Designing and modelling Havana’s future bus rapid transit

A single bus route in Havana’s bus system is modelled from the current position to a modernised bus rapid transit (BRT). The system is based on an expert-led visioning process and Cuba’s official planning documents, which define the high-level design criteria and their objectives. Building on the experiences of BRT systems that operate in other Latin American cities, a conceptual design for Havana’s BRT system is defined in terms of the key institutional, technical and financial frameworks, and physical criteria that need to be considered. Based on the application of the conceptual design for Havana’s BRT, a model for a single BRT route was constructed and modelled for emissions and capacity. The current situation and a future BRT scenario are modelled using a single bus route. The scenarios demonstrate that the current bus route with a BRT system can lead to lower overall emissions. The model suggests that if properly designed, Havana’s BRT system has a realistic potential for providing, in a cost-efficient manner, the improvements in accessibility, employment generation, fuel efficiency and air quality required for achieving Havana’s sustainable transport vision. The study finds critical factors, including the finance and business operating model, capability and planning

Pension systems compared : a polarised perspective, a diverse reality

Production of INCASI Project H2020-MSCA-RISE-2015 GA 691004Globalisation and international competition have a spillover effect on the reforms of pension systems that imposes a similar pattern of dismantling, hardening access to pensions, reducing expenditure and retrenchment in said reforms. The comparative analysis of four countries with different pension systems: two liberal (United Kingdom and Chile) and another two with contributory-proportional systems (Spain and Argentina) serves to determine the details of the reform processes, which discursively seem to have a shared pattern recommended by the international financial and economic institutions. But the reality of the four case studies shows considerable differences in the implementation of the pension reform policies. The reforms depend on the societal context, institutions, history, the role of unions, the government in power, demographic factors and economic perspectives, among other matters. Many countries need to sustain pension systems because they are associated with many pensioners' political vote. Therefore, the spillover effect of globalisation and the convergence in certain uniform patterns of reforms is far from reality in the four countries, and as such, the measures adopted are specific for each country

Social Security Coverage and the Labor Market in Developing Countries

This paper analyzes the reasons behind the low rates of contribution to social security programs in developing countries. Using a large set of harmonized household surveys from Latin America we compare contribution patterns among wage employees, for whom participation is compulsory, with contribution patterns among self-employed workers, for whom participation is often voluntary. In all countries, contribution rates among salaried workers are similarly correlated with education, earnings, size of the employer, household characteristics and age. In addition, contribution patterns among salaried workers are highly correlated with contribution patterns among the self-employed. Our results indicate that on average more than 30 percent of the explained within-country variance in contributions patterns may be accounted for by individuals low willingness to participate in old-age pension programs. Nonetheless, we also find evidence suggesting that some workers are rationed out of social security against their will

The challenge and response to global tourism in the post-modern era: the commodification, reconfiguration and mutual transformation of Habana Vieja, Cuba

There is a growing literature on the symbolic and cultural meanings of tourism and the ways in which cities are increasingly competing for tourists through the promotion of cultural assets and different forms of spectacle in the `tourist bubble'. To date, research on the role and impact of tourism in cities has largely been confined to those in Western, post-industrial economies. This paper examines the growth of cultural tourism in the central area of Havana, Cuba, and explores the range of unique, devolved, state-owned enterprises that are attempting to use tourism as a funding mechanism to achieve improvements in the social and cultural fabric of the city for the benefit of residents. The paper concludes with an assessment of the implications of this example for our understanding of how the pressures for restructuring and commodification can be moderated at the city level. Copyright 2008 SAGE Publications. All rights reserved. Not for commercial use or unauthorized distribution