Life Cycle Assessment of residential streets from the perspective of favoring the human scale and reducing motorized traffic flow. From cradle to handover approach

Abstract

Currently, few studies have compared the variations in environmental impact throughout the different stages of the life cycle of urban construction elements; and of these, only a minority approach it from the perspective of favoring mobility on a human scale and reducing the space allocated to motorized traffic flow.This study, by means of quantitative data, shows the environmental implications associated with prioritizing the non-motorized mobility of a city’s inhabitants during the design process of an urban construction element, the residential street (referring to the stages of the product and the construction process: the “cradle to handover” approach). An emerging methodology in urban themes was used in order to obtain the environmental analysis: Life Cycle Assessment (LCA).The results show that the increase in the human scale and the favoring of non-motorized mobility generate a lower environmental impact (considering the same uses of materials for the different zones of analysis). Additionally, it was possible to establish the influence that the specific use of materials employed in the construction of the streets may have, as well as the importance that an LCA acquires in the design of the urban environment.