Publication: Decarbonizing Cities by Improving Public Transport and Managing Land Use and Traffic
Date
2021-10
ISSN
Published
2021-10
Author(s)
Ardila-Gomez, Arturo
Bianchi Alves, Bianca
Moody, Joanna
Abstract
Urban transport is a significant
contributor to climate-warming greenhouse gas (GHG)
emissions in cities, with most urban transport emissions
coming from cars. More than seventy percent of global carbon
dioxide emissions come from cities, making mitigation
efforts at the local level an important contributor to
decarbonization. Urban transport also plays a fundamental
role in the economic activity and welfare of urban citizens.
Therefore, developing cities must find a way to continue to
improve accessibility, while decoupling growth in travel
demand from growth in GHG emissions. Affordable, safe, and
convenient urban passenger mobility systems are critical for
the welfare of urban residents, connecting people to jobs,
education, health care, and recreation. This paper argues
that cities in developing countries have a unique
opportunity to preserve and encourage sustainable urban
passenger mobility by building on their existing modal
shares in public transport, walking, and biking the low
carbon modes. Section 2 of this paper provides additional
detail on key mobility and land use challenges that
developing cities are facing. Section 3 outlines strategies
to overcome the challenges. Section 4 summarizes the
high-level takeaways and suggests a way forward for the
international community to support city governments in
providing better transport infrastructure, services, and
enabling environments to ensure their long-term financial
and environmental sustainability.
Citation
“Ardila-Gomez, Arturo; Bianchi Alves, Bianca; Moody, Joanna. 2021. Decarbonizing Cities by Improving Public Transport and Managing Land Use and Traffic. Transport Decarbonization Investment Series. © World Bank, Washington, DC. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/36517 License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”