Economic analysis and prospective simulation in the low carbon town planing. Application of TRANUS+ model to Grenoble city

Strategic spatial planning in France is currently given a rising importance for environmental and climate issues. Is this tool really able to reduce urban sprawl and produce an efficient framework for reducing transport emissions? What are the potential contributions of economic analysis and prospective modelling to planning? To answer these questions, we developed a study on the contributions of economic tools to planning into the broader context of political and administrative reforms in France. We then produced a critical analysis of current planning practices and attempted to define the conditions for a better integration of economic analysis into planning processes and methods. For our case study on the Grenoble urban area, we built and applied a series of economic tools able to inform decision-making on local climate policies in the framework of urban planning. In addition to being the first implementation of the integrated transport - land-use model TRANUS in France, this study further links the TRANUS model to an original economic methodology to obtain a tool we call TRANUS+. This tool is able to take into account the systemic nature of cities and then help to define better transport policies, notably by producing marginal abatement cost curves useful at the urban level. To have a more complete view of urban planning and the way in which it can be improved, we investigated several issues from a planning perspective: the choice of modelling tool and the role of cost-benefit analysis, energy poverty in the transport sector and electric vehicle deployment. (author)