Abstract

Developed at the request of the Mexican G20 Presidency for consideration by the Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors at the G20 Leaders' Summit in Mexico, and jointly prepared with the Asian Development Bank, this policy paper positioned green transport in the context of cities development. Urban transport determines the shape of a city and its ecological footprint. Many cities in low and middle income countries are at a crossroads. Policy decisions taken now, while car use is still relatively low and cities retain a relatively transit friendly, compact urban form, will affect how people will live in their cities for many decades into the future. A new paradigm of urban transport can be part of the solution to reversing the deteriorating situation in some cities of developing countries, and supporting others to embark on a sustainable, low carbon, green growth path: developing a city for people rather than cars, and including public and mass transport as a major component of the modal structure. Implementing such a new paradigm can be truly transformational. This joint World Bank and Asian Development Bank paper lays out six aspects, which are most difficult to align, yet, are critical to ensure the sustainability of urban transport systems, visionary leadership, integrated strategy for land use and urban transport, coordination among agencies, domestic capacity, adequate cost recovery, and private participation in the operation and construction of urban transport systems. The paper proposes a set of new initiatives for G20 leaders' consideration, including the development of an umbrella toolkit to guide policy makers in charge of urban planning to make transport decisions best suited to their local contexts.

Abstract

part of a long-term partnership between the World Bank and Brazil, the Federal Government of Brazil sought the World Bank’s assistance to review road safety management capacity in Brazil, building both on past experiences in the country and international best practices. This National Road Safety Management Capacity Review, therefore, was prepared by the World Bank, with the support of the Global Road Safety Facility (GRSF). The primary objective of the review is to evaluate the multi-sectoral capacity of road safety management in Brazil, identifying possible road safety challenges and presenting recommendations to address these challenges. The methodology of the review, in accordance with the guidelines of the World Bank Global Road Safety Facility, focused on examinations of key functional aspects of road safety, including institutions, legislation, financing, information, and capacities at all levels of government and among non-government actors. The review was prepared mainly based on interviews of key road safety stakeholders at the federal, state, and municipal levels, members of parliament, NGOs, and the private sector, in addition to direct inspection of roads and on-road behaviors, and the analysis of published research and reports on road safety. In addition, information and understanding gained from previous reviews of the states of São Paulo, Rio Grande do Sul, and Bahia were also incorporated.

Abstract

Globally, the Philippines is a minor emitter of greenhouse gases (GHGs), but cost-effective mitigation present opportunities that should be captured, noting that the country is one of the signatory member states to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and its Kyoto Protocol. The country accounts for less than 0.3 percent of global GHG emissions in 2004.4 However, emissions are on the rise from both energy-use and land-use changes. Even if the absolute scale will remain small, there are increasing number of development projects under preparation, which offers opportunities for cost-effective mitigation and adaptation measures. The Philippine Government's response to the climate change challenge has been active institutionally noting the recent restructuring of the Presidential task force on climate change. However, a clear strategy and action plan are still lacking. The international donor community, including development partners such as the Asian Development Bank (ADB), the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (ISDR), the Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), is actively engaged in addressing climate change in the Philippines. There are several initiatives on capacity building for GHG accounting, monitoring and reporting, for preparation of a second National Communication to the UNFCCC, governance, renewable energy, urban air quality management, and forest management. There are likewise several World Bank supported climate change-related activities, with nine active operations. These encompass primarily energy sector operations.

Abstract

[EN] The bicycle was for decades a mode of transportation with full presence in most Spanish cities. Until the consolidation of the so-called economic miracle, in the 60s, only public transports would dispute the hegemony in the use of public space. But with the advent of economic development the irruption of the automobile, outstandingly represented by the Fiat 600, manufactured in Franco s Spain as Seat 600, that order of things was reversed. A certain complex of "nouveau riche" was installed in the social consciousness and getting around on a bicycle was reduced to the poorer classes; even the emerging middle class, that could hardly aspire to buy a car, did not kept cycling, and opted for public transportation instead. As economic development, initiated after the Economic Stabilization Plan of 1959, got consolidated, the new middle class made the ownership of a car a symbol of triumph and the bicycle disappeared from the urban landscape. To this extinction largely contributed the attitude of the Public Administration that far from protecting and promoting it, saw it almost as a shameful transportation, unworthy of a society that pretended to be developed. Thus the use of bicycles as a mode of transportation virtually disappeared in the city, reduced to a limited use as a sport. But in the last decades bicycle as a transport mode has come to back to the city, reclaiming a hegemony that should have never lost. Gaja Díaz, F. (2015). The bicycle: mass urban transportation a paradigm shift. Case study: the City of Valencia. WIT Transactions on the Built Environment (Online). 146:27-37. doi:10.2495/UT150031 S 27 37 146