Civil Engineering October 2021 | Vol 29 No 9

Civil Engineering October 2021 15 Table 1 Working from home, implications for transport planning and urban form Theme Implications and recommendations Transport Changes in travel behaviour Commute travel distance and time reduced, with fewer linked trips. Driving distances to access services will reduce since local services may be closer to home, hence reduced peak period traffic. Walking and cycling over short distances to local services will increase. Impacts on location The cost advantage of working remotely could encourage relocation away from cities to areas with lower housing costs and taxes (Miller, 1986). A possible side-effect is that net Vehicle Miles Travel (VMT) could decrease due to less frequent trips to a place of work. Changes in modal choice Working from home implies fewer trips made by any mode previously used to commute. However, some trips now closer to home may shift to non-motorised modes such as a bicycle or walking, or mobility as a service. Sampath et al. (1991) argues that the resulting modal shift due to working from home has not been sufficiently researched. The impact is thought to be negligible. The provision of safe non-motorised transport infrastructure associated with the ‘last mile’ could also become mainstream transport planning practice. Congestion mitigation The reduction of traffic due to working from home in the aggregate will lead to a reduction in overall congestion, although the extent is extremely difficult to predict. Vehicle Miles Travel (VMT) and trip reductions VMT and total trips undertaken will reduce (Mokhtarian, 1991). Interactions with other demand management strategies Working from home has the ability to reduce overall transport system trips, particularly when it forms part of a wider package of Transport Demand Management Strategies (Mokhtarian, 1991). Energy Since commuting constitutes a major portion of daily vehicle travel, any increase in the level of working from home could produce savings in energy use (Sissine, 1990). Air quality The US General Accounting Office (1989) states that working from home will have a relatively limited impact on air quality unless at significant levels. If working from home is widespread and reduces trips in morning and afternoon peak periods by around 20%, it may have a significant positive effect on air quality. Safety Working from home has the ability to reduce road traffic / transport accidents. However, according to the US National Safety Council (2021), there is a high level of uncertainty about the extent of safety improvements, since safety impacts can be highly sensitive to specific circumstances. Urban Form Urban density Density is not only a precondition for cost-effective public service and infrastructure provision, but also an influencing factor to achieve more resilient, healthy urban environments. In future, more pressure will be on cities to look at ways of reducing their contribution to climate change. One of the biggest contributors to CO 2 levels is transport. Reducing car dependency in cities and shifting to e-vehicles, together with the provision of basic services such as water, sanitation, electricity, housing, healthcare, and public transport, must be a priority going forward. Housing and building types One of the consequences of Covid-19 is reimagining the use of space. The study at home became the office at home and the park around the corner an escape from the monotonous home environment. Providing adequate public spaces and encouraging a mix of housing typologies in close proximity to public transport and public services will support working from home polices, thereby improving the resilience and sustainability of urban environments. Integrated city planning The last year has shown that integrating information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure into city planning policy has become very important. ICT must be woven into cities’ development plans in the same way as with the economy, engineering infrastructure, transport networks and access to basic services such as retail, schools, etc. ICT has become a pillar of resilience for cities and neighbourhoods and will support professions working from home. City-level, granular data Having future smart cities, harnessing the power of big data to respond to long-term sustainability, better evidence for decision-making and equity challenges, and empowering cities with more granular and regularly updated data streams will improve working from home conditions. Land use Land use conversions and/or retrofitting buildings and precincts will take place. A rethink of how land use requirements are applied will influence land use provision. Property owners are forced to look not only at horizontal land use mix, but also vertical land use mix to serve the needs of the area, especially in areas or buildings where most of the land use consists of offices. The need for large retail centres will reduce as e-commerce accelerates. The result is an increased need for warehousing and distribution centres.