cities conference ii - cepal
TRANSCRIPT
CITIES CONFERENCE II
https://ciudades.cepal.org/2018/en
With the support of:
In collaboration with:
Towards safe, affordable and sustainable urban mobility in Latin America
and the Caribbean
Financed bythe European Union
General Memorandum(2018)
CONTENTS
A. GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE CONFERENCE ................................................................ 2
B. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS OF THE CONFERENCE ........................................................ 4
C. OPENING SESSION .................................................................................................................. 7
D. SUSTAINABLE URBAN MOBILITY AND GLOBAL DEVELOPMENT AGENDAS IN
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN .......................................................................... 8
E. NATIONAL URBAN MOBILITY POLICIES AND PLANS (NUMPs) IN LATIN
AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN ..................................................................................... 10
F. SUSTAINABLE URBAN MOBILITY PLANS (SUMPs) IN LATIN AMERICA AND
THE CARIBBEAN ................................................................................................................... 11
G. FINANCING URBAN MOBILITY ......................................................................................... 13
H. REGIONAL TALANOA DIALOGUE – LOW-CARBON URBAN MOBILITY IN LATIN
AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN ..................................................................................... 14
I. STRENGTHENING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW URBAN AGENDA
THROUGH URBAN LEGISLATION .................................................................................... 16
J. MONITORING URBAN MOBILITY IN CITIES IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN ............................................................................................................................. 17
K. PRESENTATION OF THE SUSTAINABLE URBAN MOBILITY FOR LATIN
AMERICA PLATFORM ......................................................................................................... 19
L. EMPOWERING WOMEN IN TRANSPORT IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN ............................................................................................................................. 20
M. URBAN MOBILITY: OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACHIEVING CROSS-SECTORAL
ACTION TO IMPROVE URBAN HEALTH AND WELLBEING IN LATIN AMERICA
..................................................................................................................................................... 21
N. SMART MOBILITY: CHALLENGES AND OPORTUNITIES IN LAC .......................... 22
O. URBAN MOBILITY AND ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY IN LATIN AMERICA .......... 23
P. MULTI-ACTOR COORDINATION FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN MOBILITY IN
LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN ........................................................................ 25
Q. THE KEY ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE NEW URBAN AGENDA AND THE 2030 AGENDA .................................................. 26
R. URBAN MOBILITY AND SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT PROJECT PREPARATION
..................................................................................................................................................... 27
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A. GENERAL SUMMARY OF THE CONFERENCE
The Second Cities Conference (CCII) took place at ECLAC’s headquarters in Santiago, Chile
from October 16 to 19, 2018. The goal of the second version of the Cities Conference was to
present opportunities to accelerate the systematic implementation of safe, affordable and
sustainable urban mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean. This included the presentation of
tools for understanding and promoting sustainable urban mobility as part of the Regional Action
Plan (RAP) for the implementation of the New Urban Agenda (NUA) in Latin America and the
Caribbean, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement.
Objectives: The CCII brought together a wide range of different stakeholders involved in urban
planning, development and decision-making processes in cities, to discuss implementation
mechanisms for the RAP and the NUA in the region. Discussions focused on challenges
associated with governance, financing and monitoring for urban mobility, and included equity
concerns and gender issues, giving special attention to women in mobility, health and active
mobility. The overall objective of the annual Cities Conference is to offer a regional strategic
platform for dialogue focusing on the implementation of on the NUA and the fulfilment of the
SDGs, particularly SDG 11.
Structure: The CCII took place over 4 days; the first three days were focused on urban mobility
in Latin America and the Caribbean with key sessions addressing areas such as national urban
mobility policies (NUMPs) sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs), and equity and gender
issues. Topics such as opportunities to improve access to international and local financing; public-
private partnerships; smart urban mobility; and tools for monitoring urban mobility were also
analysed. The final day of the CCII addressed role of local governments in the implementation of
the NUA and the SDGs in the region. Additionally, the Initiative for Women in Motion (IWIM)
was launched during the Conference. The CCII also incorporated parallel seminars and side
events focused on urban legislation, multi-actor cooperation, and project management capacity
building. This Memorandum includes summaries for the following sessions:
➢ Introduction
➢ Sustainable urban mobility and global development agendas in Latin America and the
Caribbean;
➢ National Urban Mobility Planning (NUMP) in Latin America and the Caribbean;
➢ Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) in Latin America and the Caribbean;
➢ Finance for urban mobility: an alternative approach for mobilising resources in Latin
America;
➢ Regional Talanoa Dialogue – low-carbon urban mobility in Latin America and the
Caribbean;
➢ Strengthening the implementation of the New Urban Agenda through urban legislation;
➢ Monitoring urban mobility in cities in Latin America and the Caribbean;
➢ Presentation of the Platform for Sustainable Urban Mobility in Latin America;
➢ Empowering women in transport in Latin America and the Caribbean;
➢ Urban Mobility: opportunities for achieving cross-sectoral action to improve urban health
and wellbeing in Latin America;
➢ Smart mobility, challenges and opportunities in Latin America and the Caribbean;
➢ Urban mobility and energy sustainability in Latin America and the Caribbean;
➢ Multi-actor coordination for sustainable urban mobility in Latin America and the
Caribbean;
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➢ The central role of local governments in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda
and the 2030 Agenda.
