The evolving regional transport planning: the case of Piedmont region

Abstract

An overview of the four Regional Transport Plans (RTPs) laid out in Piedmont since the late 1970s is presented. Three different although interwoven perspectives of analysis are proposed. The first perspective, denoted as functional, takes into account the principal functions of transport planning and outlines their changes across the regional plans. The second, labelled as organizational, adopts a system based view of transport planning and shows how, over time, the organization of the activities has become progressively more complex. The third perspective, called knowledge based, highlights some salient features of the approaches which have been applied during the forty years of the regional planning activities. The knowledge based perspective, in particular, allows us to appreciate Sergio Cristoforo Bertuglia’s contributions to the investigation of the Piedmont transport system and to the development of effective modelling tools to support policy activities. A claim is made that these arguments are particularly relevant for the so-called reflexive dimension of transport planning which cuts across the other two main dimensions, the theoretical and procedural. Developing the reflexive dimension, in fact, is a major challenge in today planning efforts oriented at sustainability.

Keywords

• regional transport planning
• planning dimensions
• mobility changes
• land-use transport models