Papers by Houshmand Masoumi
International Planning Studies, 2024
Our knowledge of urban sprawl and its relationship with urban mode choices in the context of deve... more Our knowledge of urban sprawl and its relationship with urban mode choices in the context of developing countries is limited. The present study aims to evaluate the influence of travel behaviour, socioeconomic features of residents in sprawling and compact areas as two different types of neighbourhoods Hamedan and Nowshahr, Iran. Also, this study analysed the relationship between street connectivity with the use of active mobility. Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression models were generated for trips in these two cities, which is complemented by chisquared and Kruskal-Wallis tests to evaluate the similarities and dissimilarities of travel behaviour and other socioeconomic characteristics among the residents of compact and sprawling neighbourhoods. A significant relationship was observed between street connectivity and active mobility in all kinds of commuting and noncommuting trips inside and outside of neighbourhoods when age, gender, car ownership, and monthly income are controlled in the models of the two cities.
Urban Science, 2024
The predictors of urban trip mode choice and one of its important components, public transit ride... more The predictors of urban trip mode choice and one of its important components, public transit ridership, have still not been thoroughly investigated using case studies in Central Europe. Therefore, this study attempts to clarify the correlates of mode choices for commute travel and shopping, and entertainment travel to distant places, as well as the frequencies of public transit use of university students, using a wide range of explanatory variables covering individual, household, and socio-economic attributes as well as their perceptions, mobility, and the nearby built environment. The correlation hypothesis of these factors, especially the role of the street network, was tested by collecting the data from 1288 university students in Krakow and developing Binary Logistic and Ordinal Probit models. The results show that gender, age, car ownership, main daily activity, possession of a driving license, gross monthly income, duration of living in the current home, daily shopping area, sense of belonging to the neighborhood, quality of social/recreational facilities of the neighborhood, and commuting distance can predict commute and non-commute mode choices, while gender, daily activity, financial dependence from the family, entertainment place, quality of social/recreational facilities, residential self-selection, number of commute trips, time living in the current home, and street connectivity around home are significantly correlated with public transit use. Some of these findings are somewhat different from those regarding university students in Western Europe or other high-income countries. These results can be used for policy making to reduce students’ personal and household car use and increase sustainable modal share in Poland and similar neighboring countries.
Journal of Renewable Energy and Sustainable Development, 2024
Recent political conflicts in the Middle East have led to a significant increase in refugees' num... more Recent political conflicts in the Middle East have led to a significant increase in refugees' numbers in Egypt, causing a substantial population increase in neighborhoods like Al-Rehab City and the 6th of October. The resulting semi-hybrid communities have had a notable impact on travel behavior in these areas. Due to the economic impact that is affected by this travel behavior, this study aims to investigate the commuting behaviors and preferences of individuals in Cairo and Alexandria, focusing on demographic groups such as Egyptians and migrants. The research addresses two main questions: (1) What significant variations exist in commuting characteristics between Egyptians and migrants based on their social and cultural backgrounds, and what variables influence the travel behavior of these two groups? (2) What factors relate to public transport use, that map all aspects of work/home trip choices that affect the daily commuting distances? Initially, to find the significant differences between both test groups, a questionnaire was designed and distributed through a sample of 1,810 face-to-face interviews (1,193 in Cairo and 617 in Alexandria). The questionnaire comprised 39 questions, these questions are covered in six sections that cover the following aspects: sociodemographic and household profiles, mobility habits, commuting habits and preferences, perceptions of public transportation, ridesharing, and housing. In the data analysis stage, a non-parametric statistical test "The Mann-Whitney U test" is used to determine if there is a difference between both groups according to certain variables. To examine the relationship between subjective public transport utilization and commuting trip generation, a multivariate Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) model was applied. The model application provides valuable insights for the formulation of impactful urban and mobility systems. Drawing a road map to help policymakers in enhancing public transport infrastructure to better match the preferences of commuters, ultimately fostering safer and more gratifying travel experiences.
