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Dr. Esther González-González
University of Cantabria

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0 Spatial Planning
0 Urban Planning
0 transport planning
0 Sustainable mobility planning

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Short Biography

Esther González-González currently works as Assistant Professor at the Urban and Spatial Planning Research Group at School of Civil Engineering, University of Cantabria. Esther does research in the interaction of transport, mobility and urban and spatial planning. Recently, she has started a new line of research about Autonomous Vehicles and Cities.

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Research article
Published: 30 May 2021 in European Planning Studies
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The European Union has made considerable investments in transport infrastructures to reduce development gaps within and across territories and achieve a stronger regional cohesion. However, these economic efforts have not shown the expected effects, especially in peripheral regions, mainly due to the varied nature of their inner areas. This study aims to shed light on the existence of different types of areas inside peripheral regions that respond differently to the construction of new high-capacity roads, conditioning the achievement of cohesion goals. These disparities were explored through a detailed intraregional analysis of the peripheral Spanish Northwest Area over a 25-year period, through the identification of spatial categories that group homogenous areas in attention to three criteria: socio-economic development, spatial dynamics of urbanization and accessibility improvements. The application of a hierarchical clustering technique to different time scenarios and their comparison showed the existence of dynamic, stable and regressive areas, in terms of performance. Our findings reveal that with accessibility improvements regressive areas decreased and dynamic ones increased over time, but this transformation did not translate into an improvement in socio-economic intraregional cohesion. These results highlight the importance of considering intraregional diversity when formulating and implementing policies aimed at strengthening territorial cohesion.

ACS Style

Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González. Are current road investments exacerbating spatial inequalities inside European peripheral regions? European Planning Studies 2021, 1 -27.

AMA Style

Soledad Nogués, Esther González-González. Are current road investments exacerbating spatial inequalities inside European peripheral regions? European Planning Studies. 2021; ():1-27.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González. 2021. "Are current road investments exacerbating spatial inequalities inside European peripheral regions?" European Planning Studies , no. : 1-27.

Journal article
Published: 03 February 2021 in Sustainability
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Autonomous vehicles (AVs) can generate major changes in urban systems due to their ability to use road infrastructures more efficiently and shorten trip times. However, there is great uncertainty about these effects and about whether the use of these vehicles will continue to be private, in continuity with the current paradigm, or whether they will become shared (carsharing/ridesharing). In order to try to shed light on these matters, the use of a scenario-based methodology and the evaluation of the scenarios using a land use–transport interaction model (LUTI model TRANSPACE) is proposed. This model allows simulating the impacts that changes in the transport system can generate on the location of households and companies oriented to local demand and accessibility conditions. The obtained results allow us to state that, if AVs would generate a significant increase in the capacity of urban and interurban road infrastructures, the impacts on mobility and on the location of activities could be positive, with a decrease in the distances traveled, trip times, and no evidence of significant urban sprawl processes. However, if these increases in capacity are accompanied by a large augment in the demand for shared journeys by new users (young, elderly) or empty journeys, the positive effects could disappear. Thus, this scenario would imply an increase in trip times, reduced accessibilities, and longer average distances traveled, all of which could cause the unwanted effect of expelling activities from the consolidated urban center.

ACS Style

Rubén Cordera; Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González; José Moura. Modeling the Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles on Land Use Using a LUTI Model. Sustainability 2021, 13, 1608 .

AMA Style

Rubén Cordera, Soledad Nogués, Esther González-González, José Moura. Modeling the Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles on Land Use Using a LUTI Model. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (4):1608.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rubén Cordera; Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González; José Moura. 2021. "Modeling the Impacts of Autonomous Vehicles on Land Use Using a LUTI Model." Sustainability 13, no. 4: 1608.

Research article
Published: 15 January 2021 in International Journal of Sustainable Transportation
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The improvement of pedestrian mobility through the use of on-street vertical facilities, i.e. escalators, moving sidewalks, lifts, funiculars and gondola lifts, is becoming increasingly important in many cities with steep slopes that hinder walkers’ transit. However, studies on the acceptance, profitability and demand for these facilities are still scarce. The present paper proposes an assessment methodology to evaluate the demand for vertical pedestrian routes and facilities based on diverse accessibility indicators. This methodology was applied to the city of Santander (Spain), where flow measurements and surveys among users of existing vertical walking systems were carried out. These data were modeled using Poisson and Binomial Negative regressions, considering the truncated and discrete character of the dependent variable. The results obtained confirm that vertical walking facilities are highly valued by users. Contrary to expectations, accessibility from these facilities to public services or commercial areas was not relevant to estimate the demand of the existing routes and only accessibility to population proved to be significant. Therefore, it is advisable to install this type of walking facilities in those pedestrian routes located in areas with enough population density over well-equipped central areas, so that the number of potential users justifies their investment and maintenance costs.

