Sustainable urban development and mobility. The role of spatial heterogeneity in sustainable trip patterns

Abstract This paper evaluates how differences in the conditions of sustainable urban development achieved by different sectors in the metropolitan region of Santiago de Chile are generators of spatial heterogeneity and how this heterogeneity in space affects travel patterns in sustainable modes. For it, the state of progress in urban sustainability is measured in terms of urban sustainability indicators and accessibility to basic urban facilities, identifies the main shortcomings in terms of basic urban facilities that affect the use of sustainable modes of travel and shows which of the city communes require more significant interventions in terms of infrastructure and urban facilities. A geographically weighted regression (GWR) model is estimated to measure and determine how spatial heterogeneity impacts trips in sustainable modes. The results show remarkable differences in sustainable urban development and access to urban facilities between the more affluent and the less favoured sectors. The GWR parameters suggest that the different levels of urban facilities available in each area are the primary source of spatial heterogeneity and are a critical factor in the number of trips made by active modes and public transport.