Using satellite remote sensing to survey transport-related urban sustainability: Part II. Results of a Canadian urban assessment

Abstract

The growing importance of urbanization in Canada highlights the need for nationally consistent information on major cities to support effective policy development. A spatially-explicit database, the Canadian Urban Land-Use Survey (CUrLUS), is described. It is a comprehensive source of integrated contemporary land-cover/land-use, demographic and socio-economic information as well as historic land use characterizations from earlier federal initiatives. Satellite remote sensing plays a key role in the form of provision of Landsat-based thematic classifications. The utilization of CUrLUS is illustrated in the quantification of transportation-related energy sustainability indicators, namely, density, urban compactness and land-use mix. The latter shows the greatest promise, being significantly correlated to both work-related median travel distance and percent private vehicle use. Urban transportation is complex and it is argued that indicators based solely on statistical and spatial analysis methodologies are limited in abilities to directly address specific components of this issue, for example, energy consumption. It is recommended that more sophisticated, model-enhanced indicators be developed. We also demonstrate that the land-use/urban-form information of CUrLUS will be a cornerstone in this endeavour.