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 2024
Introduction: Public transportation is essential to reduce pollution and traffic congestion in ur... more Introduction: Public transportation is essential to reduce pollution and traffic congestion in urban areas. However, in densely populated regions like Alexandria, characterized by high population density and limited road infrastructure, accessibility to diverse transportation options is crucial. Methods: This study investigates the accessibility of public transportation modes, including railways and buses, and their interaction with informal transit. Questioning if public transportation alone will be sufficient for pedestrians or if the presence of informal transit is crucial, and whether all residents of Alexandria have their rightful accessibility for different transport modes, the goal was to establish an efficient and interconnected transportation network. A survey was conducted in cooperation with Transport for Cairo to investigate all transport routes throughout Alexandria, further using ArcGIS Pro to identify gaps in public transportation coverage. Results: Findings revealed that public transportation alone is insufficient due to limited bus and railway coverage because of their fixed linear routes. Informal transit, like microbuses, plays a vital role in filling these gaps. Discussion: The study emphasizes the need for a comprehensive and sustainable transportation network that considers both formal and informal transit. These insights can guide policymakers and urban planners in improving public transportation in Alexandria and similar cities worldwide.
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities, 2024
The determinants of smartphone use for urban transportation purposes in developing countries, par... more The determinants of smartphone use for urban transportation purposes in developing countries, particularly in the cities of the Middle East and North Africa, have not been thoroughly investigated so far. This study aims to clarify the individual, mobility, and perception-related correlates of smartphone use specifically for ordering vehicles via ride-sourcing in medium-sized and large cities as well as the megacities of the region. The four cities of Cairo and Alexandria in Egypt and Beirut and Jounieh in Lebanon were taken as case-study cities. An overall sample of 3,285 face-to-face interviews was undertaken between late 2022 and early 2023 using a questionnaire focusing on individual, household, mobility, and perceptions of the respondents. The research depends on a chi-square test of independence and Binary logistic regression to answer three research questions: Are the levels of smartphone use for transportation purposes significantly different in the countries of Egypt and Lebanon? What are the correlates of smartphone use for transportation purposes in the four case-study cities? What are the differences among the correlates of smartphone use for transportation purposes in the four case-study cities? The results of a Chi-square test of independence show that there is a highly significant difference between the smartphone use levels for transportation purposes among the four case-study cities: in subsamples in the Egyptian and Lebanese capitals, there is a stronger tendency to use smartphones for transportation. Moreover, the model fit based on Binary Logistic regression shows that age, trip generation for non-commute purposes, perceived ease of using ride-sourcing apps, perceived security when using public transportation, education status, and gender are significantly correlated with smartphone use. These explanatory variables function somehow differently in the case-study cities, but in general, there are strong similarities among the four cities. In conclusion, the results of this study can be used to reduce personal car use and strengthen shared mobility in the cities of the Middle East and North Africa region.
Periodica Polytechnica Transportation Engineering
Many studies have been conducted worldwide to study travel behavior, specifically commuting times... more Many studies have been conducted worldwide to study travel behavior, specifically commuting times. Nevertheless, few or none have been conducted in the Middle East and North Africa region. The main objective of this paper is to understand the relationship between the actual, ideal and maximum willingness to commute times, and satisfaction with commuting in the city of Jounieh, Lebanon. Socio-economic and land use factors were included to investigate whether they influence commuting times. The average commuting time of the sample is 48.2 minutes, longer than their ideal commute time by about 20 minutes, while their maximum willingness to commute time is 53.46 minutes. The sample was neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their commutes. After performing multivariate Ordinary Least Squares model, and fixing the socio-economic and land use variables, the model proved that the actual and ideal commuting times as well as the actual and maximum commuting times are positively correlated, ...
Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives
This systematic review is based on concerns about the rapid urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa (S... more This systematic review is based on concerns about the rapid urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that has raised sedentary lifestyles and the need to understand the role of transport-related physical activity (TRPA) in wellness promotion, to explore the association between TRPA and wellness in SSA. Method: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Transport Research International Documentation (TRID), Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science electronic databases for 2009 to 2023 were searched for peer-reviewed English-language studies. The population of focus was TRPA and wellness studies. Two authors independently conducted screening, data extraction, and critical appraisals. Results: 22 studies covering TRPA prevalence, health outcomes, and sociocultural context across eight SSA countries were included in the review. Sample sizes ranged from 32 participants to as many as 14,585 participants. The variation in data collection methods, sample size, and geographical scope provided a comprehensive understanding of TRPA patterns and influences across different contexts. Walking and cycling were prevalent TRPA modes as influenced by cultural and contextual factors. TRPA was positively associated with improved cardiovascular health, prevention of NCDs, and healthier aging. Conclusions: Although there were variations in sample sizes, a consistent body of evidence demonstrated the link between TRPA and wellness in SSA. This review underscores the prevalence of walking and cycling as essential TRPA modes in SSA, influenced by cultural and infrastructural factors. Pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, targeted interventions, and culturally sensitive strategies can potentially promote TRPA and enhance wellness in SSA.
