Urban density in sustainable and liveable towns ( liveability )

Abstract

The ability to determine the upper bound of urban density is vital in the urban planning process as it helps the planner to ensure that the plans are deemed to be liveable. An efficient public transportation system is needed to reduce congestion on the roads. As air quality and crowdedness can affect public perception on whether the public transport systems are operating at an acceptable level of service, it is important that ways to determine the acceptable population level are developed. There is a gap in the study of methods to determine the upper bound of urban density in relation to public transportation. Hence, the objective of this report is to develop methods of determining the maximum population allowable based on air quality and crowdedness. There are four general components in the process of determining the upper bound of urban density; data collection, data processing, applying methodology and obtaining the final result. Methods to determine the upper bound of urban density were developed for each of the factors, namely air quality and crowdedness. The resulting values from the application of each method will then be compared and the lowest of which will be upper bound of the urban density of the study area. This study concluded that while the methodology can function as a means for urban planners to determine the upper bound of urban density, it will require a larger base of historical data for greater accuracy of the results. In addition, periodic surveys and observation studies should be conducted to ensure the realism of the results.