What limits cities’ ability to make their own decisions?
Cities are rarely able to make decisions on land use and transport strategies on their own, but the constraints on them differ from city to city. We have identified three types of constraint, and found, in PROSPECTS, that it is typically medium sized cities which suffer most from them; smaller cities often have more freedom, while larger ones often have more power. Lack of direct control Most cities have some division of responsibility for some policy areas. While many have exclusive responsibility for land-use and for traffic management, most share responsibility for road building, public transport infrastructure and information provision. However, a significant number do not have direct responsibility for public transport operations or pricing measures. In some cases the responsibility lies with other levels of government, but increasingly it is the private sector which determines public transport and pricing decisions. Within cities there is the further problem that responsibilities