Purpose-Zone 6 of Tehran, with a populations of 220,000 people (3.6 per cent of the city populati... more Purpose-Zone 6 of Tehran, with a populations of 220,000 people (3.6 per cent of the city population) and 20 km 2 area (3 per cent of the city area), is one of the main municipal zones of Tehran. Major land-uses, like ministries, embassies, universities, general hospitals and medical centers, big financial firms, and so on, manifest the high importance of this region on a local and national scale. Thus, it is necessary to pay close attention to issues concerning crisis management in this area. Design/methodology/approach-In this paper, by using indexes such as access to medical centers, street inclusion, building and population density, land-use, peak ground acceleration and building quality, vulnerability degree of street networks in zone 6 against the earthquake is calculated through overlaying maps and data in combination with inversion hierarchical weight process method and geographic information systems. Findings-This article concludes that buildings alongside the streets with high population and building density, low building quality, far to rescue centers and high level of inclusion represent high rate of vulnerability, compared with other buildings. Also, by moving from north to south of the zone, the vulnerability increases. Likewise, highways and streets with substantial width and low building and population density hold little values of vulnerability. Thus, streets with high level of inclusion, building and population density present further vulnerability. Originality/value-It is expected that the results of this paper be used by the urban decision-makers. Due to high vulnerability of most parts of the urban textures of Tehran, similar researches will have importance for preparation for the future possible earthquakes.
Journal of Transportation Security, 2024
The main objective of this study is to investigate the perceptions of security about using public... more The main objective of this study is to investigate the perceptions of security about using public transport and ride-sharing in Jounieh-city in Lebanon. Also, this study aims to analyze the preventive measures that can improve the subjective security of public transport used in Jounieh. Linear regression model and statistical analysis of the survey were conducted and the results showed that gender, frequency of public transportation use, evaluation of quality of bus/minibus, car ownership and link node-home ratio are the most significant independent variables correlated with the subjective security in public transportation in Jounieh city. Besides, the study showed that regarding the subjective security; a taxi is the best transport mode used by passengers, with a 56.5%. Uber is the second one with 44.7%, where buses represent a mean of 40.5%, making the minibusses the least favored public transport mode, having the lowest mean of 26.7%. Finally, concerning preventive security measures, this study proved that lighting on stations and the supervision by surveillance (cameras) are not as important as the existing of "police/uniform guards near the stations" which represents the only and the most significant importance regarding subjective security for the passengers.
Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 2023
This systematic review is based on concerns about the rapid urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa (S... more This systematic review is based on concerns about the rapid urbanization in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) that has raised sedentary lifestyles and the need to understand the role of transport-related physical activity (TRPA) in wellness promotion, to explore the association between TRPA and wellness in SSA. Method: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines were followed. Transport Research International Documentation (TRID), Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science electronic databases for 2009 to 2023 were searched for peer-reviewed English-language studies. The population of focus was TRPA and wellness studies. Two authors independently conducted screening, data extraction, and critical appraisals. Results: 22 studies covering TRPA prevalence, health outcomes, and sociocultural context across eight SSA countries were included in the review. Sample sizes ranged from 32 participants to as many as 14,585 participants. The variation in data collection methods, sample size, and geographical scope provided a comprehensive understanding of TRPA patterns and influences across different contexts. Walking and cycling were prevalent TRPA modes as influenced by cultural and contextual factors. TRPA was positively associated with improved cardiovascular health, prevention of NCDs, and healthier aging. Conclusions: Although there were variations in sample sizes, a consistent body of evidence demonstrated the link between TRPA and wellness in SSA. This review underscores the prevalence of walking and cycling as essential TRPA modes in SSA, influenced by cultural and infrastructural factors. Pedestrian-friendly infrastructure, targeted interventions, and culturally sensitive strategies can potentially promote TRPA and enhance wellness in SSA.