➢ Preparing urban mobility and sustainable transport projects
The video recordings and presentations from the conference are available at the below links:
• Second Cities Conference in the Raúl Prebsich and Celso Furtado conference rooms:
o http://conferencias.cepal.org/IIconferencia_ciudades2018
• Link for the parallel event on urban legislation:
o http://conferencias.cepal.org/legislacion_urbana/index.htm
Profile of event participants: Representatives from national and sub-national governments, local
governments’ networks, international organisations, experts and academics on mobility and
transport issues, as well as representatives from the private sector and international cooperation
agencies.
Number of participants: 63 panelists (46% women and 53% men) in the main sessions and
approximately 400 participants during the CCII. Between 60 – 100 participants per day.
Web streaming: During the conference, a total of 328 users connected to the web streaming.
Press:
• Between October 12 and 20 October, 30 press articles related to the CCII were counted
through Meltwater. The countries with the highest numbers of publications were Chile,
Brazil. China, México y Perú.
• 9 posts were made in Spanish and English on Facebook related to the CCII, from October
12 to 20, which generated 52,000 impressions.
• 28 tweets related to the CC were posted on the official ECLAC Twitter account in
Spanish, between September 24th and October 31st, which generated more than 246,300
retweets.
• Photo albums were created on the Flickr accounts in Spanish and English with the
pictures taken by the Public Information Unit.
o Link in Spanish:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/cepal/albums/72157696635552310
o Link in English:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/eclac/albums/72157672401843597
Cities Conference website
• In Spanish: https://ciudades.cepal.org/2018/es
• In English: https://ciudades.cepal.org/2018/en
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B. GENERAL CONCLUSIONS OF THE CONFERENCE
1. Participation of new stakeholders:
ECLAC seeks to involve different groups of stakeholders in the Cities Conference and seeks to
accommodate a multi-sector and multi-scale dialogue. The first two Cities Conferences have
succeeded in bringing together representatives from national, local and sub-national governments,
development banks, private sector, academia and civil society to discuss the regional agenda
towards a sustainable urban development. As a result, the CC has become a key platform which
allows diverse participation from different sectors. The Third Cities Conference in 2019 will take
on an important role with a stronger component of public policy influence, serving as a
preparatory meeting for the World Urban Forum in 2020.
2. Cities as public policy instruments:
Cities and sustainable urban development policies can be vital instruments to achieve structural
change with equality and may serve as motors of growth if designed and implemented effectively.
This requires a multilateral and collaborative agenda capable of mobilizing interdisciplinary and
multi-sector actor networks. On one hand this implies addressing urban sustainability through
multi-sector government policies and on the other hand forming effective alliances among actors
from various levels of government, civil society and the private sector.
3. Caribbean Participation
It is worth highlighting the participation of the Caribbean governments in the dialogue. During
the conference, the participating Caribbean countries expressed the urgent need to act toward
adaptation to the effects of climate change this subregion faces and the need for action and support
to address mobility and transport issues.
4. Monitoring
The need for monitoring, follow-up and reporting is clearly recognized in numerous global
agendas as a key component of the effective evaluation of policies, programmes or plans. During
the conference, several consolidated local monitoring initiatives for urban mobility were
presented, with positive implications for the future. Nevertheless, there are significant challenges
which make the successful monitoring of urban mobility difficult. While consolidated initiatives
exist in the region, it is vital to improve access to information for more stakeholders. Additionally,
it is key to effectively consolidate information to and establish mechanisms that ensure this
information is comparable between different databases and to generate knowledge. Moreover,
capacity building for government officials in charge of monitoring and reporting was recognized
as a key part of the global agenda. Lastly, the lack of data collection related to human settlements
represents an important barrier for the development of urban policies which address the needs of
citizens.
