This book brings together conceptual and empirical insights to explore the interconnections between social networks based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and travel behaviour in urban environments. Over the past decade, rapid development of ICT has led to extensive social impacts and influence on travel and mobility patterns within urban spaces. A new field of research of digital social networks and travel behaviour is now emerging. This book presents state-of-the-art knowledge, cutting-edge research and integrated analysis methods from the fields of social networks, travel behaviour and urban analysis. It explores the challenges related to the question of how we can synchronize among social networks activities, transport means, intelligent communication/information technologies and the urban form. This innovative book encourages multidisciplinary insights and fusion among three disciplines of social networks, travel behaviour and urban analysis. It offers new horizons for research and will be of interest to students and scholars studying mobilities, transport studies, urban geography, urban planning, the built environment and urban policy.

This book brings together conceptual and empirical insights to explore the interconnections between social networks based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and travel behaviour in urban environments. Over the past decade, rapid development of ICT has led to extensive social impacts and influence on travel and mobility patterns within urban spaces. A new field of research of digital social networks and travel behaviour is now emerging. This book presents state-of-the-art knowledge, cutting-edge research and integrated analysis methods from the fields of social networks, travel behaviour and urban analysis. It explores the challenges related to the question of how we can synchronize among social networks activities, transport means, intelligent communication/information technologies and the urban form. This innovative book encourages multidisciplinary insights and fusion among three disciplines of social networks, travel behaviour and urban analysis. It offers new horizons for research and will be of interest to students and scholars studying mobilities, transport studies, urban geography, urban planning, the built environment and urban policy.

In aiming to understand and model peoples’ out-of-home movements, the academic field of transport planning is confronted with two major challenges. Firstly, leisure travel is increasing in importance and is more complex and variable than work-related travel, being less rigid in temporal and spatial patterns and more influenced by external factors such as social contacts or weather conditions. Secondly, traditional aggregated transport models do not include any information on peoples’ social interactions or their personal social networks. In contrast, the recent development and availability of disaggregated models allows more detailed modelling of elements such as individual characteristics, motivations, constraints and travel costs, as well as a consideration of influences from an actor’s social environment. People travel not only within an infrastructure but also within a social structure. These two main factors have driven transport planners to focus on peoples’ interaction and their social network. In recent years there have been a remarkable number of data collection efforts in the field, surveying information on the link between travel behaviour and social motivation. Providing an overview of selected exemplary studies, this volume addresses the overlap between transport planning and methods of social network analysis; applied methods of social network analysis and related empirical results; and current challenges and new research questions in this field.

"The past decade has gone through rapid ICT developments, which had wide societal impacts. ICT enhanced the shift from social groups defined by location to individually-based social networks. High-speed telecoms allow for ad-hoc personalised networks that affect travel behaviour. Unfortunately, research has lagged behind ICT advances, as our understanding of current travel behaviour is limited and existing urban mobility solutions cater to population behaviour that no longer exists. The transport demand models used today are based on inadequate understanding of the new social structure. A new transport paradigm is needed for the ultra-urbanized smart city. This Action aims to initiate a new collaboration framework for the various EU research groups that develops a new transport paradigm based upon ICT social networks and their subsequent travel behavior in the urban environment. The goals are to explore ways in which social activities become mobilised in space, identify how social ties affect the integration of local public transport into urban patterns, and develop a rigorous conceptual framework for new ideas and methodologies. This work will be achieved by creating a joint discussions platform that includes seminars, thematic working groups, discussion sessions, workshops and publishing scientific results"--back cover.

The aim of this book is to provide an overview of the concepts and methods used in fractal analysis and modeling in order to study the spatial distribution of human settlements. The main concepts and mathematical tools are reviewed, and emphasis is placed on the practical benefits of their application and the pitfalls to be avoided when using them. The first part of the book is devoted to the basic concepts and geometric reference figures required for fractal analysis in human geography. In the second part, the principles of four major families of analysis methods are explained in detail: fractal analyses of point sequences, fractal methods for morphological delineation of urban agglomerations, multifractal analyses and cross scale signatures. The third part of the book is devoted to applications of fractal geometry in urban and regional planning.