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Strategic participation for sustainable transportLake Sagaris, MSc., PhD (c) Planning and Community DevelopmentCiudad Viva, Santiago, Chile.Transforming Transportation, Washington 2012Overcoming the challenges of integrating urban transportation systems

The University of Life: It started with a march and...

Ciudad Viva (Living City) was

born in the fight of 25

community organizations

against a major urban highway

concession, Chile’s first, the

Costanera Norte (1996-2000).

We saved our neighbourhoods

from destruction and voted to

continue with new proposals.

...became citizen-led planning.

Citizens and

government celebrating pro-

cycling roundtable,

Santiago 2007-

2010.

Practical, real-world

experience and the reflection

and theoretical development of MSc. and PhD. studies (urban

planning)

What’s at stake?

Sustainable transport matters

Going from this

to some version of this...

New living systems require:

• A new equation: • Citizens x (widespread understanding + articulatedemand) = political will to change.

Academic Academic knowledge: knowledge:

bridging across bridging across silossilos

Experiential Experiential knowledge: knowledge:

Recognition of Recognition of value addedvalue added

Participatory institutions for Participatory institutions for bridging: sustainable transport bridging: sustainable transport

equivalent of Chambers of equivalent of Chambers of Commerce.Commerce.

THE (FATAL) ATTRACTIONS OF AUTOMOBILITY...

•100 years, billions of dollars in advertising…

•Main product (after mortgages) in the financial industry.

•For users, cars (like cigarettes) promise “freedom”: door-to-door service, user-defined timing, ability to

carry cargo (especially children and groceries)

HOW CAN WE CURB THE CAR?

Cycling advocacy exploding worldwide...

•Missing to date:

•Citizens’ movements and advocacy in favour of all sustainable transport, including

public transport and BRT.

•We won’t get more sustainable cities without them...

Practicalities = Policies

Strategic participation1. Fundamental 1: Making PARTICIPATION

strategic

2. Fundamental 2: POLICY STREAMS AND ENTREPRENEURS

3. Fundamental 3: POLICY TRANSPLANTS

4. Planning and implementation: starting from people

5. Putting it together, sustainable transport as part of new systems for living

Fundamental 1: Strategic participation

Well-planned, well-integrated participation builds connections among disparate groups and players, tuning individual voices by providing them with

information and incentives to sing out, but above all connecting them, so they function with all the

power, inspiration and effectiveness of a well-trained choir.

Partners Opponents

FansOutsiders

positive negativeAttitude on the issue

muc

hlit

tleIn

flu

en

ce

Co-operate Involve

Utilise Inform

Mobilizing “ecologies of actors”(or “policy entrepreneurs”)

Source: Tom Godefrooij, I-CE/Brabant

planners, The Netherlands

TIME is an issue: the one-two rule of policy innovation

•20- to 30-year cycle for significant policy change,

•roughly four stages.

1.Small innovations, often erroneous and/or imperfect

2.Contagion: problem-solution-crisis

3. “Sexy city”, crisis, or other catalyst

4.Exponential growth, often from one-city level to national policy

The one-two rule: maintain the movement 2/3

Experts (technical staff, academics, NGOs, operators, others)

The one-two rule: create pro’s, to counter the contras 3/3

CREDIBILITY DEPENDS ON

KnowledgeSkills

ConnectionsIndependence

Individuals are good, organizations better

Continuity beyond government turnover

Independent monitoring and evaluation that other people value, credibility

Instant data, which can replace, supplement or complement expensive studies

Optimal conditions for successful pilots

Accumulate: Skills, knowledge, capacity, relationships, networks.

Fundamental 2: Policy streams and entrepreneurs

Policy not “rational-technical”Reflects framingand agendasetting(Kingdon)

Connecting PROBLEM and POLICY streams

How can we resolve Who’s asking?

Congestion, road safety City and regional governments, citizens

Air pollution Governments at all levels, especially regional (metropolitan), CSOs, health actors

Obesity/sedentarism, non-communicable diseases, social determinants of health

Governments, WHO (urban, transport and education systems highly relevant)

Inclusion: access to the city’s benefits (jobs, culture, education, etc.)

International agencies, policy makers, individuals, families andneighbourhoods

Improvement to public spaces, children Cities, neighbourhoods, people, especially children (nowhere to play), public health especially US)

Social justice -- human, social, economic, environmental rights

Women, disabled, elderly, children, full inclusion -- international agencies, policymakers, citizens.