5. Financing
National, regional and international development banks are fundamental actors for financing
sustainable urban mobility. There is currently interest in financing cities directly, however,
challenges remain regarding the way for local governments to receive these funds directly and
not through national or regional government. In parallel, it is necessary to strengthen the role of
the State in financing middle-size cities with sustainable mobility needs. To facilitate access to
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financing funds, it is essential to define the rules in terms of legislation for authorizing or limiting
levels of debt.
6. Gender
Even though there is ample knowledge on the different travel patterns between men and women,
as well as the differing concerns of women about personal security, there is still no systematic
inclusion of women’s needs in transport projects. This subject must be visible in order to end the
gender inequalities that perpetuate access to the city and resources. Therefore, it is necessary to
formulate specific sustainable urban mobility polices based on women’s experiences using public
transport. As a result, women would not only benefit, but there would also be a better
understanding of the needs of other transport users. Efficient, sustainable, accessible transport
systems will be hard to achieve if this situation is not addressed.
7. New platforms
The CCII provided a space to present existing and new platforms which facilitate knowledge
exchange between different cities and countries on sustainable urban mobility. At the regional
level, ECLAC, in collaboration with UN-Habitat and MINURVI, are developing the “Latin
American and Caribbean Urban and Cities Platform”, which has the objective of providing follow
up to the implementation on the NUA and the urban dimension of the SDGs. In its final stage, it
will include an urban mobility component. The Sustainable Urban Mobility Platform for Latin
America (PLATMUS) will also offer an important tool at the regional level. PLATMUS
development is coordinated by the Latin American Federation of Cities, Municipalities and
Municipal Associations (FLACMA), with technical assistance from the Institute for
Transportation and Development Policies, ITDP Mexico, as well as from its permanent partners,
ECLAC, UN Environment and MobiliseYourCity (MYC- GIZ and AFD).
8. Impact on urban health
A greater dialogue on urban health is necessary for achieving sustainable urban mobility. Urban
mobility and transport systems in the region´s cities have important physical and social impacts
on the health and wellbeing of urban inhabitants. The distribution of these impacts reflects the
inequalities within the region. Some of the key recommendations to face these challenges that
were highlighted during the conference are: reduce the quantity of trips made, change transport
modes, include inter-urban freight transport in work schedules and evaluations, and improve
technology in transport. All these actions together can have positive impacts and create synergies
with health and wellbeing, climate change mitigation, economic development and the fulfilment
of the SDGs.
9. Alliances and multi-actor collaboration
Alliances are tools that allow for the exchange of experiences, knowledge and financing, but,
mostly, generate a common framework for urban action. Projects can be developed individually
but are more effective when developed jointly. Such alliances help to extend the scope and reach
of a project. The CCII allowed the presentation of different regional networks that were
established with the goal of achieving sustainable development in the world. While ECLAC has
provided a platform for this type of dialogue with various stakeholders on the topic of urban
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mobility, it is also important to maintain and strengthen the alliances with actors that have been
involved with development and support for the conference in its previous version (e.g. The World
Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank, who could not be present in the second
version).
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C. OPENING SESSION
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Objective: Formally commence the conference with the participation of key actors.
Key messages:
• Climate change: the transport sector represents one of the highest contributions to global
pollutants (18.5%). It represents about 25% of the world demand for energy and 61% of
the yearly oil consumption. In the last 10 years, the region has doubled its total vehicle
fleet, adding 100 million vehicles to its roads. There are important challenges for
sustainable development in the region because of the growing motorisation rate and a
greater demand for unsustainable fuels, but there are also opportunities in the use of
public transport;
• Air quality: as a result of the doubling of the number of vehicles on the road, Greenhouse
Gas (GHG) emissions and atmospheric pollutants have increased. In 2016, more than
180,000 people died in the region as a result of diseases related to air pollution. It is
necessary to expand the debate on the effects of motorisation on urban health;
• Inequality: 56% of daily trips in Latin America are made on public transport and this
share can increase up to 75% in the lowest income quintiles. Additionally, a study by
CAF – Development Bank of Latin America in 2015 showed that 1 out of 5 people do
not have access to formal public transport within less than 10 minutes of their homes and
15% of informal settlement dwellers lack any form of public transport;
• Gender and transport: inefficiency and lack of security in the transport sector affect
women to a greater extent. Statistics show that women take a larger share of their trips
using public transport and walking compared to men. Considering this, improving urban
mobility in the region and ensuring an accessible and safe transport service is an essential
action to reduce inequalities and improve the use of quality time for all citizens in Latin
America and the Caribbean;
• Structural change: the city must be seen as an instrument for public policy. The city must
allow the governments to see the new urban paradigm that is not only related to the
mobility of the city and individuals, but also with technology, productive activities and
everything that affects sustainable growth in the long run;
• Digital advances have been crucial to substantially change mobility in recent years and
provide a key opportunity to improve transport conditions
• Immediate action is required to ensure effective changes in mobility by 2030.
