Past, present and future of Transit-Oriented Development in three European capital city regions (original) (raw)

The concept of Transit-Oriented Development—development near, and/or oriented to, mass transit facilities—has generated much interest in Europe over the last decade. Coined in the United States in the 1990s, the term " TOD " is frequently assumed to be a recent American import and a reaction to the consequences of mass motorization and sprawl. However, TOD is based on much older ideas of rail-based urban development that took place inmany European cities during the 19th and 20th centuries. Arguably, the modern reincarnation of TOD is more focused on urban aesthetics. Other tenets, such as accessibility, density, and mixed-use, have remained more or less unchanged. This article examines how planning policies in three European capital city-regions— Amsterdam, Stockholm, and Vienna—have been shaped by the ideas and principles underlying TOD.