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This book chapter is from Imagining the future city : London 2062: London is one of the world's leading cities. It is home to an extraordinary concentration and diversity of people, industries, politics, religions and ideas, and plays an important role in our highly globalised and tightly networked modern world.What does the future hold for London? Investigating any aspect of the city's future reveals a complex picture of interrelations and dependencies. The London 2062 Programme from University College London brings a new, cross-disciplinary and highly collaborative approach to investigating this complexity. The programme crosses departmental boundaries within the university, and promotes active collaboration between leading academics and those who shape London through policy and practice.This book approaches the question of London's future by considering the city in terms of Connections, Things, Power and Dreams.

Over the last fifty years there has been much interest in cities – in their planning, design, degradation and regeneration – and in the last ten years, in particular, much discussion around sustainability, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Within this, there are aspirations towards sustainable travel. Progress however appears intractably difficult to make in the transport sector as the private car, largely fuelled by petrol or diesel, remains the mainstream mode of use and choice. In almost all cities we are experiencing increasing emissions in transport, the city fabric is often adversely impacted by planning for the private car, and many people complain of the daily grind of the commute as the worst part of their daily lives. Our travel behaviours are in crisis. This paper considers the different baselines, projections and opportunities for five very different contexts: from London and Oxfordshire (UK), Delhi (India), Jinan (China) and Auckland (New Zealand). The likely possibilities for reducing transport CO2 emissions are examined relative to the aspirations of the IPCC (2007) and Stern (2007, 2009). The IPCC's central scenario (A1F1), assuming high economic growth and increased globalisation, estimates resultant world temperature increases of 4°C-6.4°C and expected sea level rises of up to 59cm, with hugely variable impacts globally. A central issue, therefore, is in the gap between the current business as usual (BAU) projections and the strategic policy ambitions to reduce the likely impacts of climate change. Scenarios are developed, assuming an equitable 0.5 tCO2 per capita in transport CO2 emissions, for each case study by 2050. The political deliverability of low carbon transport futures, however, remain a major obstacle to progress (Hood, 1986; Freund and Martin, 1993; Dunn and Perl, 2010). The growing body of scenario analysis and modelling of impacts by policy tool or package of tools is useful, but in the end redundant, if political deliverability is not possible. ...

Transport is making a very limited contribution to carbon emissions reduction targets in the UK and this paper argues the case for a substantial shift in thinking away from the concentration on technological alternatives to a revised approach that combines technological efficiency with behavioural change. The paper presents a critique of the UK approach to energy and transport, commenting on the limited approach and measures used and their effectiveness. The necessary policy measures are available, but at present there is not sufficient political and public support for wide-ranging, effective action. Technology on its own will not be enough. This message is then reinforced with a more local perspective in London where considerable efforts are being made to make London a sustainable city, but even here where opportunities are present, it is the growth in travel and in particular in aviation, that makes transport-based targets very difficult to achieve.

Transport is a major user of carbon-based fuels, and achievement of the targets set at the Kyoto Protocol and elsewhere mean that the EU and national governments must reduce CO2 emissions in all sectors, including transport. This will be a difficult task and will require action on many fronts. This paper reports on two recently completed studies considering these issues – for the UK Department for Transport and the Scottish Executive. The core analysis considers the options available to meet a 60% CO2 reduction target by 2030 in the transport sector at the UK level and, using an innovative backcasting study approach, develops a business as usual (BAU) baseline for transport emissions, and alternative scenarios to 2030. Different policy measures are assessed and assembled into mutually supporting combinations. These are grouped into policy packages to establish whether the challenging 60% CO2 reduction target can be reached and when the key actions need to be taken. The distinct role that can be played in Scotland is also reviewed, considering the likely policy options available, using "new" policy measures or a "more intensive" application of existing policy measures. Although 2030 seems a long way ahead, action must be taken now in Scotland if the targets for CO2 reduction are to be met. The opportunity is there to develop a niche as a market leader in carbon efficient transport. Combining this with behavioural change, aimed at holding car-based travel at or near to present levels, will help Scotland move towards even the more stringent carbon reduction targets. A major transformation in the way transport and urban planning is carried out is however required. As transport, urban planners and the public we need to think very differently in tackling the new environmental imperative.

The use of public transport is critical for Visually Impaired People (VIP) to be independent and have access to out-of-home activities. Despite government policies promoting accessible transport for everyone, the needs of VIP are not well addressed, and journeys can be very difficult to negotiate. Journey requirements can often differ from those of other categories of people on the disability spectrum. Therefore, the aim of this research is to evaluate the journey experience of VIP using public transport. Semi-structured interviews conducted in London are used. The results show that limited access to information, inconsistencies in infrastructure and poor availability of staff assistance are the major concerns. Concessionary travel, on the other hand, encourages VIP to make more trips and hence has a positive effect on well-being. The findings suggest that more specific policies should be introduced to cater to the special needs of particular disabilities rather than generalising the types of aids available. It is also concluded that the journey experience of VIP is closely related to an individual's independence and hence inclusion in society.

In October, 1985, discussions were held in Santiago in regard to the possibility of organizing a minerals industry conference in Chile in November, 1986, under the auspices of the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy and in association with other bodies and organizations. I, in turn, was asked to chair the Organizing Committee and at our first meeting in London in November, 1985, we realized how little time we had if we were to meet the date proposed. In the event, thanks to considerable support from the Organizing Committee and others, coupled with the very good response from authors, we were able to put together a programme on a variety of topics, with some particular emphasis on operations in South America, and with special reference to Chile, that we regard as attractive. This is the first conference to have been organized by the Institution of Mining and Metallurgy in Chile, but it is intended that it should initiate a series to be held in Latin American countries. Chile has a long and healthy mining tradition and it is fitting, therefore, that it should have been chosen for the first such conference.