Improvements are not only necessary in the urban agenda but also in the environmental,
social and productive agendas, including incorporating digital advances and new forms
of mobility.
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D. SUSTAINABLE URBAN MOBILITY AND GLOBAL
DEVELOPMENT AGENDAS IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE
CARIBBEAN
Tuesday, OCTOBER 16, 2018
Objective: This session sought to set the scene for the week’s discussions, providing a diagnosis
of the situation of urban mobility in Latin America and the Caribbean from different perspectives,
highlighting challenges and opportunities for action. The discussion addressed institutional and
governance-related dimensions, such as the role of urban planning, transit-oriented development
(TOD) and metropolitan coordination to promote sustainable mobility. The session also addressed
the importance of designing inclusive and integrated mobility services with a gender equality
perspective.
Key messages:
Regarding governance:
• In Latin America and the Caribbean, sustainable urban transport raises specific challenges
of coordination and orientation. This requires more robust urban governance through
capacity building and inclusion of a long-term perspective in a context of
decentralization;
• It is necessary to change the way in which investments are evaluated to avoid an unequal
distribution of city resources. Land use planning that seeks to reduce socio-spatial
inequalities is needed;
• A reassessment of urban transport policy, finance and legislation is required at the
national level. A new form of urban governance is needed to address the multiple levels
and facets of urban mobility problems;
• The need for subnational government involvement in global processes was highlighted.
Despite the fact that more than half of the population lives in cities, the city authorities
themselves are not included at the negotiation tables for global agendas. It is important
for cities to understand their role in achieving national commitments. Similarly, platforms
and spaces such as the Cities Conference are needed so that they can participate in global
processes and contribute to sustainable development in the region.
• The Caribbean subregion must be given greater priority in terms of investment. Currently,
it is one of the most vulnerable zones to climate change, but little attention has been given
to its needs with regard to urban mobility.
As for global agendas:
• The NUA proposes integrated interventions in the creation of programmes, projects and
initiatives for urban development. However, greater synergies between different sectors
in the cities (transport, amenities, public space, local economic development) are needed;
• Integrated urban operations that allow for a wide and multidimensional approach to urban
development are needed. This will allow for the more effective advancement of urban
mobility as part of international agendas: NUA, 2030 Agenda and the Paris Agreement;
• There is potential for integration between different global agendas (NUA and 2030
Agenda) when working for improved accessibility to the different services a city has to
offer;
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• Investment in infrastructure in terms of quantity and quality is needed, from the basis of
a better planning and better project selection. It is necessary to improve and prioritise
project selection that promotes the implementation of Agenda 2030. Additionally,
projects should be structured based on evidence and integrated to other city issues.
Regarding inequality:
• Addressing the sustainable development and climate change agendas jointly allows for
more effective reduction of social and territorial inequities;
• There are challenges associated with the more than 2.5 billion estimated urban residents
by 2050. Under this scenario, cities must ensure accessibility to jobs, food and social
activities. Consequently, mobility will have an important role in guaranteeing this
accessibility;
• In order to tackle inequality, it is necessary to have clear transport policies that address
problems and provide solutions for marginalised communities and include them fully in
urban life (informal workers, low-income groups and women);
• More awareness on the impact of personal actions on others is required to move forward,
as well as recognising the opportunities of big data and new technologies to improve the
transport sector. Moreover, new policies at national and local levels and greater and more
focused international support are needed.
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E. NATIONAL URBAN MOBILITY POLICIES AND PLANS (NUMPs)
IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Tuesday, OCTOBER 16, 2018
Objective:
National Urban Mobility Policies (NUMPs) are key tools for stimulating and facilitating
countrywide action on urban mobility. They are strategic policies or programs developed by
national governments which better enable cities and subnational governments to address urban
mobility opportunities and challenges. The session presented the NUMP concept and its key
components and introduced the new EUROCLIMA+ NUMP projects in Latin America and the
Caribbean.
