Mobility for Development

The WBCSD studied the state of mobility in four rapidly growing cities in the developing world – Bangalore, Dar es Salaam, São Paulo and Shanghai. Its final report ( 2.3 MB) concludes that although mobility opportunities are increasing and are an important driver of economic development in all cities, overall mobility systems are not sustainable and for poorer residents the mobility situation is deteriorating.

Mobility is essential to economic and social development. It enables people to access goods, services and information, as well as jobs, markets, family and friends. Mobility can enhance quality of life, but the development of mobility in today’s conditions also brings congestion, air pollution, traffic-related accidents and the environmental costs of transportation.

The situation is nowhere more acute than in the cities of the developing world where rapid growth, population density, poverty and inequality, limited public capacity and resource shortages add further to the challenge of enabling people and goods to move about sustainably.

The Mobility for Development project set out on a process of research, dialogue and learning in four cities – Bangalore in India, Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, São Paulo in Brazil and Shanghai in China – to better understand how public agencies, business and civil society in these rapidly growing cities are working to develop solutions to the mobility opportunity divide and the negative impacts associated with mobility.

The project built on earlier work of the WBCSD, summarized in the publication Mobility 2030: Meeting the challenges to sustainability. The report defined sustainable mobility as “The ability to meet society’s desires and needs to move freely, gain access, communicate, trade and establish relationships without sacrificing other essential human or ecological values, today or in the future.”

What we have learned

Overall, the mobility opportunities in all four cities are expanding, but for the poor the mobility situation is deteriorating. Pedestrians, cyclists and bus passengers have to travel on increasingly congested city streets and poor sidewalks. Transport-related health and safety risks remain a serious problem. The bad state of roads and vehicles, poorly controlled intersections and inexperienced drivers are the main causes for transport-related deaths and injuries. Congestion is getting worse.

Stakeholders are not confident that sustainable mobility will be achieved in their cities and many fear that the situation will deteriorate further. They see inadequate stakeholder consultation in planning processes, a lack of coordination among municipal authorities, a lack of capacity in integrated planning and implementation, and lack of capacity to finance and maintain investments as the main barriers.

What can be done?

Sustainable mobility needs comprehensive, integrated planning. Governments need to take an integrated and inclusive approach to urban land-use and transport planning and to ensure access to mobility to a wider population by integrating public and private transport modes. Innovative solutions can help mitigate negative transport impacts.

The four cities are investigating and developing intelligent transport systems. These can improve traffic flow, increase the efficiency of fleet operations and provide passenger information systems on public transport services. They can also be used to integrate paratransit service providers into public bus systems. Public-private partnerships can be an effective means to enable service improvements and cost savings. Lastly, individual transport users need to be educated and empowered to make safer and more efficient mobility choices.

The findings of the Mobility for Development report can only present a snapshot of the status of mobility in these cities today. Hopefully, the dialogues organized in each city will not have been one-off events, but part of a continuing debate through which progress will be assessed over time.

Documents

• Mobility for Development (full report) ( 2.3 MB)


• Mobility for Development – Executive summary ( 2.8 MB)


• Mobility for Development – Executive summary (Japanese) ( 2.9 MB)

Background reports

• Mobility as a Driver for Economic Development: Brazil Case Study


• Mobility as a Driver for Economic Development: India Case Study


• Mobility as a Driver for Economic Development: Tanzania Case Study


• Mobility as a Driver for Economic Development: China Case Study

Further information

• Mobility for Development Facts & Trends ( 797 kb)

Presentation

Click though the presentation below (prepared in early November 2009) to get an overview on the Mobility for Development project - including history / background, lessons learned from the case studies and dialogues, messages, and next steps.