Transport and the design of new settlements

The form, size and structure of settlements have always been closely linked to transportation. There have been three stages of change and expansion, the pre-industrial era, the Industrial Revolution of the eighteenth/nineteenth century and the transport revolution of the twentieth century. We are rapidly approaching a crisis point that will require major alterations in social outlook, working practices and travel. The thesis proposes to consider whether the revolution in information technology will act as the catalyst for the commencement of a new era in the twenty-first century? The thesis will be developed by: considering how new settlements have been developed in history particularly with relation to transport; exploring how developments in vehicle technology, the rule of market forces and Government policy have created the transport crisis; investigating if the individual benefits of personalized transport are outweighed by the externalities that they create; alternative technological and planning solutions to be examined. This thesis that teleworking can solve transport problems is examined in some detail and its potential for overcoming the transport problem is shown to be limited within the context of current employment and social patterns.