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Sustainable Urban Transportation in the Global South – Understanding and Addressing the Challenge

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A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Urban and Rural Development".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2021) | Viewed by 25335

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Madhav Badami

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Guest Editor

School of Urban Planning and McGill School of Environment, McGill University, Room 400, Macdonald-Harrington Building, 815 rue Sherbrooke Ouest, Montréal, QC, Canada
Interests: environmental policy and planning; urban infrastructure and services; urban transport; alternative transport fuels; and environment and development

Prof. Geetam Tiwari

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Guest Editor

Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, Room MS 815, Main Building Hauz Khas, New Delhi - 110016, India
Interests: transportation planning and accident analysis; traffic flow analysis; design of high capacity bus systems; analysis of alternative urban layouts; highway capacity analysis; traffic calming; sustainable transportation; road safety

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Motor vehicle activity has been growing rapidly in the Global South, and is expected to continue to do so, along with rapid urbanization and growing incomes. This phenomenon is causing serious adverse health and welfare, environmental, and socio-economic impacts, with profoundly important implications at the local, regional and global scales, even as it has greatly expanded mobility for millions. These challenges are particularly daunting, not only because of their scale, but also given the inadequate technological and political-institutional capabilities to address them.
This Special Issue of the Sustainability journal aims to understand and address this challenge, with specific reference to urban transport in the Global South. Although the focus will be on the Global South, we welcome contributions to this Special Issue from across the world.
We invite paper submissions that discuss the challenges and barriers associated with, and strategies for, promoting urban transport systems that are safe, health promoting, environmentally responsible, resource conserving, cost-effective, and socially equitable, in the Global South. Paper submissions may address this topic in one or more of its multiple dimensions (environmental, socio-economic, scientific-technological, political-institutional, human behavioural); reflect one or more of multiple perspectives (decision maker, commuter, public, etc.); and draw on one or more of a range of disciplines. At the same time, the papers should explore the implications of the research that they present, for sustainability, broadly conceived. The papers may focus on the situation in the metropolitan centres or in small and medium sized cities, or they may have a national, or even regional focus. Finally, and importantly, the paper submissions should be critical and analytical, rather than merely descriptive.

Following are some of the issues that the paper submissions may focus on, within the context of sustainable urban transport in the Global South:

trends in motorization and the use of other urban travel modes
travel demand management
urban transport-land use interactions
urban transport and health, including road safety
accessibility and active transportation; planning for non-motorized modes
energy and environmental impacts of urban transport, including air pollution, and climate change
alternative transport fuel systems, including electric vehicles
public transit and paratransit
urban transport impacts for the urban poor; affordability and equity
metrics and analytical approaches for assessment of sustainable urban transport systems
policy, decision-making, investments, and institutional mechanisms for sustainable urban transportation

You are welcome to send the guest editors a brief abstract, if you wish, to enquire about the appropriateness of your proposed paper submission for consideration in this Special Issue.

Dr. Madhav Badami
Prof. Geetam Tiwari
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

sustainability
urban transport
global South
challenges
barriers
policies
analysis

Published Papers (6 papers)

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Research

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14 pages, 3629 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Why Choose to Cycle in a Low-Income Country?

by Rahat Sabyrbekov and Indra Overland

Sustainability 2020, 12(18), 7775; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187775 - 21 Sep 2020

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 4234

Abstract

Research on the adoption of the bicycle as a means of transport has been booming in high-income countries. However, little is known about bicycle adoption in lower-income countries where air pollution is high and cycling infrastructure is poor. Understanding the drivers of cycling adoption in developing economies can increase the efficiency of transport policies while reducing local air pollution, improving health, and cutting greenhouse gas emissions. The objective of this study is to identify the factors affecting cycling uptake in a low-income country using the city of Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan as a case study. The analysis is based on the Theory of Planned Behavior, a questionnaire-based survey of 900 respondents, factor analysis, and a logit model. In contrast to studies carried out in developed countries, this study finds that students are less likely to adopt cycling than other population groups. Other findings suggest that support for public transport, a desire for regular exercise and perceptions of the environmental benefits of cycling increase the probability of the use of cycling as a mode of transport in a low-income country. The paper also identifies positive and negative perceptions of cycling among cyclists and non-cyclists. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Transportation in the Global South – Understanding and Addressing the Challenge)

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16 pages, 2667 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Association between Regular Use of Ridesourcing and Walking Mode Choice in Cairo and Tehran

by Hamid Mostofi, Houshmand Masoumi and Hans-Liudger Dienel

Sustainability 2020, 12(14), 5623; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12145623 - 13 Jul 2020

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2578

Abstract

The rapid adoption of ridesourcing poses challenges for researchers and policymakers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), as it is an evolving new transport mode, and there is little research explaining its effects on mobility behaviors in this region. There is a concern that ridesourcing, which offers convenient and relatively cheap door to door services, encourages citizens to replace their sustainable travel modes, like walking, with car use. This effect has been studied relatively well in metropolises of the West, but less in the MENA agglomerations. This paper investigates whether regular use of ridesourcing impacts the walking mode choice in Cairo and Tehran. The analysis uses the results of 4926 face-to-face interviews in these two cities to compare the preference for using a vehicle instead of walking between regular users of ridesourcing and other motorized modes, including public bus, urban transit rails, private car, and traditional taxi. The findings indicate that in Cairo, the regular ridesourcing users are more likely than regular users of public transport to use a vehicle instead of walking inside their neighborhood. However, in both cities, ridesourcing users are less likely than regular private car users to replace walking by using vehicles. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Transportation in the Global South – Understanding and Addressing the Challenge)

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22 pages, 3473 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Revisiting Accessibility in a Context of Sustainable Transport: Capabilities and Inequalities in Bogotá

by Daniel Oviedo and Luis A. Guzman

Sustainability 2020, 12(11), 4464; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114464 - 01 Jun 2020