Key messages:
• From CEREMA’s perspective, one of the main challenges of NUMPs is to include
projects as part of more global and ambitious policies which guarantee quality of life in
cities;
• MobiliseYourCity is an initiative that, together with ECLAC, works in Latin America
and the Caribbean to help national and subnational governments construct national
policies and sustainable urban mobility plans;
• The Euroclima+ project allows, through Measuring, Report and Verification (MRV), the
assessment of NDCs (Nationally Determined Contributions) for each country in the
sector;
• The Euroclima+ project will enable technical support for the construction of national
mobility plans for three countries in the region. This process could be replicated and
circulated through the PLATMUS platform that is under development;
Country experience:
• The National Sustainable Transport strategy in Chile promoted the use of electric buses.
One of the main challenges was to connect the urban transport strategy with other policies
in the country. Currently, the country is developing the work plan for the design and
implementation of the NUMP. It is expected that this will result in a National Sustainable
Mobility Strategy, an Urban Mobility Programme for mitigation and adaptation to climate
change and a pilot for a Regional Sustainable Mobility Plan;
• The National Urban Mobility Programme in Ecuador seeks to guarantee equitable access
to opportunities through low-emission transport. Currently, it is in the stage of defining
terms of reference and a MobiliseYourCity workshop was held in late November 2018;
• Uruguay has a strong institutional and political framework on urban and climate issues.
Currently a project is being developed which seeks to promote electric urban mobility.
This project intends to work with pilot cities to construct technical guidelines on the
intersection of mobility and urban development. An expected project result includes
financial tools and promotion mechanisms for electric mobility.
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F. SUSTAINABLE URBAN MOBILITY PLANS (SUMPs) IN LATIN
AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
Objective: Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are widely accepted as key tools for
successfully implementing sustainable urban mobility in cities. SUMPs seek to improve
accessibility in urban areas and provide high quality and sustainable urban mobility and transport
systems for all. This session presented the SUMP background and key concepts, and introduced
the new EUROCLIMA+ SUMP pilot projects in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Key messages:
• The SUMP concept has a detailed implementation methodology based on European
experience, which is adapted in Latin America for the needs of the region.
• It is possible to achieve systematic improvements with local level plans. The panel
showed several examples of implementation in various cities in Mexico, Brazil,
Argentina, Cuba, Ecuador and Peru. The presented plans included improvements in
policies and projects that directly fulfil the objectives of the SDGs (11.2) and reduce
emissions. Although there were no explicit indications of this for all the projects
mentioned, the actions are coherent with emission reduction.
• Key points from the presented cities:
o Córdoba, Argentina:
▪ Includes previous financing and bus electrification projects, as well as
expanding the cycle track network;
▪ One of the city’s goals is to develop a tool for modelling emissions;
▪ The plan has a 24-month time frame;
o Baixada Santista, Brazil:
▪ Regional mobility and logistics plan;
▪ Includes goals within different time frames (short, medium and long
term);
▪ Integration with the port and improving urban planning.
o Antofagasta, Chile:
▪ Studies for a tram and a cable car were developed, however neither of
them was approved. Currently the city is studying the possibility of
another type of electromobility system;
▪ Extension of the cycle track network by 16 Km.
o Havana, Cuba:
▪ Large and low-density city (2.2 million inhabitants, 725 km2 with a
residential density of 3,000 people/km2);
▪ The city is facing the devastating effects of adverse climatic events
resulting from climate change (Hurricane Irma had a devastating effect
on the island’s infrastructure);
▪ SUMP seeking to reduce emissions, save energy and linked with a
similar UNDP project.
o Ambato, Ecuador:
▪ Seeking to update the mobility master plan for the city;
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▪ Trip patterns are mainly towards the city centre;
▪ The plan is being developed jointly among different government entities,
academia and civil society.
o Guadalajara, México:
▪ Seeking to update the integral sustainable urban mobility plan;
▪ The plan’s objective is updating information, prioritizing corridors and,
generally, complementing the work already carried out.
• It is necessary to support technical and institutional capacities, and to provide sufficient
funding (occasionally from the national government) to implement long-lasting projects.
The support of SUMP EUROCLIMA+ is an example of this;
• It is vital to have a more systematic approach to sustainable mobility improvements, and
SUMPs are a methodology to achieve this. One of the objectives of EUROCLIMA+ is to
find ways to implement them;
• The definition of SUMPs includes not only improvements in services and existing
systems, but also integration with urban development, and in some cases urban logistics;
• In order to successfully implement SUMPs, it is necessary to involve different
government, citizen and occasionally academia stakeholders, as well as other relevant
actors (e.g. “mobility roundtables” with different players).
