Light rail transit and residential density in mid-size cities / David Flannery [and 5 others].

Includes bibliographical references (pages 66-72).

This background paper contributes to a commencement of that process and focuses on the factor of population density adjacent to the light rail corridor with an examination of the changes in density due to light rail in cities comparative to Canberra. To answer this, it identifies and discusses the following: 1. information on population density of light rail systems in mid-size cities (cities with populations smaller than 500,000 and thus of a size comparable to Canberra); 2. the original density prior to light rail and post light rail in the walkable corridor around the light rail and the nature of the planning policies along the corridor; 3. some comparisons to Canberra and the potential impacts of Canberra’s proposed light rail; 4. reports on the current density condition within the Northbourne corridor prior to commencement of the light rail in Canberra; 5. a preliminary methodology that will enable a longitudinal study of land use changes in the Canberra light rail corridor. The cities chosen for a closer examination here are Adelaide (South Australia), Edmonton (Canada), Bergen (Norway), and Freiburg (Germany). This study establishes a walkable corridor of 1.5km either side of the light rail. Analysis has also been undertaken to compare this wide corridor with a smaller 400 metres either side of the light rail.