measures and their objectives is compromised. (European Conference of Ministers of Transport,
2001 op. cit. Geerlings and Stead, 2003)
As a consequence, every action, every, decision made in the transportation area has to have a
cross impact somewhere in the society.
As a matter of fact, the feeling of the cross impact between transportation policies and other
areas are so important that they are being more and more discussed. At a European level for
instance, there are more and more projects on field to study this plurality between transportation
policies and others.
The “Civilising Cites” initiative for instance, aims to demonstrate practical examples of the
contribution that the transport sector can make to significantly improve the quality of life in urban
areas in conjunction with other sectors (Jones, Lucas and Whittles 2003)
Other important studies in this area besides Civilising Cities are ARTISTS (arterial streets
towards sustainability), DANTE (designs against the need to travel in Europe), ECMT/OECD
(implementing strategies for sustainable urban travel), ECOCITY (urban development towards
appropriate structures for sustainable transport), EST (environmentally sustainable transport),
POSSUM (policy scenarios for sustainable mobility), PROPOLIS (planning and research for land
use and transport for increasing urban sustainability), PROSPECTS (procedures for
recommending optimal sustainable planning of european city transport systems), among others.
As shown throughout this paper, the transport system has a major role in society. All these
projects report to a group of measures where very often the transportation policies assume the
lead role or at least a supporting role.
The truth is that with increased economic and social relationships, the demand for more mobility
will lead to a congestion increase if nothing is done to integrate these different components, and
with a more environmental awareness, people demand a more and more sustainable mobility,
putting pressure to the decision-maker.
But it is not only welfare that depends on a sustainable transportation police. The importance of a
region and her capacity to be a reference in a regional context depends on its transport
infrastructures.
All regions have one or more cities that act as major reference nodes. Usually it is in these nodal-
cites that the largest investments in transport infra-structures are made. The reason besides the
social welfare is to ensure the competitivity of that centre. To ensure access to that centre
activities, economy, culture.
The Portuguese Metropolitan areas are illustrative: Lisbon and Oporto are very strong in their
region. All are served with radial (and circular) transport infrastructures that ensure access to
those centres. (PoKticas Urbanas. Tendências, Estratégias e Oportunidades, 2003)
If we consider Leiria an emerging municipality, with a strategic importance in a regional context, it
is interesting to verify that its recent growth is coincident with the implementation of a strong
transport infra-structures like the A1 and A8 freeways which ensure a fast access to Aveiro,
Lisbon and Oporto. These infrastructures grant the possibility of Leiria to be linked to the most
important metropolitan centres of Portugal. In this case, transport infra-structures not only
answered to the normal growth of the urban area but also had a determinant part in its affirmation
as an important urban centre.
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