Determinants of urban mobility in India: Lessons for promoting sustainable and inclusive urban transportation in developing countries

Studies from developed economies have analyzed the key factors for understanding urban mobility, which are important to design appropriate interventions to reduce the volume of transport needs and to promote more sustainable modes of transportation. However, there are limited studies in urban areas of developing economies, which can hinder our capacity to formulate sustainable transport policies that are fit for the reality of those countries. In order to fill this gap, this study quantifies the influence of city features and socio-economic and socio-cultural variables on mobility patterns to identify evidence-based policy interventions for promoting more inclusive and sustainable transportation paths. The research estimates the amount of public and private transport (proxied by out-of-pocket travel expenditure) and modal choices, employing multivariate analyses, using a nationally representative household survey from the 98 largest Indian cities. Findings reveal that densification in Indian cities reduces the amount of transport as well as enhances the probability of using public transport. Small and medium sized cities predominantly use private transport, whereas large cities prefer public transport but lack non-motorized transportation. Moreover, income is the most important determinant of the amount of transport and the use of motorized and private transport. The top quintile is the only with positive income elasticity of transport demand. Results show that public and non-motorized transport infrastructures will provide sustainable and inclusive development, besides other co-benefits, such as energy security. Based on these findings, several policy recommendations are proposed to improve the sustainability and inclusivity of urban mobility in Indian cities

Assessing governance challenges of local biodiversity and ecosystem services: Barriers identified by the expert community

This paper assesses barriers to local biodiversity and ecosystem (BES) governance within cities, drawing on findings from an international expert survey encompassing 45 cities in 25 countries. BES is recognised as a key foundation for sustainable cities, yet current literature indicates that more clarity is needed on the factors which may undermine BES initiatives. Survey findings show broad agreement that officials in development sectors have inadequate BES knowledge, budgets for BES are insufficient, and planners in the locality lack knowledge about BES. Respondents not working for local governments were more likely to see policy change with administrations, budget limitations, and lack of expertise as barriers. Respondents for cities in less-developed countries agreed significantly more that there were harmful cultural activities, and were more concerned that inadequate consideration from governments at different scales and poor internal communication were barriers. Based on the findings, we suggest (a) a need to evaluate the effectiveness of collaboration both within government and between sectors; (b) the importance of building capacity within local government staff, both in techno-scientific knowledge and in engaging the policy landscape with this knowledge; and (c) the importance of further considering how BES conservation may relate to culturally meaningful practices

The role of intergovernmental relations in response to a wicked problem: An analysis of the COVID-19 crisis in the BRICS countries

Globally, policy environments have become increasingly more complex with the growth in the number of wicked problems, such as that posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. In their response to these problems, public administrations have, from necessity, become heavily reliant on their intergovernmental relations systems, as the challenges posed generally require multilevel responses. This paper analyzes the role of intergovernmental relations in shaping the responses of the BRICS countries when confronted with COVID-19. We develop an analytical framework to understand the dynamics of intergovernmental relations in these countries. Based on this we assess the capacity of the state and political systems to manage intergovernmental relations and ensure effective responses to the COVID-19 crisis. This framework is based on an analysis of three dimensions of the policy domain: the political and state system, formal and informal institutions, and the political alignment between them. Whilst state and political systems were found to be instrumental in formulating an immediate response to the crisis, informal institutions and political processes also played a prominent role in determining the extent to which strategies were implemented, particularly in countries that are more decentralized. Countries lacking the robust formal institutions needed to facilitate intergovernmental relations and to ensure swift policy responses, tend to deliver ineffective and inefficient results when confronted with wicked problems

