Towards addressing transportation planning’s contradictions: The unified theory for transportation planning based on the capabilities approach

Authors: Matthias Sweet

Overview

This article proposes a unified theory for transportation planning based on the capabilities approach which helps reconcile three key contradictions with which transportation planning has not sufficiently grappled.

Study Purpose

The purpose of this study is to reconcile three internal contradictions in transportation planning which, if left unaddressed, leave it as a weaker version of itself.

Methods

Literature review

Key Findings

  • Shifting contemporary transportation planning toward the unified theory of transportation planning based on the capabilities approach is possible.
  • Professional practices change over time and the need for transportation planning to continuously reinvent itself is not an indictment of the present or past, but rather an acknowledgment that the world continuously changes and that transportation planners can enhance their role over time in shaping future cities.

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