ACS Style

Esther González-González; Rubén Cordera; Borja Alonso; Soledad Nogués. Planning for sustainable urban mobility: Demand estimation of on-street vertical walking facilities. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation 2021, 1 -23.

AMA Style

Esther González-González, Rubén Cordera, Borja Alonso, Soledad Nogués. Planning for sustainable urban mobility: Demand estimation of on-street vertical walking facilities. International Journal of Sustainable Transportation. 2021; ():1-23.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Esther González-González; Rubén Cordera; Borja Alonso; Soledad Nogués. 2021. "Planning for sustainable urban mobility: Demand estimation of on-street vertical walking facilities." International Journal of Sustainable Transportation , no. : 1-23.

Journal article
Published: 16 April 2020 in Land Use Policy
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The future implementation of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) in cities can have significant impacts, both positive and negative, on their sustainability. The objective of this research is to investigate those impacts and evaluate which policies could be most effective in achieving the desired city scenario through a backcasting planning methodology. To this end, a survey among experts was carried out in which they expressed their opinions on the potential consequences of AVs in cities and on the effectiveness of various policy packages focused on achieving a more sustainable mobility and land use planning. The results obtained show that the experts consulted were sceptical about the positive impacts of AVs, arguing that they could induce an increase in car trips and urban sprawl. The policies that could be most effective in mitigating these effects, leading to a city more aligned with the planned objectives would be: to strengthen active (foot, bicycle) and public transport modes, to restrict access of motorised modes to central urban areas and to use freed spaces for alternative modes of transport, green areas and public facilities. A cluster analysis also showed that most of the experts consulted considered that the policy packages presented could be effective or very effective in reaching the most desirable scenario. Therefore, it is important that the implementation of AVs does not subordinate to, but enhances, the sustainable mobility and land use policies already being developed in many urban areas.

ACS Style

Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González; Rubén Cordera. New urban planning challenges under emerging autonomous mobility: evaluating backcasting scenarios and policies through an expert survey. Land Use Policy 2020, 95, 104652 .

AMA Style

Soledad Nogués, Esther González-González, Rubén Cordera. New urban planning challenges under emerging autonomous mobility: evaluating backcasting scenarios and policies through an expert survey. Land Use Policy. 2020; 95 ():104652.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González; Rubén Cordera. 2020. "New urban planning challenges under emerging autonomous mobility: evaluating backcasting scenarios and policies through an expert survey." Land Use Policy 95, no. : 104652.

Journal article
Published: 16 January 2020 in Land Use Policy
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The introduction of automated vehicles (AVs) is a virtual certainty. Much less certain is the timing of their introduction and how rapid the transition to full automation will be. Various governments are already working to facilitate this shift by, for example, amending and elaborating regulations to support the introduction of AVs, or supporting tests in different urban environments. Meanwhile, urban and regional planners and decision-makers are still grappling with the uncertainties and differing opinions about the possible impacts of AVs on land-use changes and location choices, particularly in relation to the space available for vehicles, both moving (i.e. roadspace) and stationary (i.e. parking space). This paper uses a backcasting approach to identify critical policy decisions and measures to be taken before the implementation of AVs, so as to achieve a more desirable, attractive and high-quality city. These policy measures primarily relate to the reuse and reallocation of parking and roadspace. Two strategic decisions are found to be essential to meet the major goals of sustainable and liveable cities: a clear commitment to a shared mobility and the delimitation of Core Attractive Mixed-use Spaces (CAMS). In order to deliver these desired urbanisation patterns, a set of three policy paths, involving eight policy packages, is proposed for the next 20–30 years. This article provides urban and regional decision-makers with examples of interventions that can be implemented beyond and during the implementation of AVs.

ACS Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogués; Dominic Stead. Parking futures: Preparing European cities for the advent of automated vehicles. Land Use Policy 2020, 91, 104010 .

