Planning and Human Geography Seminar 30 August: Associate Professor Dominic Stead

Automation, Access and Active Travel

Abstract

Self-driving vehicles offer new opportunities for door-to-door travel for a wider range of the population than the present, particularly for people without a driving licence like children. The future operating conditions for self-driving vehicles in cities, such as where (and when) they are allowed to travel and how they are connected to other transport modes, will influence their overall attractiveness and adoption. These same conditions will also be crucial in influencing the rate of active travel in cities. This presentation considers the links between the access arrangements for self-driving vehicles and active travel, and highlights the importance of managing vehicle access in cities in order to create non-motorized urban environments that promote active travel choices.

Speaker

Dominic Stead is associate professor of urban and regional planning in the Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment at Delft University of Technology. He began his academic career as researcher at the University of the West of England. From 1996 to 2001, he was research fellow at University College London in the Bartlett School of Planning and associate lecturer at the University of the West of England. He moved to Delft University of Technology in 2001, initially as a postdoctoral researcher supported by a Marie Curie Fellowship, a European postdoctoral research training grant for young talented academics. He belongs to the OTB Research and Spatial Planning and Strategy groups. Since moving to Delft, Dominic has been principal investigator for more than 10 large European research projects on issues related to urban development, governance and sustainability.

Dominic has a strong interdisciplinary background: a doctorate in Planning Studies, a master's degree in Town and Country Planning and a master's degree in Environmental Science. His research and teaching focus on processes of policy-making and the impacts of policies, particularly in relation to urban transport and spatial planning. He has recently been involved in projects funded by ESPON, European Framework Programmes, JPI Urban Europe and the United Nations. He has broad experience in teaching, both at undergraduate and postgraduate level, including courses on urban and regional planning, urban environmental management and transport planning.

Dominic has published widely in books and international journals and has co-edited five books: 'European Transport Policy and Sustainable Development' (2000, Spon), 'Policy Integration in Practice' (2004, Delft University Press), 'Transition towards Sustainable Mobility' (2012, Ashgate), 'Impacts of European Territorial Policies in the Baltic States' (2015, Routledge) and 'Planning Cultures and Histories' (2017, Routledge). He is European editor of the international peer-reviewed journal Planning Practice and Research, as well as being a member of four editorial boards of highly esteemed international peer-reviewed journals: European Journal of Transport and Infrastructure Research, European Planning Studies, Journal of Planning Education and Research, and Planning Practice and Research.