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G. FINANCING URBAN MOBILITY
Wednesday, OCTOBER 17, 2018
Objective: To discuss how a holistic approach to thinking about urban mobility can lead to
securing financing and increasing the effectiveness of investment in Latin American and
Caribbean cities. The session presented opportunities and challenges for investment and financing
of urban mobility in Latin America, with perspectives from multilateral organisations,
international cooperation agencies and municipal governments.
Key messages:
• Advancing towards cities with sustainable urban mobility systems requires financing
models suitable for the territorial context of cities (subnational level) and their size (large
or medium). Not only is city size important, but it is key to take into account the level of
debt capacity, budgets and technical capacities for medium cities;
• It is important for cities to develop integrated multimodal urban mobility plans instead of
isolated projects. This results in more effective and attractive projects for financing;
• Public-private partnerships (PPP) are a useful mechanism to finance infrastructure
projects aimed at improving urban mobility. Additionally, PPPs are instruments that
allow project schedule fulfillment, management of the intermediate stages and
maintenance through implementation. These characteristics are fundamental for urban
mobility projects, nevertheless, PPPs are not necessarily applicable to all aspects of
projects;
• It is necessary to strengthen integration between mobility and urban logistics policies and
those related to land-use planning and urban development to advance towards an ordered
urban growth;
• It is important to highlight that if cities opt to increase road capacity for cars at the same
time as developing mass transit systems, this will affect availability of resources and
encourages incomplete solutions for sustainable urban mobility;
• Overall, the region has improved planning and there are successful examples of
multimodal and fare integration of urban mobility systems. Nonetheless, the private
vehicle fleet is still increasing, and this negatively impacts the region’s potential to
achieve goals set by global agendas. In order to reduce emissions and fulfil the Paris
Agreement, it is necessary to think outside the box. To achieve this, economic, fiscal and
regulatory measures aimed at discouraging the use of private vehicles and promote modal
shift are recommended.
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H. REGIONAL TALANOA DIALOGUE – LOW-CARBON URBAN
MOBILITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Wednesday, OCTOBER 17, 2018
Objective: During 2018 the Fijian Presidency of the UNFCCC encouraged the use of Talanoa
Dialogues: "Talanoa is a traditional word used in Fiji and across the Pacific to reflect a process
of inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue. The purpose of Talanoa is to share stories,
build empathy and to make wise decisions for the collective good through storytelling and
listening. Using the Talanoa approach, the aim of this session was to improve understanding of
the effects of urban mobility on climate, how to accelerate action and sharing stories to take wise
decisions based on experiences. This dialogue was developed around three questions: where we
are, where do we want to go and how we get there.
Key messages:
• The vision of a sustainable transport system must be developed based on current
conditions and mark a shift from transports systems from the past century. To break this
paradigm, better coordination and collective development of a new transport system is
needed;
• Cities in Latin America and the Caribbean tend to have grown in a disorderly fashion that
creates accessibility and connectivity problems associated with mobility. As a result,
many urban mobility alternatives to access goods and services involve increased travel
times, congestion, GHG and pollutant emissions.
Where are we?
• Modal shift is closely related to improvement in service quality for public transport. It is
vital to take this component into account when designing public policies to promote
sustainable transport;
• Investment is not adequately acquired to generate a change in the public transport system.
This affects not only its functionality but its quality. In systems such as those in Bogotá
and Santiago there is a decreased demand and decreasing; numbers of public transport
system users;
• There have been changes in policies, but there are still problems in financing, institutions
and quality;
• Havana does not have adequate infrastructure to cater to current mobility needs. The
modal share of transport in the city is favourable, however, existing infrastructure does
not appropriately accommodate this diversity and there is currently no plan that supports
adaptation. The city calls for the region and multilateral agencies to provide financial and
technical support to find the answers to these needs.
Where do we want to go?
• Currently, the coordination between different sectors and government agencies with
regard to urban mobility is inadequate. A focus on improving horizontal involvement
between sectors and vertical coordination with different levels of government is
recommended;
• It is important to involve citizens in the formulation of regulatory frameworks. This
promotes a greater appropriation and materialization of projects in the short term;
• It is a regional priority to promote public transport with quality standards regarding
service and fleet and to avoid the tripling of car use. Currently, there is no regulatory
capacity to demand better quality standards for fuels or technology to reduce public
transport emissions;
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• Generating social awareness and promoting access to information will be tools to change
the current development pattern.