Periodica Polytechnica Transportation Engineering, 2023
Many studies have been conducted worldwide to study travel behavior, specifically commuting times... more Many studies have been conducted worldwide to study travel behavior, specifically commuting times. Nevertheless, few or none have been conducted in the Middle East and North Africa region. The main objective of this paper is to understand the relationship between the actual, ideal and maximum willingness to commute times, and satisfaction with commuting in the city of Jounieh, Lebanon. Socioeconomic and land use factors were included to investigate whether they influence commuting times. The average commuting time of the sample is 48.2 minutes, longer than their ideal commute time by about 20 minutes, while their maximum willingness to commute time is 53.46 minutes. The sample was neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their commutes. After performing multivariate Ordinary Least Squares model, and fixing the socioeconomic and land use variables, the model proved that the actual and ideal commuting times as well as the actual and maximum commuting times are positively correlated, but the actual commuting time and satisfaction are negatively correlated. A univariate Ordinary Least Square model was performed to determine the correlation between ideal and maximum commuting times; they are highly positively correlated. Finally, the average commuting times and satisfaction were compared for some categories. Women spend almost 13% less time commuting than men, yet they have lower level of satisfaction. Lebanese commuters are also shown to commute more than non-Lebanese ones by approximately 22%. University level commuters commute about 36% more than non-university level people, while unemployed and employed respondents commute for the same time.
Healthcare
Objective: The present study aimed to explore the relationship between objective physical activit... more Objective: The present study aimed to explore the relationship between objective physical activity and sedentary behaviour with seasonality among a sample of older adults living in four European countries. Methods: A sample of 169 older adults living in Croatia, Greece, Portugal, and Poland (mean age = 72.2 ± 6.0, 68% female) had valid objective physical activity and sedentary behaviour data collected in different seasons of the year: spring and autumn/winter. Physical activity and sedentary behaviour were collected with accelerometers (ActiGraph, GT3X), over 7 consecutive days, in both periods. A valid record was defined as at least two weekdays and one weekend day with 10 hours of wearing time. Analyses were performed with IBM SPSS 28.0, using t-test, ANOVA, and binary logistic regressions. Results: Most older adults from the four countries met the physical activity guidelines in spring and autumn/winter. No significant variations were found across seasons for sedentary behaviour ...
Frontiers in Built Environment
Despite the urgent need to adopt sustainable transportation methods to reduce pollution, some cit... more Despite the urgent need to adopt sustainable transportation methods to reduce pollution, some cities, particularly in developing countries, are still prioritizing the construction of roads for private cars. The Greater Cairo Region is experiencing increased reliance on cars, causing strain on the road network, leading to traffic congestion, decreased walkability, and social isolation, especially in gated communities. Old Cairo downtown has implemented sustainable transportation options, but more action is needed from city authorities to prioritize sustainable transportation methods for pedestrians, cyclists, and public transit users to create livable cities and promote public health. The objective of this study is to assess the walkability and bikeability of three distinct city centers: Old Cairo, which represents the historic area of the Greater Cairo Region, and the newer extensions, namely, New Cairo and 6th October City. The analysis of walkability and bikeability will be based ...
Sustainability
The body of research on the determinants of pedestrian commuting and the characteristics of on-fo... more The body of research on the determinants of pedestrian commuting and the characteristics of on-foot commuters at the international level and especially in the Global South is inconsistent; hence, this study focuses on this topic with the case of megacities in the Middle East and North Africa. The study is based on 8284 face-to-face interviews with respondents in the three cities, 4543 of whom worked, and of those 4543, 658 individuals walked to their work or place of study. By using binary logistic regression, the determinants of walking to work were identified. Age, household car ownership, last relocation time, intersection density, number of accessed facilities from home, average walking accessibility to neighborhood amenities, and commuting distance are the significant determinants of on-foot commuting. The study identifies younger commuters with fewer cars or no driving license living in neighborhoods with connected street networks as the walkers. The results of the Mann–Whitne...
Scientific Journal of Silesian University of Technology. Series Transport
A unified calculating approach is needed for public passenger transportation. All public transpor... more A unified calculating approach is needed for public passenger transportation. All public transport companies and other stakeholders would have additional opportunities to create a transport offer if the unified methodology was made available to them and if calculations and calculation criteria were harmonized. Thus, the main goal – improving citizen mobility – would be accomplished. For this reason, in the study, we suggested the hybrid fuzzy methods for evaluating and improving the quality of public transport service. Unreliable responses of survey participants often distort group decision-making regarding the problem of public services, negatively affecting the end of the calculation procedure. Fuzzy multicriteria decision-making approach has been used. The suggested technique has the advantage of taking into account the degree of fuzzification of respondents' judgments about the choice scenario, while also using two MCDM models to eliminate bias in the responses.
