Analyzing the Impact of Service Accessibility Enhancement on Urban Energy Efficiency Based on GIS Network Analysis

Cities are a focal point of energy consumption. Accessibility to public services has a significant impact on the balance of public and private energy uses, which are two sectors that are directly affected by urban planning (the third is industrial). This paper establishes the relative magnitudes of service accessibility enhancement on urban energy efficiency in comparison to other factors, and also points out the interrelationships between the two in the context of the cities and services. The main part of this paper assesses the energy trends, with a particular reference to the effect of service accessibility, and presents strategic findings. It seeks for continued research and development, particularly in the field of modelling the public service accessibility as a function of planning. In fact energy system change is the key for addressing and resolving these challenges. Transformative change in the energy system may not be internally generated; due to institutional inertia, incumbency and lack of capacity and agility of existing organizations to respond effectively in changing conditions. In such situations, clear and consistent external policy signals may be required to initiate and sustain the transformative change needed to meet the sustainability challenges of the 21st century. As one of the most important energy end-users, especially in developing countries, transportation consumes approximately 30 percent of the whole energy productions in the world. One important part of transportation is urban transport system in order to make accessibility to products and services which is one of the main factors of energy consumption and climate changes. Therefore analyzing the tools and policies through enhancing the accessibility and modeling a more optimized access system are the main aims of this research. The case of the research is a new town located within 70 km far from Tehran (the capital of Iran). Considering the population horizon for this city and a high dependency on private vehicles, it is an important concern to optimize the energy consumption in service accessibility. This also provides a basis for a more viable and more attractive urban settlement.