, Zwickau, Germany (45) Dessau, Dresden, Naumburg, Neuss, Nordhausen, BadWildbad, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Halberstadt, Halle, Freiburg, Braunschweig, Bremen, Potsdam, Mainz, Magdeburg, Leipzig, Ludwigshafen, Rostock, Frankfurt am der oder , Brandenburg, Bielefeld, Bad Schandau, Plauen Valenciennes, Orlèans, Caen, Grenoble, Clermont-Ferrand, St-Etienne, Strasbourg, Nancy, Nantes, Nice, Bordeaux, Mulhouse, Montpellier, Le France (15) Mans, Tirano Italy (10) Cagliari, Sassari, Soprabolzano, Trieste, Padova, Bolzano, Malé, Messina, L’Aquila, Rimini, The Netherlands (3) Den Haag, Houten, Utrecht United Kingdom (7) Croydon, Sheffield, Douglas, Nottingham, Blackpool, Manchester, Winmbledon (Note) The number in ‘( )’ indicates the number of the cities in each country. 35 31 30 25 25 23 Number 20 of the Tram 15 Type Cities 10 n=91 5 4 5 1 1 1 00 0 0 0-100 100-199 200-299 300-399 400-499 500-599 600-699 700-799 800-899 900-999 1000- Population of the City (thousands) .