Global warming/climate change, especially heat island, transport energy

International agencies, lead cities, environmental and other citizens’ groups

Peak oil Public policy makers, leading edge academics and thinkers (business, media)

Loss of biodiversity International agencies, environmental groups, biologists

Water quality International agencies, policy makers, lead cities, environmental and other citizens’ groups

Fundamental 3: Getting the most out of policy transplants

Leverage points

Where change happens

Level of action Formal relations Informal practices

Constitutional level (ground rules)

Legal systems Value orientations

Policy area level (relations between governmental bodies)

Formal regulations Informal codes

Operation level (daily activities)

Procedures

De Jong et al. The Theory and Practice of Institutional Transformation

Roles

Who does the leveraging? Our policy entrepreneurs (Kingdon), mavens, connectors (Gladwell and others), “owners”

Passive recipients vs...

Active policyentrepreneurs

A specific kind of communication needed

You have all these allies sitting out there on your buses, walking or riding alongside on their bikes, how to bring them on-board?

Communication

FORMAL SPACES

LARGE AND SMALL

LARGE FORMAL SPACES

SMALL GROUPS, FORMAL

AND INFORMAL SPACES

Communication-participation spectrum

4. Planning and implementation: starting with the right people (the choir director)

Bringing people together: deliberationSmall groups and large

Ongoing and one-off

Multiple feedback mechanisms

Genuine integration: of people into processes, of walking and cycling into public transport, of different transport layers within the city, with respect for public spaces.

Don’t call a vet when you need a doctor...Not communications, marketing, sociology...

We need experts in URBAN SYSTEMS (the spatial dimension) and PEOPLE. INTERACTIONS and RELATIONSHIPS. DIVERSITY. INCLUSION. EMPOWERMENT.

Wholistic, bridge-builders, strong participatory skills. Most common in NGOs and CSOs (civil society organizations), adult education, some health, urban planners (north), anthropologists, human geographers, mediation (law, women’s studies).

Civil society actors KEYExtensive networking, diverse relationships (internal, external), multiple skills.

Horizontal relationships: governments set rules and

give orders, the private sector sells, civil society educates and invites people to change.

Low-risk experimentation, small-scale to mid- to large.

CREDIBLE, autonomous, transparent, communicate

Outsiders, effective innovators (Jane Jacobs: innovation comes from outside the system).

All over the world...

Global CSOs sowing grassroots change: bottom up, but also middle out, and reaching through the top, down. Interface for Cycling Expertise, ITDP, Embarq...

5. Putting it together...by focusing on people

Remember that sustainable transportis the answer: what if the question is how to live happier, healthier, more socially inclusive lives?

WHO - Public health: new priorities everywhere

Social determinants of health

Obesity epidemic, under- and over-nutrition

Mainstreaming health into every policy area

WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, HEALTH NGOS AND HEALTH AUTHORITIES, EG. KENYA, CHILE,

INDIA, US, CANADA.

Obesity epidemic, under-and over-nutrition

The main challenge in public health for the 21st century, in both developed and developing countries

Associated with high-calorie, low-nutrient foods

And car-based urban (not only transport) systems.

EG. THE ACTIVE LIVING CENTER, US, FINANCING CIVIL SOCIETY AND RESEARCH, PUBLISHING URBAN DESIGN

AND OTHER MANUALS TO FIGHT THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC.

ACTIVE LIVING

RESOURCE CENTER

OVERWEIGHT & OBESE ADULTS

HEALTHY ADULTS

62 %

38%

ACTIVE LIVING

RESOURCE CENTER

OBESITY RATES IN THE UNITED STATES IN 1989

LESS THAN 10% OBESE

10-14% OBESE

15-20% OBESE

MORE THAN 20% OBESE

NO DATA

ACTIVE LIVING

RESOURCE CENTER


LESS THAN 10% OBESE

10-14% OBESE

15-20% OBESE

MORE THAN 20% OBESE

NO DATA

ACTIVE LIVING

RESOURCE CENTER


LESS THAN 10% OBESE

10-14% OBESE

15-20% OBESE

MORE THAN 20% OBESE

ACTIVE LIVING

RESOURCE CENTER


LESS THAN 10% OBESE

10-14% OBESE

15-20% OBESE

MORE THAN 20% OBESE

ACTIVE LIVING

RESOURCE CENTER


LESS THAN 10% OBESE

10-14% OBESE

15-20% OBESE

MORE THAN 20% OBESE

MORE THAN 25% OBESE

Developing countries too

Sedentarismo en Chile

SOBREPESO, OBESIDAD SOBREPESO, OBESIDAD Y Y

OBESIDAD MOBESIDAD MÓÓRBIDARBIDA

Sobrepeso 43%Sobrepeso 43% > en Hombres> en Hombres

Obesidad 25%Obesidad 25% > en Mujeres> en Mujeres

Ob.MOb.Móórbida 2.3%rbida 2.3% > en Mujeres> en MujeresFUENTE : ENCUESTA NACIONAL DE SALUD 2003FUENTE : ENCUESTA NACIONAL DE SALUD 2003

