Transportation and the Shape of Cities

A practical framework for urban transportation design

Transportation in cities has one undeniable limitation: space. Each mode of urban transportation has inherent geometric properties that no amount of policy or design can change.

In Transportation and the Shape of Cities, transportation experts Christof Spieler, David Copeland Loredo, and Mandi Chapa take a comprehensive look at the five major modes of US transportation—pedestrian, micromobility (including the bicycle), car, train, and transit. For each, they consider the theory and discuss its geometry, how it works as a network, its role in the transportation system, and how it fits into urban design.

Transportation matters because it shapes all of our lives. We can make transportation networks better through thoughtful design, informed policy, and inclusive conversations. Transportation and the Shape of Cities is designed to help professionals to do that in whatever role they are in.