In addition to the usual business information needed to conduct a standard market analysis, the following are some of the information categories specific to transport and urban development that may be useful in analyzing needs and trends in the process of evaluating smart growth opportunities. Sources of sector information and data will vary from country to country and city to city. In general, sources of information on smart growth concepts and sustainable transport and urban development activities include universities, local and national government agencies, multilateral and bilateral institutions, non-governmental research and advocacy organizations.
The basic sector information and data that are needed for a smart growth transport and urban development market evaluation include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
- Economic, Demographic and Landuse
Data on economic growth trends, household income growth, urbanization/suburbanization rates, current and planned landuse and zoning regulations, and industrial growth may be available from national planning agencies, industry associations, census data, etc.
- Financial Data
Financial data includes costs for various transportation fuels and levels of taxation as well as costs for infrastructure construction and maintenance, and planning and enforcement. This data may be available from government ministries of transportation and energy, transport logistics and freight companies, planning agencies, construction firms, and studies funded by multilateral and bilateral agencies.
- Infrastructure Inventories
This category of information includes national and local level data on existing and future planned infrastructure (length of rail and road, airports, ports) according to number, length, intensity of use, and maintenance level of facilities. This data may be available from national ministries of transportation, local government inventories, and studies funded by the multilateral and bilateral agencies.
- Institutional Information
It is critical to understand the various institutions that affect transport planning and investment decisions. Institutional information gathering should help determine the institutional structures for transportation planning and investment decisionmaking at the appropriate level of government, i.e. local, regional, national and international, and in what ways these institutions do or do not work together.
- Travel Behavior Trends
Information on household demographics and the characteristics of the travel made by those households may be available from national census statistics, city planning studies and household surveys, the freight industry, and national and local transportation planning agencies.
- Vehicle Emissions and Energy Consumption Characteristics
Vehicle characteristics include emissions and energy consumption rates for different vehicle types as well as overall estimates of energy consumption and air quality impacts of transportation. This information is often available from government ministries of the environment and/or energy as well as from technical universities, retail fuel sales data, and multilateral or bilateral agencies.
- Vehicle Fleet Characteristics and Motorization Trends
Often data and information on vehicle fleet characteristics and motorization trends are obtainable from national and local level government ministries and departments of transportation. It may be augmented by statistics from vehicle inspection programs, data from agencies dealing with international trade and commerce, and industry retail sales statistics.
Smart Growth Internet Resources Available
The following are examples of Web sites that will likely include useful information on smart growth related seminars, projects, data and trends, technology markets, innovations, etc. Each site listed includes the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) which functions as the Internet address:
International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI)
Asia-Pacific Mayors Action Plan for Sustainable Development and Local Agenda 21
Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)
The Environmental Policy Center Global Cities and Sustainable Communities Initiative
The International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD)
The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development
The International Network of Green Planners (INGP)
The U.S. Department of Energy Center of Excellence for Sustainable Development
Innovative Transportation Technologies
Sustainable Urban Design and Climate
Prepared by the International Institute for Energy Conservation
(IIEC)
September 1999
Support for this document was provided by the Export Council for Energy Efficiency (ECEE) and the US Department of Energy (award DE-FC41-94R110679). This support does not constitute an endorsement by the US Department of Energy of the views expressed in the article.
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