How do we get there?
• Collectively: citizens and transport users must be involved in the development and
implementation of urban mobility systems. Often in the region, transport is designed,
operated and managed by people who do not use the transport system;
• Improved horizontal and vertical coordination between different governmental agencies;
• Improved quality of public transport to make it more efficient and attractive to a wide
range of users is critical to tackling climate change;
• In the region, more transport investments are needed to support low carbon transport
investments.
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I. STRENGTHENING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW
URBAN AGENDA THROUGH URBAN LEGISLATION
Wednesday, OCTOBER 17, 2018
Objective: This parallel event was organized by the UN-Habitat Regional Office for Latin
America and the Caribbean, the hub for UN-Habitat for Andean countries and with the
sponsorship of the Spanish Ministry of Development. The aim of this session was to discuss
opportunities and challenges to strengthen the implementation of the NUA through urban
legislation.
Key messages:
• The advances in the region have been limited in terms of urban legislation that supports
the implementation of the NUA. Networks and technical support are critical to advance
at a regional level and to encourage exchange among cities;
• Multilaterals have an important role to generate platforms for discussion in Latin
America;
• South-South cooperation is important to strengthen the voice and leadership of local
authorities for the implementation of planning and territorial management mechanisms;
• Greater levels of awareness of local laws and global agendas are required to empower
communities about their rights and responsibilities;
• The right to the city is the right to land, which includes rural land rights. In this way and
agenda of integral rights that consider the urban-rural dynamics should be promoted;
• The region has various examples of inspiring laws. For example, the inclusion of the right
to the city and the social function of land in Brazilian, Ecuadorian, and Colombian legal
frameworks. Advancing the monitoring of these laws to ensure their effective
implementation remains pending;
• ECLAC, UN-Habitat, and MINURVI’s Urban and Cities Platform will offer a space to
compile urban laws, monitor their impacts and exchange about existing and proposed
urban legislation;
• The College of Urban Jurisprudence (CJUR)’s proposal to develop a regional urban
agreement addressing the right to the city could provide a collective opportunity to
promote the right to the city in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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J. MONITORING URBAN MOBILITY IN CITIES IN LATIN
AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Wednesday, OCTOBER 17, 2018
Objective: There is insufficient data collection on human settlements in Latin America and the
Caribbean. This limits the development of urban policies that address the needs of city residents
and hinders the monitoring and analysis of government-implemented policies, programs and
plans. The aim of this session was to discuss these challenges and present regional and
international experiences with monitoring and reporting platforms while facilitating the exchange
of good practices.
Key messages:
• It is important to identify how to best strengthen the technical capacities for monitoring.
To accomplish this, it is fundamental to work in an intersectoral manner to define robust
monitoring systems. This will allow for more and more reliable information, allowing for
more appropriate decision making;
• Data is central to urban planning studies and documents. Even though data collection is
a costly process, it is necessary for understanding, defining, evaluating and continuing
quality projects that cater to the needs of citizens;
• It is necessary to develop monitoring tools that are easily accessible for citizens and
answer to relevant actors’ needs;
• Access to technology must be guaranteed for cities in order for them to perform data
analyses with reliable results.
• In the coming decades, data obtained from new technologies should continue to
complement data from more traditional sources;
• It is vital to find an effective way of consolidating data among different databases to
generate knowledge.
International experiences
• Transport and mobility will be key issues in the Latin American and Caribbean Urban
and Cities Platform. This platform is being developed in partnership with UN-Habitat and
MINURVI and seeks to track the implementation of the urban dimension of Agenda 2030
for Sustainable Development, the New Urban Agenda and the Regional Action Plan for
the implementation of the New Urban Agenda 2016 – 2036. Moreover, this platform
seeks to provide a space to enable the exchange of experiences and ideas to strengthen
regional, national and sub-national capacities for sustainable urban development in Latin
America. It also seeks to involve citizens and ensure access to quality information;
• Working with different data sources enriches the way cities and mobility are understood.
For example, the Catapult programme uses information from satellite applications to
analyse information on mobility. This opens the market on satellite information to
generate knowledge.
