Transit and the Polycentric City

Federal Transit Administration 50th Anniversaryhttps://doi.org/10.21949/15274281981PDFTech ReportSchneider, Jerry B.University of Washington. Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringUnited States. Urban Mass Transportation AdministrationSeattle (Washington);United StatesCitiesEvaluationLand use planningRegional planningPlanning and ForecastingPublic TransportationDOT-I-81-33The role of transit in aiding the implementation of regional land use plans that call for the creation of major diversified centers in the outer city is investigated. The polycentric city concept is defined and illustrated by reference to regional planning work in the Twin Cities of Minnesota and several other U.S. cities. Arguments for and against the concept are outlined and the results of a survey relating to the present status of the concept in 48 metropolitan areas are presented. An evaluation framework is developed and applied in visits to 14 American, two Canadian, and one English urban region. The most interesting work on this topic was found in Vancouver, B.C., and Toronto, Ontario. Other interesting work has been done in the Twin Cities and Denver. The results of the field work are summarized and 18 specific examples of noteworthy progress toward the development of outer city centers of significant scale are described. A discussion of the national potential for outer city centers is developed from several perspectives.138