AMA Style

Esther González-González, Soledad Nogués, Dominic Stead. Parking futures: Preparing European cities for the advent of automated vehicles. Land Use Policy. 2020; 91 ():104010.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogués; Dominic Stead. 2020. "Parking futures: Preparing European cities for the advent of automated vehicles." Land Use Policy 91, no. : 104010.

Journal article
Published: 21 October 2019 in Sustainability
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Knowing public transport service’s user satisfaction is essential to maintaining and increasing its quality and demand. Several studies have analysed the factors influencing users’ satisfaction, considering their perceptions of specific attributes of the service. However, other aspects, such as the spatial distribution of users, i.e., their origin neighbourhoods, could significantly affect their satisfaction with the service, showing social inequity patterns. This paper proposes a new methodology to evaluate whether these spatial differences in satisfaction exist. Using the city of Santander (Spain) as an example, ordered probit models have been estimated, linking the bus users’ overall satisfaction with variables that include their perceptions of the service and socio-demographic characteristics, and with dummy variables which classify each trip according to its neighbourhood origin. Our results confirm the existence of variations in satisfaction depending on the area of the city under study. In addition, user characterization variables, such as age, which were not significant when considering the city as a whole, proved to be influential in some areas. The estimated model, considering spatial differences, had a higher goodness of fit than that of models not taking zoning into account, and reproduced the overall satisfaction pattern presented in the study area with less error. The consideration of spatial differences in the modelling process enabled the detection of priority areas in which to implement measures to improve service quality and equity, thus increasing the use of public transport and supporting the promotion of a more sustainable mobility.

ACS Style

Rubén Cordera; Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González; Luigi Dell’Olio. Intra-Urban Spatial Disparities in User Satisfaction with Public Transport Services. Sustainability 2019, 11, 5829 .

AMA Style

Rubén Cordera, Soledad Nogués, Esther González-González, Luigi Dell’Olio. Intra-Urban Spatial Disparities in User Satisfaction with Public Transport Services. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (20):5829.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rubén Cordera; Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González; Luigi Dell’Olio. 2019. "Intra-Urban Spatial Disparities in User Satisfaction with Public Transport Services." Sustainability 11, no. 20: 5829.

Journal article
Published: 01 July 2019 in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
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European and national transport policies identify territorial cohesion as their main goal. However, the lack of attention to intra-regional relationships has complicated the understanding of the diverse repercussions of these policies on the economic and social equity of rural areas over time. Long-term assessments of transport effects in these less studied areas, which cover more than two thirds of the European territory, are essential to identify common problems associated with transport investments and to detect potential strategies to confront their future challenges. This paper, analyses the effects of transport policy development in the Spanish Northwest Area over the last 20 years, where about 95% of municipalities are considered rural. The assessment focuses on the spatial effects of transport development, using a Geographical Information System (GIS), and inequality and correlation analyses of accessibility, demographic and economic indicators. Results show that while the accessibility gap between urban and rural areas was reinforced by the construction of high-capacity infrastructures during the first half of the study period, the completion of the network during the second decade balanced this situation, enabling a more equitable access to basic services, goods and opportunities. However, these improvements have not been enough to reverse the initial lagging inertia of the rural areas and to reduce their socioeconomic disadvantages against urban ones.

ACS Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogués. Long-term differential effects of transport infrastructure investment in rural areas. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 2019, 125, 234 -247.

AMA Style

Esther González-González, Soledad Nogués. Long-term differential effects of transport infrastructure investment in rural areas. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 2019; 125 ():234-247.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogués. 2019. "Long-term differential effects of transport infrastructure investment in rural areas." Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 125, no. : 234-247.

Journal article
Published: 13 June 2019 in Cities
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The introduction of Autonomous Vehicles (AVs) into cities may fundamentally transform the design and use of cities. On one hand, AVs offer the potential to reduce the urban space requirements for roads and parking, creating more space for high-quality, liveable areas. On the other hand, greater motorisation and the availability to perform leisure or work activities while travelling in AVs could increase the number of trips and travel distances, encouraging urban traffic congestion and sprawl. These diverse, and sometimes conflicting, estimates and opinions give rise to considerable uncertainty among urban policy decision-makers, sometimes leading to planning inaction. This paper aims to shed light on the opportunities that AVs offer in delivering attractive, healthy and sustainable urbanisation patterns. This paper employs a backcasting approach to investigate whether and how the potential impacts of AV implementation can support or threaten a range of urban development policy goals. This approach enables conflicts between policy goals to be identified. The findings point to the need for mixed-use development policy, the clustering of urban facilities and services, the restriction of motorized access in cities and the adoption of shared high-quality multimodal transport.

