Assessing Trip-Generating Development Licensing from a Sustainable Urban Mobility Perspective: An Integrative Review with Evidence from Brazil

Licensing processes for trip-generating developments (TGDs), referred to in the Brazilian literature as Polos Geradores de Viagens (PGVs), remain predominantly guided by an operational logic centered on local roadway performance, despite progress in the literature on sustainable urban mobility. This article examines these regulatory frameworks from a sustainable urban mobility perspective through four analytical dimensions: licensing scope, metrics, urban context, and mitigation strategies. Based on an integrative review of scientific and technical–institutional sources, the results show that recent conceptual and normative advances have not translated into a substantive reorganization of regulatory practice. Level of service (LOS) continues to be the dominant reference, the built environment is incorporated only to a limited extent, and mitigation measures are still focused on expanding roadway capacity. The analysis of the regulatory frameworks of five Brazilian jurisdictions reinforces this diagnosis. The findings suggest that aligning TGD licensing with sustainable urban mobility principles requires coordinated changes across the four dimensions, moving beyond piecemeal adjustments and adopting an evaluative logic capable of supporting more accessible and sustainable urban environments.