Assembling Bus Rapid Transit In The Global South

This book explores the mobile ethnography of Dar es Salaam, where consultants and politicians have planned and implemented a bus rapid transit (BRT) system for two decades. It analyses the dual processes of assembling BRT in the Tanzanian metropolis and establishing BRT as a policy model of and for the Global South. The book elucidates how policy models are constructed and circulated around the globe and depicts the processes by which they are translated between, and materialise within, specific contexts. It presents the case of BRT to demonstrate how technocrats shape these processes through persuasive work aimed at disseminating and stabilising this transport model, and how local actors influence its adaptation in Dar es Salaam. The book adopts a ‘double mobility’ approach to show how this ethnography follows travelling consultants, circulating policies and moving buses to explore the fluidity of the BRT model. Linking key debates in policy mobility studies and Science and Technology Studies, enriched with postcolonial perspectives and geographies of transport and infrastructure, it offers new insights into the technopolitics of planning and implementing infrastructure systems. This book will appeal to academics and students of human geography, transport studies, science and technology studies, and African and development studies interested in the technopolitics of transport planning.

This book seeks to better conceptualise and define mobility poverty, addressing both its geographies and socio-economic landscapes. It moves beyond the analysis of ‘transport poverty’ and innovatively explores mobility inequalities and social construction of mobility disadvantages. The debate on mobility poverty is gaining momentum due to its role in triggering social exclusion and economic deprivation. In this light, this book examines the social construction of mobility poverty by delving into mobility patterns and needs as they are differently experienced by social groups in different geographical situations. It considers factors such as the role of transport regimes and their social value when analysing the social construction of individual ́s mobility needs. Furthermore, the gaps between articulated and unarticulated needs are identified by observing actual travel patterns of individuals. The book offers a comparison of the global phenomenon through fieldwork conducted in six different European countries – Greece, Portugal, Italy, Luxembourg, Romania and Germany. This book will be useful reading for planners, sociologists, geographers, mobility/transport researchers, mobility advocates, policy-makers and transport practitioners. The Open Access version of this book, available at https://doi.org/10.4324/9780367333317, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license.

Policy-making is more globally connected than ever before. Policy ideas, experiences and expertise circulate with great speed and over great distances. But who is involved in moving policy, how do they do it, and through which arenas? This book examines the work involved in policy circulation. As the first genuinely interdisciplinary collection on policy circulation, the book showcases theoretical approaches from across the social sciences—including policy diffusion, transfer and mobility—and offers empirical perspectives from across the world.

Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) is commonly discussed as an affordable way for cities to build sustainable rapid transport infrastructure. This book is the first to offer an in-depth analysis of BRT, examining the opportunities it presents along with the significant challenges cities face in its implementation. A wide range of contributors from both developed and developing countries bring expertise in fields ranging from engineering, planning and public policy to economics and urban design to provide a big picture assessment of BRT as part of a process for restructuring transit systems. Academically rigorous, based on five years of research conducted by the BRT Centre of Excellence in Chile, the book is written in an accessible style making it a valuable resource for academic researchers and postgraduate students as well as policy makers and practitioners.

How Cities Learn traces the circulation of bus rapid transit (BRT) to understand how and why it was widely adopted in South Africa. Investigates the global proliferation and localization of BRT Examines the production and distribution of transportation knowledge in the global south Addresses the spatial and social legacy of apartheid in South African cities Reveals a new way of understanding the intersections between policy, people and place Essential reading for scholars of geography, politics, sociology and transportation, as well as urban planners and practitioners

This book provides a theoretical and practical foundation needed to change the practice of land use management in Southern Africa. It presents an overview of alternative land use management system for South African municipalities that is economically, socially and environmentally more sustainable than many of the land use schemes in effect at present. Land use management is a component of spatial governance that controls the nature and extent of development to prevent harmful impacts on people and the environment. As the current system with its colonial/modernist planning and regulatory mechanisms were never designed to deal with rapid change, urbanisation and informality, a different form of land development and land use management is necessary. This timely book reflects the culmination of many years of practical experience and research into various aspects of land use management by the authors and studies undertaken by their master’s and doctoral students. The book goes beyond an analysis of the problems and suggests concrete proposals that can be applied throughout Southern Africa based on a rural to urban transect. This book is directed to a broad range of readers interested in spatial planning and land use management. It will be of interest to those in the fields of geography, urban studies, urban design, planning and architecture.

The structuring of Urban Space is as topical as ever in this era of climate change, hyper-urbanisation, post-digital labour markets, and geo-political power shifts. Scholarship of the contemporary urban condition is dominated by studies and examples drawn from the global north. Yet, cities of the global south are distinctive from those of the global north. Socio-political conditions structure patterns and practices of urban reproduction and, in turn, Urban Space reflects conditions in the Global South. Th­e result is different space related outcomes. Th­is is the central topic of this collection. In this book, a unique collection of case study-based accounts posits both English and Spanish academic literature to interpret and reinterpret the appropriation, negotiation and reconfiguration of Urban Space in cities, from Colombia to Namibia. ­This collection will be of particular interest to urban scholars and others interested in contemporary urban change, especially those with an interest in the Global South. Readers will encounter new perspectives on the State’s enduring influence in urban land and territory reconfiguration and the contrasting wider rhetoric that affords and legitimises a key role for the private sector. Th­e case studies also illuminate opportunities and possibilities for grassroots organising to challenge prevailing city actor hierarchies. ­They also highlight the political-economic consequences of particular cases of bus rapid transport projects for spatial and social segregation. Across these and other topics, recurring themes of inequality, governance, and environment are investigated in contested urban terrains. Th­e result is a unique collection of viewpoints, with a common, critical narrative on the present and future challenges facing cities of the Global South.

Climate change is one of the most significant global challenges facing the world today. It is also a critical issue for the world’s cities. Now home to over half the world’s population, urban areas are significant sources of greenhouse gas emissions and are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. Responding to climate change is a profound challenge. A variety of actors are involved in urban climate governance, with municipal governments, international organisations, and funding bodies pointing to cities as key arenas for response. This book provides the first critical introduction to these challenges, giving an overview of the science and policy of climate change at the global level and the emergence of climate change as an urban policy issue. It considers the challenges of governing climate change in the city in the context of the changing nature of urban politics, economics, society and infrastructures. It looks at how responses for mitigation and adaptation have emerged within the city, and the implications of climate change for social and environmental justice. Drawing on examples from cities in the north and south, and richly illustrated with detailed case-studies, this book will enable students to understand the potential and limits of addressing climate change at the urban level and to explore the consequences for our future cities. It will be essential reading for undergraduate students across the disciplines of geography, politics, sociology, urban studies, planning and science and technology studies.