ACS Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogués; Dominic Stead. Automated vehicles and the city of tomorrow: A backcasting approach. Cities 2019, 94, 153 -160.

AMA Style

Esther González-González, Soledad Nogués, Dominic Stead. Automated vehicles and the city of tomorrow: A backcasting approach. Cities. 2019; 94 ():153-160.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogués; Dominic Stead. 2019. "Automated vehicles and the city of tomorrow: A backcasting approach." Cities 94, no. : 153-160.

Journal article
Published: 31 March 2019 in Journal of Cleaner Production
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Sustainable development and territorial cohesion are key objectives of spatial plans and policies. In order to assess the efficiency of planning measures to achieve sustainability, spatial plans are introducing evaluation and monitoring tools based on the use of indicators. This paper defines an assessment framework which permits quantifying the sustainability degree at both local and regional level in different planning scenarios. The framework consists in the aggregation of social, economic, environmental and spatial indicators into a single local index using a robust Principal Component Analysis and a Fuzzy-TOPSIS multi-criteria decision method which enables the ranking of municipalities and the estimation of a regional index depicting the degree of intraregional sustainability diversity. This methodology was applied to Cantabria, a northern Spanish region which is currently elaborating its first Regional Spatial Plan (PROT), for 3 scenarios: its current situation and two planning scenarios, a recessionary and a progressive one. The results show that both scenarios affect regional sustainability, the progressive one leading to a slightly more balanced region. However, this increase in sustainability achieved in the progressive scenario was quite moderate and, therefore, more ambitious measures should be taken to achieve a sustainable region. This methodology can be applied to diverse case studies, standing as a helpful decision-making tool in the field of spatial planning.

ACS Style

Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González; Rubén Cordera. Planning regional sustainability: An index-based framework to assess spatial plans. Application to the region of Cantabria (Spain). Journal of Cleaner Production 2019, 225, 510 -523.

AMA Style

Soledad Nogués, Esther González-González, Rubén Cordera. Planning regional sustainability: An index-based framework to assess spatial plans. Application to the region of Cantabria (Spain). Journal of Cleaner Production. 2019; 225 ():510-523.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González; Rubén Cordera. 2019. "Planning regional sustainability: An index-based framework to assess spatial plans. Application to the region of Cantabria (Spain)." Journal of Cleaner Production 225, no. : 510-523.

Journal article
Published: 20 March 2019 in Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles
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El progresivo proceso de europeización de la planificación territorial ha promovido la aparición de nuevos objetivos y mecanismos de control de los planes de ordenación, como son el desarrollo sostenible y los sistemas de evaluación y seguimiento. Sin embargo, en España, a diferencia de otros países que cuentan con directrices o guías nacionales, esta inclusión no se ha realizado de manera sistemática. Este artículo tiene como objetivo comprobar hasta qué punto y cómo se está integrando la evaluación y seguimiento de los planes territoriales españoles prestando especial atención al uso de sistemas de indicadores. La revisión de los planes actuales permite afirmar que España está todavía dando sus primeros pasos, dado que, de las 17 comunidades autónomas, diez contemplan sistemas de evaluación y seguimiento específicos, mediante la elaboración de planes o informes, y solo cinco los han desarrollado e implementado incluyendo el uso de sistemas de indicadores. Además, las metodologías empleadas difieren significativamente en cuanto a qué debe medirse, es decir, en cómo se conceptualiza la sostenibilidad, y al número y tipo de indicadores seleccionados. De cara al futuro se recomienda tender a una mayor convergencia en la definición de las metodologías de evaluación y seguimiento que contemplen el uso de indicadores e índices sintéticos, con el fin de facilitar su comparación entre distintos ámbitos territoriales, potenciar sinergias y optimizar el uso de recursos.

ACS Style

Rubén Cordera; Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González. El reto de incorporar indicadores en los sistemas de evaluación y seguimiento de los Planes Regionales de Ordenación Territorial en España. Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles 2019, 1 .