Fuel switching in slum and non-slum households in urban India

Improving access to modern fuels is essential in developing countries for reducing adverse human health and environmental impacts caused by traditional fuels. Fuels use in developing countries is heterogeneous across households. This paper estimates drivers of fuel switching in non-slum and slum households in urban India, using a discrete choice model on a nationally representative micro data. The choices considered are three categories of cooking fuels: traditional – firewood, dung, crop residue and coal/charcoal; modern – kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG); and mixed fuels. The results suggest that the patterns of fuels use are consistent with the energy ladder theory in urban India. In addition to income, the major determinants of modern fuels uptake are fuels prices, access to electricity and water supply, and education attainment. The increasing price of LPG affects the willingness to change fuels for low-income non-slum and the high-income slum households negatively. The analyses make a strong case for applying differential subsidies on modern fuels employing multidimensional aspects of poverty. Moreover, there is a need for partial diversion of existing fuels subsidies on improving physical and social capitals, which will result in uptake of modern fuels, particularly among disadvantaged communities

Can oil corporations positively transform Angola and Equatorial Guinea?

Oil production has been a major source of export revenues for many African countries, and yet has played a questionable role in the development of sub-Saharan Africa. Multinational companies in the oil sector have had established operations in the continent for several decades, despite many operational difficulties. In some countries, they endured an institutional environment that was not particularly attractive to business, such as civil wars, famine, lack of safety, disease and widespread corruption. On the other hand, once they were established, they could operate with limited government regulation or social control from civil society, especially with respect to environmental and social standards. Allegations of bribery, environmental degradation, social conflict and lack of integration with the local economy have historically plagued the behaviour of corporations in Africa (Bayart et al. 1999). Recently, however, there appears to be some positive movement towards responsible management of African oil revenues that is gaining attention (Katz et al. 2004). How companies and governments leverage these opportunity costs is particularly important to understand in the context of African development

Towards a low emission transport system: evaluating the public health and environmental benefits

Climate change mitigation strategies offer significant societal co-benefits such as improvement in public health, air quality, local economy, and even safety. By considering these co-benefits during the transportation planning process, local governments would be able to link their local appreciate mitigation actions into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), where diverse objectives should be achieved simultaneously. This study first clarifies the co-benefits approach to climate change mitigation in the transport system, by introducing an integrated multiple-impact framework known as A-S-I (Avoid-Shift-Improve) to evaluate the co-benefits. Thereafter, it applies the quantitative modeling approach to assess public health and environmental co-benefits of the implementation of the Tehran Transportation Master Plan, “the TTMP” in the city of Tehran, Iran, which includes targeted interventions such as shifting from private vehicles to the urban transport system, improving vehicle technologies and introducing alternative fuels. The results from the application of “the TTMP” reveal a significant reduction of CO2 and other local air pollutant emissions by 12.9 and 1.4 million tons, respectively, prevention of about 10,000 mortality cases, and more than USD 35 million savings by 2030

Peace with Hunger: Colombia's Checkered Experience with Post-Conflict Sustainable Community Development in Emerald-Mining Regions

The interactions between conflict and local development has puzzled scholars and practitioners alike. This article explores why the advent of peace in Colombia's emerald-mining regions for the past few years, as well as a broader national peace process, has not delivered the expected development dividends among mining communities. We contrast differences in stakeholders' perceptions between levels of governance (local, regional and national). Based on the research, we conclude that while stakeholder collaboration is successful at the regional and national levels of governance, it fails at the local level. While peace has allowed an increase in mainstream business investment in mining, this has concentrated production in a few hands leading to a deterioration in many aspects of community livelihoods and wealth distribution. There has been a shift in the concentration of wealth and production from traditional elites to large companies. Communities noted a loss of collective assets and lack of community and institutional capacity to overcome pressing issues in a post-conflict market economy that favors those who control capital and technology. Based on an evaluation of community perceptions through a focus group methodology, this study recommends ways to prepare and better coordinate stakeholders to engage with complex relationships, and protect community assets in a collaborative governance scenario. This research suggests that political reconciliation processes amid complex resource geographies require greater devolution and community engagement on post-conflict economic development during the peace process itself