Urban spatial structure, daily mobility and energy consumption: a study of 34 European cities

In this article, we compare two databases, one providing mobility data (UITP database, 2001), and the other providing population density grid cells at 200m scale for 34 European cities. Looking towards sustainable urban forms, we assess explanatory power of socio-economic and morphological indicators, with respect to seven mobility indicators, including the energy consumption per inhabitant due to transport (base year 2001). We conclude that classical urban indicators (GDP per inhabitant, population density) and more precise morphological indicators (entropy, rank-size slope) are complementary towards such objectives.