On June 30th, from 12.30 to 2pm, Dr. Cecilia Silva will give an interactive lecture The accessibility dilemma – breaking the negative feedback loop. The lecture is tailored to TOD-IS-RUR project and ESRs interests and it explains accessibility as a general concept; focusing on the tension between regional and local accessibility; zooming in on rural environments and TOD.

Accessibility is widely recognised as an important dimension of quality of life. While in most context, policies have strived to improve accessibility levels with more efficient transportation systems and higher travel speed, many urban and rural environments developed in ways which jeopardise accessibility levels at the local scale (those less dependent from long distance mobility or motorised mode). It then becomes pressing to improve our understanding of local accessibility levels and how they are changing. In this lesson we will explore the meaning of accessibility and how it has evolved over time. We will look into the hypotheses of the negative feedback loop between local and regional accessibility levels, and we will discuss the importance of local accessibility in rural environments and how to attain it, exploring the particular role of TOD. The lesson will be highly interactive, holding individual and group activities, and discussions.