Lecture notes in networks and systems, 2023
The challenges of modern transport systems include the need for integration and reduction of the ... more The challenges of modern transport systems include the need for integration and reduction of the negative impact on the environment. The improvement of the functioning of the transport system should be preceded by a proper diagnosis and assessment of the current state. This knowledge allows to make adjustments in the planning and organization of transport systems. This publication contains selected papers submitted to and presented at the 18th “Transport Systems. Theory and Practice” Scientific and Technical Conference organized by the Department of Transport Systems, Traffic Engineering and Logistics at the Faculty of Transport and Aviation Engineering of the Silesian University of Technology (Katowice, Poland). The problems addressed in the publication entitled Challenges and Solutions for Present Transport Systems have been divided into three parts: • Part 1. Advanced methods of assessing transport systems, • Part 2. Integration as a way to better organize traffic flows, • Part 3. Development of environmentally friendly solutions in transport. The articles included in the publication are expressions of case study-based scientific and practical approach to the problems of contemporary transport systems. The authors drew attention to challenges for planners and transport systems organizers including accessibility standards, decision-making problems, integration in public transport or choosing proper direction in transport plans. For all these situations, it is necessary to apply solutions that take into account the needs in the field of environmental protection, as well as the reduction of energy consumption. The publication also includes an abundance of numerical analyses based on significant data sets, illustrating the close affiliation between transport systems development and quality of life. We would like to express our deepest gratitude to all authors, for reflecting the key problems of contemporary transport systems in a concise manner, as well as to reviewers, in recognition of their insightful remarks and suggestions without which this collection of papers would have never been published. September 2022 Grzegorz Sierpiński Houshmand Masoumi Elżbieta Macioszek
Frontiers in Sustainable Cities
Urban mobility behavior is influenced by complex interrelations of personal attitudes, neighborho... more Urban mobility behavior is influenced by complex interrelations of personal attitudes, neighborhood design, emerging digitalized shared mobility services, and urban governance. The transformation of urban mobility ecosystems in the Middle East and North African (MENA) and the South Asian (SA) regions lacks an in-depth comparative review to understand the determinants of mobility attitudes and mode choices. The objective of this paper is to systematically study the existing literature on cities in the MENA and SA regions to provide a comparative review of the analyses and the findings on urban mobility attitudes in light of prevailing societal conditions and urban-spatial forms. A systematic methodology was deployed to shortlist recently published journal papers from the years 2000 to 2022 for the MENA and SA regions. Application of the (shortlisting) methodology has identified 43 studies from the MENA region and 43 papers from the SA region to be most suitable for the review of comp...
Healthcare
Objective: To augment the international scientific approach to raising public mental health throu... more Objective: To augment the international scientific approach to raising public mental health through active lifestyle among adults, we added the evidence of the association between physical activity and subjective wellbeing in the Middle East and North Africa region by emphasizing the mediator—COVID-19. This study aimed to identify the correlations between active mobility and subjective wellbeing during the COVID-19 pandemic in a sample from Tabriz, Iran, which has not yet been tackled in previous study. Methods: We finalized an online survey (N = 603) from adults between 5 June and 15 July 2021. This group reported their individual and socio-economic characteristics and their perception features and location (e.g., home, work) during COVID-19. The paper developed three ordinal logistic regression (OLR) models to examine the association between active mobility types such as commute, non-commute, frequency of active travel to parks and services per week, and different subjective wellb...
Urban Science
There are significant deviations in travel mode choice drivers between developed and developing c... more There are significant deviations in travel mode choice drivers between developed and developing countries. This study investigates the determinants of car ownership and public transit ridership in Iran. Using survey data from 800 respondents, the determinants of travel behaviour of Kerman residents were investigated, based on gender, age, household size, car ownership, frequency of public transport ridership, number of working days per week, number of shopping activities in the neighbourhood per week, number of entertainment activities in the neighbourhood per week, and number of shopping activities in the city. Two multivariate models were estimated using the OLS and WLS methods. Our findings suggested that owning a car tends to increase as age, household size, number of working days and number of shopping days in the city decreases. An increase in the number of entertainment days in the neighbourhood raised the probability of car ownership while shopping in the neighbourhood did n...
