A transport typology of major German cities

Abstract

Comparisons of cities are frequently used to evaluate urban transportation planning and policies. A typology of cities can contribute to adequately interpret the identified differences between cities. For this purpose, this paper collects 27 indicators of socio-economic characteristics, spatial structures, travel behaviour and the evaluation of local transport situation for 44 major German cities. We generate clusters of cities based on a factor and cluster analysis. The factor analysis identifies five latent variables called metropolitan character, bicycle-friendliness, affluence, influence of students, and private car orientation. The subsequent cluster analysis identifies five clusters. According to this typology, most cities that are considered good practices of urban transport policy in Germany belong either to the cluster of metropolitan cities or university cities with a cycling-friendly environment.