SCUOLA DI DOTTORATO UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO-BICOCCA Dipartimento di / Department of Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale Dottorato di Ricerca in / PhD program Urbeur-Qua.Si (CITTA' E SOCIETA' DELL'INFORMAZIONE) Ciclo / Cycle XXX Accessibility as urbanity measurement method in a metropolitan framework. A socio-territorial analysis of the metropolitan cities of Milan and Lyon Cognome / Surname Caiello Nome / Name Simone Matricola / Registration number 723953 Tutore / Tutor: Prof. Matteo Colleoni (Università degli Studi di Milano-Bicocca) Coordinatore / Coordinator: Prof.ssa Lavinia Bifulco ANNO ACCADEMICO / ACADEMIC YEAR 2016/2017 SCUOLA DI DOTTORATO UNIVERSITÀ DEGLI STUDI DI MILANO-BICOCCA Summary List of figures .................................................................................................................................................... 7 List of tables ................................................................................................................................................... 10 List of graphs.................................................................................................................................................. 11 Introduction.................................................................................................................................................... 17 Chapter 1 ........................................................................................................................................................ 21 The Urban Question: a quest for the city ..................................................................................................... 21 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 21 1.1 The Urban Question ........................................................................................................................ 23 1.1.1 The origins ............................................................................................................................... 23 1.1.2 The New Urban Sociology ...................................................................................................... 26 1.2 From the city as an object to the city as a process ........................................................................ 28 1.2.1 The Lefebvre’s legacy ............................................................................................................. 28 1.2.2 The scalar nature of urbanization ............................................................................................. 29 1.3 Brenner and Schmid contributes to the Urban Question debate ................................................. 31 1.3.1 The critique to the Urban Age rhetoric .................................................................................... 31 1.3.2 City as a multiscalar process .................................................................................................... 33 1.3.3 The secondary role of the space ............................................................................................... 35 1.3.4 Empirical stuck and implications of planetary urbanization .................................................... 37 1.4 A pragmatic solution to the question: the contributes of the Los Angeles School ...................... 38 1.5 A bridge between two positions: the capability approach as a framework through which detect urbanity ...................................................................................................................................................... 41 Chapter 2 ........................................................................................................................................................ 45 Accessibility as a measure of capabilities in the urban realm .................................................................... 45 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 45 2.1 Amartya Sen’s Capability Approach ............................................................................................. 46 2.1.1 A critique to utilitarianism ....................................................................................................... 46 2.1.2 Functionings and Capabilities .................................................................................................. 47 2.1.3 Opportunities’ conversion factors ............................................................................................ 48 2.2 Urban capabilities ........................................................................................................................... 48 2.2.1 Accessibility as a measure of capabilities in the urban realm? ................................................ 49 2.3 From the Capability Approach to the Motility concept ............................................................... 51 2.3.1 Low mobility as social exclusion? ........................................................................................... 53 2.4 Proximity as an important component of accessibility ................................................................. 54 2.4.1 Accessibility in urban sprawl literature.................................................................................... 57 2.4.2 Pedestrian accessibility as a key for the detection urbanity ..................................................... 59 Chapter 3 ........................................................................................................................................................ 63 Walkability and pedestrian accessibility ...................................................................................................... 63 Introduction ................................................................................................................................................ 63 3 3.1 The rise of a research object ........................................................................................................... 65 3.2 The suburbanization: origins and characteristics ........................................................................ 65 3.2.1 Urban Sprawl and car-dependent society ................................................................................. 67 3.2.2 The mobility trends in Italy ..................................................................................................... 68 3.3 Walkability and active mobility as strategies to change current trends? ................................... 71 3.3.1 The need to rethink the role of public space ............................................................................ 71 3.3.2 Built Environment as a contributor of mobility behaviours patterns ....................................... 71 3.3.3 Individual characteristics and beliefs and Travel Behaviour.................................................... 73 3.4 Institutionalization of the active travel behaviours discourse ...................................................... 75 3.4.1 New Urbanism ......................................................................................................................... 76 3.4.2 Smart Growth .......................................................................................................................... 78 3.4.3 Transit-Oriented Development ................................................................................................ 79 3.4.4 Pedestrian plans ....................................................................................................................... 79 3.5 Built environment as an important contributor to climate change ............................................. 84 3.5.1 Transportation-related pollution .............................................................................................. 85 3.5.2 Transport demand in EU .......................................................................................................... 86 3.5.3 Contrast policies ...................................................................................................................... 86 3.6 Health impact of land use patterns ................................................................................................ 88 3.6.1 Direct effects............................................................................................................................ 88 3.6.2 Indirect effects ......................................................................................................................... 89 3.6.3 Active living ............................................................................................................................ 90 3.6.4 Safe spaces ............................................................................................................................... 91 3.7 Social impact of walkability: empowering social relations? ........................................................ 92 3.8 Economic value of walkability ........................................................................................................ 96 3.9 Walkability assessment services ..................................................................................................... 98 Conclusions ..............................................................................................................................................