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
Regarding the sharp growth rate of ICT (information and communication technology)—based mobility ... more Regarding the sharp growth rate of ICT (information and communication technology)—based mobility services like ridesourcing, it is essential to investigate the impact of these new mobility services on the transport mode choices, particularly on active mobility modes like cycling. This impact is more important in the MENA context (the Middle East and North Africa), where cycling does not constitute the main mobility mode in the modal split of most MENA cities. This paper studies the relationship between the regular use of ICT-based mobility services like ridesourcing and the tendency to cycle to near destinations. This paper contains the analysis of 4431 interviews in two large cities of the MENA region (Cairo and Tehran). This research uses logistic regression to analyze and compare the odds of cycling among regular and non-regular users of ridesourcing by considering the socio-economic, land use, and perception variables. The findings indicate that the odds of cycling among the reg...
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Papers by Houshmand Masoumi
This is the German-language poster representing the work package 4 of the European Commission-funded project Multisport Against Physical Sedentary (M.A.P.S.), coordinated by Technische Universität Berlin.
September 2022
Grzegorz Sierpiński
Houshmand Masoumi
Elżbieta Macioszek
This first experience is dedicated to a deepening, in an interview formula, on the future of spatial planning in Italy both from a regulatory and technical-disciplinary perspective, also concerning what is happening in other countries. In line with the aims we had set, we decided to involve, in this first phase, both colleagues working in Italian universities and those working in foreign universities and research centres.
The influences of the built environment on travel behavior in Iranian cities are under-researched. Such gaps in research are not limited to Iran, but other countries of the Middle East and North Africa and in general, many developing countries lack such studies. In Iran, no empirical studies on the effects of urban land use on travel behavior including travel length, travel frequency, transport mode choice, and car ownership of residents of new cities and suburbs exist. Thus, in this paper, it has been attempted to describe the potentials of polycentric urban form and employment clusters for positively influencing commute and non-commute urban trips in new Iranian new cities and the suburbs on the periphery of the new cities or the mother cities. For that, the international literature of polycentric urban form are reviewed. Such literature includes urban development conceptual models and theories, some of which are economics and some are physical. Likewise, the effects of employment clusters and centers on urban travels in the western world and developing countries are explained. Limited examples from developing countries include Mexico and China, and a more relevant example for Iran is introduced from Turkey. As the main body of the paper, a discussion about the necessity for developing research frameworks targeting the importance of residential self-selection and the possible positive effects of planning job centers including shopping malls, urban sub-centers with different scales, etc. is presented. Meanwhile, two proposals are presented to Iranian scholars for future research: first, cross-sectional studies comparing the function of centered neighborhoods in new cities and suburbs of mother cities, second, longitudinal analysis of the travel behavior impacts of developing large employment centers. Both research proposals can be done by means of collecting disaggregate data using questionnaires. The findings will help decision makers have a better understanding about the uses of job locations in providing alternative and sustainable urban transportation. In the meantime, they will strengthen the scientific body of literature related to the topic. The above are proposed having in mind that the pull factor of land use can have limited effectiveness in affecting urban trips compared to stronger socioeconomic factors in the Iranian context.
This special issue collects the results of some of the most-recent studies on the MENA countries to fill out a part of the gap in English-language publications. The main topics covered by the issue include the following with focus on the MENA region:
- The role of urban form and land use in forming urban travel behavior;
- Urban sprawl and urban travel behavior;
- The effects of historical urban transformations on urban mobility decisions;
- Car ownership and use; car dependency;
- The impacts of socioeconomics and culture in forming the transport patterns;
- Lifestyles and personal preferences and urban travels;
- Perceptions of mobility, safety, security, neighborhoods;
- The interactions of travel behavior and health effects of different ages, genders, and income groups;
- Travel behavior of public transport riders;
- … and similar topics.
The target countries of this issue are the ones that are referred to as the MENA counties in most of the definitions. Studies on the cities of Turkey and Pakistan are also of particular interest and welcome. Manuscripts about all city sizes are reflected by the issue.
All submissions will go through rigorous double-blind review, and if accepted will be published. Interested authors are requested to contact Dr. Houshmand Masoumi at masoumi@ztg.tu-berlin.de, to discuss submission and review procedure. All submissions will be done via the electronic submission system of TeMA (http://www.tema.unina.it).