Assessment of neighborhood sustainability in terms of urban mobility: A case study in Dhaka City, Bangladesh

Abstract For achieving sustainable cities, sustainable mobility is one of the key elements. Policymakers around the world are taking different strategies to ensure sustainable urban mobility at the local level. However, sustainable urban mobility assessment at neighborhoods of a developing country received a significant research gap. This study attempts to close this research gap by deriving and comparing neighborhood sustainability based on three indicators: modal share, travel time, and travel cost, in Dhaka city, Bangladesh. Using a two-step cluster model, neighborhoods were grouped into three clusters. Study results classified 41 (44.6%) neighborhoods as sustainable, 30 (32.6%) as potentially sustainable, and 21 (22.8%) as unsustainable neighborhoods due to less positive outcomes of sustainable mobility policies. Later, median income and jobs-housing ratio value for different neighborhood types validated the classification result. Findings from this study reveal insights for transport planners, development agencies, policymakers to identify areas where mobility of the residents needs to be improved on a priority basis; advocate further research on comprehensive sustainability assessment at the neighborhood level. Highlights for public administration, management and planning: • There is a significant difference in modal share, travel time, and travel cost in neighborhoods. • A traditional neighborhood of the city is comparatively more sustainable than newly developed ones. • Neighborhoods with similar sustainability status tend to be clustered on the city scale. • Median income and jobs-housing ratio can effectively capture the difference in sustainability level in terms of urban mobility. • Sustainable urban mobility assessment can contribute city planning and development process.