AMA Style

Rubén Cordera, Soledad Nogués, Esther González-González. El reto de incorporar indicadores en los sistemas de evaluación y seguimiento de los Planes Regionales de Ordenación Territorial en España. Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles. 2019; (81):1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Rubén Cordera; Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González. 2019. "El reto de incorporar indicadores en los sistemas de evaluación y seguimiento de los Planes Regionales de Ordenación Territorial en España." Boletín de la Asociación de Geógrafos Españoles , no. 81: 1.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2017 in DYNA
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ACS Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogues Linares. FERROCARRILES DEL FUTURO: EVOLUCIÓN Y PERSPECTIVAS DE LA ALTA VELOCIDAD, DEL MAGLEV Y DEL HYPERLOOP (Parte 1). DYNA 2017, 92, 371 -373.

AMA Style

Esther González-González, Soledad Nogues Linares. FERROCARRILES DEL FUTURO: EVOLUCIÓN Y PERSPECTIVAS DE LA ALTA VELOCIDAD, DEL MAGLEV Y DEL HYPERLOOP (Parte 1). DYNA. 2017; 92 (1):371-373.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogues Linares. 2017. "FERROCARRILES DEL FUTURO: EVOLUCIÓN Y PERSPECTIVAS DE LA ALTA VELOCIDAD, DEL MAGLEV Y DEL HYPERLOOP (Parte 1)." DYNA 92, no. 1: 371-373.

Journal article
Published: 01 January 2017 in DYNA
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ACS Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogues Linares. FERROCARRILES DEL FUTURO: EVOLUCIÓN Y PERSPECTIVAS DE LA ALTA VELOCIDAD, MAGLEV Y HYPERLOOP (Parte 2). DYNA 2017, 92, 483 -485.

AMA Style

Esther González-González, Soledad Nogues Linares. FERROCARRILES DEL FUTURO: EVOLUCIÓN Y PERSPECTIVAS DE LA ALTA VELOCIDAD, MAGLEV Y HYPERLOOP (Parte 2). DYNA. 2017; 92 (1):483-485.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogues Linares. 2017. "FERROCARRILES DEL FUTURO: EVOLUCIÓN Y PERSPECTIVAS DE LA ALTA VELOCIDAD, MAGLEV Y HYPERLOOP (Parte 2)." DYNA 92, no. 1: 483-485.

Journal article
Published: 12 February 2016 in European Planning Studies
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Territorial cohesion has become one of the main objectives in transport planning. This has fostered the development of assessment methodologies to quantitatively estimate the territorial impact of major transport infrastructures, which are particularly scarce at the intra-regional level. Linked to cohesion, polycentricity has been defined as the best spatial configuration to achieve balanced regions where population and opportunities are distributed among several entities linked by functional relationships. This paper aims to present a methodology to estimate these impacts based on the use of a new regional composite polycentricity indicator. The proposed indicator is tested by comparing the effects of conventional and high-speed railway (HSR) alternatives in the territorial system of a northern region of Spain. This quantitative assessment is a ranking tool for prioritizing rail network alternatives in terms of achieving the most balanced territory, which is especially relevant in countries where HSR networks follow cohesion goals. Our results show that new HSR links should only be complementary to regional railway services, and that the suppression of secondary lines should be avoided if a reduction in polarization is to be achieved.E. González-González gratefully acknowledges a predoctoral fellowship (FPI) from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (reference BES-2008–00436)

ACS Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogués. Regional polycentricity: an indicator framework for assessing cohesion impacts of railway infrastructures. European Planning Studies 2016, 24, 950 -973.

AMA Style

Esther González-González, Soledad Nogués. Regional polycentricity: an indicator framework for assessing cohesion impacts of railway infrastructures. European Planning Studies. 2016; 24 (5):950-973.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Esther González-González; Soledad Nogués. 2016. "Regional polycentricity: an indicator framework for assessing cohesion impacts of railway infrastructures." European Planning Studies 24, no. 5: 950-973.

Journal article
Published: 01 July 2014 in Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
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ACS Style

Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González. Multi-criteria impacts assessment for ranking highway projects in Northwest Spain. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 2014, 65, 80 -91.

AMA Style

Soledad Nogués, Esther González-González. Multi-criteria impacts assessment for ranking highway projects in Northwest Spain. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. 2014; 65 ():80-91.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Soledad Nogués; Esther González-González. 2014. "Multi-criteria impacts assessment for ranking highway projects in Northwest Spain." Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 65, no. : 80-91.