Abstract

The study presented within this dissertation involves the analysis of the relationship between urban spatial structure and travel patterns in the largest Russian cities. It is an empirical investigation of how the spatial structure, formed during the Soviet and post-Soviet periods, affects the travel patterns in the largest cities of contemporary Russia. It aims to determine what measures, both urban structure and transportation related, are suitable for such urban form to introduce most sustainable mobility patterns. The dissertation examines in detail how urban form and travel are interlinked, and how mobility patterns are created through many factors, not the last of which is the built environment. It provides a review of theoretical model of interaction between urban form and travel patterns followed by the empirical analysis of the link between urban spatial structure and travel patterns performed on a sample of the 13 largest Russian cities. The result of the GIS-based spatial analysis of the Russian cities‘ urban morphology comes in the form of quantitative dataset of various urban form characteristics, which are further used for the exploration of the interrelation between them and travel patterns in the largest Russian cities. Building on the findings regarding travel and urban form relationship in the largest Russian cities, the dissertation proposes both general directions for the development of cities with Soviet past and particular recommendations for the largest Russian cities, taking into account the current mobility situation, the specificities of their urban structure and the influence it has on the travel patterns.

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