The first phase of research explores the state of the practice, via a scan of policies and initiatives implemented in Europe and North America that have attempted to effectively leverage the land use-transportation (LUT) interaction, focusing on the degree to which measurable outcomes have been achieved.

The second phase of research aims to assess the specific Portuguese context; here the aim is two-fold: (1) to understand and ultimately improve the institutional, political and financial frameworks within which relevant planning and investment decisions take place and (2) better understand the physical urban landscape in Portugal, for the purpose of identifying where relevant policies might best be applied.

The third phase of the project focuses on the development and application of land use-transportation LUT models; in some sense, this constitutes the “heart” of SOTUR: the models will be used to analyze policies/programs/projects in specific Portuguese urban settings. Several different modeling approaches will be employed, enabling comparison of the adequacy of the different techniques in a sort of “laboratory.”

The fourth phase focuses on the development and application, in conjunction with the LUT models, of performance measures to better assess the overall effectiveness of LUT interventions. Finally, the SOTUR project results will be disseminated through a handbook and web-based toolkit.