The relationship between urban development and the environmental impact mobility: A local case study

The environmental implications of mobility and its relationship with land uses have been at the centre of recent scientific debate. The aim of this article is to establish whether different types of urban development are related to different mobility-to-work patterns and influence the environmental impact of the relevant journeys. The analysis is performed at local level considering the de-urbanisation process which took place in Biscay (Spain) between 1991 and 2001. When one works with cross-section geo-referenced data, space usually plays an important role as a source of externalities or spillover effects. Consequently, spatial econometrics methods have been applied. This has hardly ever been done in previous research. The results indicate that increases in the environmental impact of mobility are associated with low population densities and geographic concentrations and high residential specialisation (a low ratio of jobs to residents). Moreover, such increases are greater in locations surrounded by others which generate a higher environmental impact.