Cited by 38 | Viewed by 5005

Abstract

This research sets out to examine the interaction between accessibility, social inequalities and sustainability by revisiting a well-documented case of inequalities in access in Global South cities: Bogotá. Our analysis builds on the concept of accessibility, focusing on the role of transport as an enabler of opportunities for social interactions, healthcare and leisure, which are essential to the full participation in society. The research applies a methodological framework for accessibility developed and tested in the Latin American context, though it has not been previously applied to non-commuting travel. Our paper contributes to the existing evidence base showing the relevance of non-commuting travel to sustainable transport assessment in contexts of high inequality, which can be scaled up and applied in other contexts with various levels of social and environmental inequalities. The empirical analysis is based on data from Bogotá’s household travel survey. Using this dataset, we measure accessibility using a gravitational type of metric that is calibrated based on observed travel behavior. Accessibility levels were estimated by car and public transport for every zonal planning unit in the Bogotá Region. Accessibility indices are analyzed from an equity perspective using metrics such as the Palma ratio for differences of income and socioeconomic positions. Results show that on average, low- and middle-income areas have higher accessibility than high-income areas by both private and public transport. Accessibility conditions are discussed considering a framework of transitions to sustainable urban mobility, reflecting on various drivers and consequences of barriers to access in different areas and social groups. Our findings provide insights to support actions that redistribute accessibility of opportunities beyond the job market, questioning the applicability of accessibility measures to discuss equity and sustainability in cities such as Bogotá. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Transportation in the Global South – Understanding and Addressing the Challenge)

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21 pages, 2531 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Understanding Public Transport Ridership in Developing Countries to Promote Sustainable Urban Mobility: A Case Study of Mexicali, Mexico

by Alejandro Sánchez-Atondo, Leonel García, Julio Calderón-Ramírez, José Manuel Gutiérrez-Moreno and Alejandro Mungaray-Moctezuma

Sustainability 2020, 12(8), 3266; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12083266 - 17 Apr 2020

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 3352

Abstract

Some small- and medium-sized Global South cities have unsustainable transport systems and no information to plan interventions in addition to having limited resources for data collection. This study proposes a method to understand Public Transport (PT) ridership in cities of these characteristics, based on previous studies and by analysing available indicators related to Manheim’s macro-variables, to identify their influence on the PT ridership. The method was applied in the city of Mexicali, Mexico. The results help to understand the causes of the low PT ridership and have implications for achieving sustainable urban mobility in the city. Findings reveal that mobility planning in Mexicali has been occurring without properly considering activity system related variables, so it is necessary to integrate urban and transport administration. Moreover, to increase PT demand in Mexicali, mobility strategies to discourage the use of private cars are necessary. The proposed method can be applied in other cities of the Global South with characteristics similar to the case study to understand the causes of PT ridership, so these can be considered by the agencies responsible for the planning of the city’s transportation system to promote a sustainable urban mobility. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Transportation in the Global South – Understanding and Addressing the Challenge)

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22 pages, 2327 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Commuting in Urban Kenya: Unpacking Travel Demand in Large and Small Kenyan Cities

by Deborah Salon and Sumila Gulyani

Sustainability 2019, 11(14), 3823; https://doi.org/10.3390/su11143823 - 12 Jul 2019

Cited by 26 | Viewed by 7357

Abstract

In Kenya’s capital city, Nairobi, streets are regularly gridlocked. While it is clear that roads are congested at peak hours, it is not known which commuters are experiencing that congestion or what their commute times actually are. Even less is known about commuting patterns in other Kenyan cities. This paper contributes new evidence on commuting from a survey of 14,580 households, conducted in 15 Kenyan cities in 2013. Walking and matatus—privately-operated paratransit—account for 89% of all adult commuting in urban Kenya. As cities increase in size, the proportion relying on walking falls and matatu use increases. Within a city, commuters with higher income and education, and those living further from the city center, are more likely to use matatus rather than walk. Commute times are surprisingly short. In smaller Kenyan cities the median commute time is just 20 min. In Nairobi, the median commute time is 30 min, and only 5% of those surveyed reported commuting an hour or longer. These data paint a remarkably sustainable picture of urban travel patterns in Kenya. As incomes, education levels, and demand for motorized travel rise, the challenge will be to expand and improve the system while maintaining its sustainability. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Transportation in the Global South – Understanding and Addressing the Challenge)

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Review

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25 pages, 1344 KiB

Open AccessReview

Can We Have Our Cake and Still Eat It? A Review of Flexibility in the Structural Spatial Development and Passenger Transport Relation in Developing Countries

by Rogier Pennings, Bart Wiegmans and Tejo Spit

Sustainability 2020, 12(15), 6091; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12156091 - 29 Jul 2020

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1638

Abstract

With growing urban populations, higher mobility needs, limited available space for transport infrastructure, and the increasing need for more attractive urban areas, these urban areas are faced with a complex dilemma, which gets more challenging by the day. This paper examines the role of flexibility in the relationship between structural spatial development and passenger transport, its economic, environmental, and social perspectives, the long-term impacts of this relationship and the role of this relationship in developing countries. The paper identifies the need for a better understanding of long-term flexibility in development options in order to make better future-proof decisions as a key research avenue, and sets a pathway to achieve this. Main research gaps as identified in the paper include the lack of understanding on the potential for flexibility in optimizing the structural spatial development and passenger transport relationship, the valuation of flexibility, and the application of flexibility approaches in developing countries. This paper emphasizes the importance of acting sooner rather than later, since the future costs of sub-optimal development are rising by the day and the bill is being pushed towards future generations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainable Urban Transportation in the Global South – Understanding and Addressing the Challenge)

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