NACIONAL: 89.4% NACIONAL: 89.4%

HOMBRES: 87.9%HOMBRES: 87.9%

MUJERES: 90.8%MUJERES: 90.8%

What about healthytransport?

Bans on pro-car advertising

Health warnings on cars: “Driving causes cancer, obesity, heart attacks, diabetes 2 and other disabling and fatal conditions.”

Ban on cars in “sensitive” areas:

• congested, polluted, vulnerable population (residential, commercial)

• needy population, especially children, desperate for places to play and move,

• low-income and high-density living spaces...

Healthy transport-only roads and districts: Imagine the savings in infrastructure if ST has its own roads!

Health measures:

Not as crazy as you might think

After all, as Peñalosa reminds us, we’re building our cities for a hundred years

Some cities have already started, and

They are succeeding with cigarettes...

Take short trips OFF buses and metros and improve comfort

Limit space on roads, discourage car use for short journeys, give whole roads to buses and active transport, improve

walking and cycling access as part of projects

Improve quality, expand catchment area: walking 1 km in 15 minutes, cycling or cycling-rickshaw-taxi 5 km, added comfort

(loads), reduced costs (stations more spaced out)

Add green: to corridors, bus-ways, access ways, roofs of stops and service buildings. Think water.

Transport/land use/public space

We are already seeing (relatively) isolatedexamples of these shifts.

We need to mobilize them more often, more

coherently, in more diverse spaces...

Arguments for reduced car use

Increasingly cars are used for short trips (under 5 km) – from 41% (Santiago) to as much as 75% (New York-Manhattan).

Drivers at high risk for heart attacks, road rage and other physical and mental health problems

Children spend long hours being shunted from one place to another by car, limiting their physical, mental and social development

For “road diets” and “complete streets”

Arguments for Women

Trip-chaining makes public transit expensive

Multiple roles, particularly shopping and children, make public transit very uncomfortable for tasks involving cargo

Double duties leave little time for health-related activities.

To foster cycle use

Public transit as “back-up” for bad weather, ill health, cycle breakdown, getting over physical barriers (hills, highways).

Saves money – makes car ownership unnecessary and can save on feeder services and station costs

Multiple health benefits from both cycling and public transit use.

FOTO JOSÉ IGNACIO MOLINA

For Social Justice and Inclusion

Learning to see the whole picture: Fitting the pieces together

Walking and cycling: short distances from 0-

7 km, including transport ingress and

egress trips

Public transport: medium to long

distances, medium to high density, concentrated destinations

Car: Long Car: Long distances, low distances, low

densitydensity

concept: Tom Godefrooij, I-CE.

Modal share local trips in Selected Cities (%)

City

Sustainable Transport

(PT + W + C)

Pub. Tr.

(PT)

Walking

(W)

Cycling

(C)

Car/ mot,

cycle

Hong Kong 84 46 38 0 16

Santiago 73 33 37 3 27

Amsterdam 67 15 26 26 34

Sao Paulo 66 29 37 0 34

New York 62 54 8 0.4 32

Berlin 61 25 26 10 39

Delhi 57 42 n.d. 15 29

Copenhagen 51 12 19 20 49

London 50 19 30 1 50

Toronto 44 35 9 55

Stuttgart 40 15 21 4 59

Chicago 12 6 5 1 88

•A Powerful Alliance is possible

……and and necessarynecessary

When will we see these kinds of movements advocating for public transport too?

When we work together!

Walking, cycling, public transit are complementary modes.

Better conditions for all three offer potential for strong, complementary effects – and better reviews from the public.

Campaigning and design information from walking- and cycling-inclusive planners can significantly improve public transit’s image and facilities.

Participation by active, well organized citizens and their organizations is a STRATEGIC NECESSITY

We live the city of our dreams, from the first moment we

dare to dream and build it, together.