Planning for Sustainable Transport in Germany and the USA: A Comparison of the Washington, DC and Stuttgart Regions

Abstract

Federal, state, and local governments in Germany and the USA strive to make passenger transport more sustainable to combat oil dependence, climate change, local pollution, and negative public health outcomes. This paper compares the Washington, DC and Stuttgart regions to demonstrate differences and similarities between the German and US land-use and transport planning systems. To illustrate local planning for more sustainable transport, we compare two best-practice examples for integrating transport and land-use planning: the Rosslyn–Ballston Corridor in Arlington County in the DC metro region and Scharnhauser Park in the City of Ostfildern in the Stuttgart region. In spite of significant differences in motorization, travel behaviour, sustainability, and planning systems, both Arlington County and the City of Ostfildern promote sustainable transport using comparable strategies: (1) mixed-use development around public transport stations; (2) comprehensive long-range plans; (3) citizen participation; and (4) coordinated transport, housing, and economic development policies.