Regional monitoring tools
• CAF is developing a platform with regional information on transport. Based on this
experience, one of the main challenges to consolidate information is the heterogeneity of
databases, which makes difficult any analysis and comparisons;
Monitoring tools in Latin American cities
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• Havana has a low motorization rate (43 vehicles/1,000 inhabitants), nevertheless,
according to studies conducted in the city, infrastructure conditions for public transport
and pedestrian travel are not adequate;
• The greatest barrier for Havana is the lack of analysis tools and information models to
obtain maximum benefit from the existing databases. As an example, Havana does not
have facilities for measuring air quality, which means that this must be estimated from
emission analyses based on energy sources, increasing data uncertainty.
19
K. PRESENTATION OF THE SUSTAINABLE URBAN MOBILITY
FOR LATIN AMERICA PLATFORM
Wednesday, OCTOBER 17, 2018
Objective: The Sustainable Urban Mobility for Latin America Platform (PLATMUS) is being
developed under the coordination of the Latin American Federation of Cities, Municipalities, and
municipal Associations (FLACMA), with technical assistance from the Institution for Transport
and Development Policies, ITDP México, and permanent partners ECLAC, UNEP, and
MobiliseYourCity (MYC- GIZ and AFD). The session presented the concept of PLATMUS,
explaining the services that it will offer regarding dialogue promotion, experience exchange and
generation of new content (studies, programmes, implemented or current projects).
Key messages:
• The Sustainable Urban Mobility for Latin America Platform (PLATMUS) will allow
replication and scaling of sustainable mobility projects in different cities and countries;
• PLATMUS is designed to be a facilitating tool where diverse stakeholders from public
and private sectors and civil society come together to share experiences and information
on sustainable urban mobility;
• The tool seeks to share experiences from Latin America and the Caribbean, strengthen
capacities for mobility authorities, empower local governments, bring stakeholders
together, promote gender mainstreaming and, lastly, encourage network building;
• The platform seeks to support, collect and make available information on sustainable
urban mobility related to SDG11;
• The tool will be an integrated document repository, promote news and events, provide a
directory of consultants, monthly newsletter, training courses and a catalogue of
providers and services. The platform will track priority subjects, such as NUMPs,
SUMPs, PPPs and electromobility in the region.
20
L. EMPOWERING WOMEN IN TRANSPORT IN LATIN AMERICA
AND THE CARIBBEAN
Thursday, OCTOBER 18, 2018
Objective: This session focused on the systematic inclusion of women’s needs in transport
projects, posing the following question: How can women be empowered in the transport sector
so that their perspective is heard and represented in planning and decision making? The session
presented the experience of women’s mobility and the links of mobility and gender through
research, policy and operations. In addition, the Women in Movement Initiative was launched.
This initiative was recently created to empower women in transport.
Key messages:
• 20% of the workers in the transport sector are women and more than 70% of women have
suffered some type of sexual abuse or harassment in public transport in Latin America;
• The SDGs have concrete objectives and goals regarding gender equity: SDG 5 and SDG
11. To fulfil these goals, a transformation of local transport systems is needed, as these
reproduce the systems of inequity that characterise the region. The sustainability agenda
must be integrated to the gender agenda in order to succeed;
• Women must be present in the decision-making process, otherwise their experience will
not be included in the transport agenda. It is important for women to be part of the
conversation so that policies with a gender perspective are implemented;
• Women have different patterns and needs in cities when compared to men, and it is
necessary to consider them in transport planning to guarantee their access to city services;
• More research on gender topics is needed. Currently, the available information is not
disaggregated by gender, which means that public policy decisions cannot be taken based
on statistical evidence;
• Personal security has a significant impact on the mobility decisions of women, even
limiting their movement in some areas and at certain times of the day. This mainly affects
younger women, students, workers and women with low or middle incomes;
• Transport policies in the region do not consider the differences and needs in women’s
mobility, associated to their work, the non-paid work or the care-based economy.
Violence can affect women two-fold in transport systems; for instance, it affects greatly
travel times and also costs for low-income women;
• Women’s mobility patterns are more complicated than those of men. Their travel motives
are more diverse, their travel distances are shorter, trips are more frequent and closer to
the home, origins and destinations are more fragmented with different stops in-between.
Women make more trips accompanied and carrying more diverse loads;
• It is important to draw attention to the occurrence of sexual harassment on public
transport, as this is the reality of women’s experiences on public transport. The Bájale al
acoso programme in Quito allows people to activate a reporting mechanism through a
SMS;
• Efforts towards improving women’s conditions are always valuable, however, strategies
such as carriage segregation can change behaviours in the short run, but don’t impact the
root of the problem.
21
M. URBAN MOBILITY: OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACHIEVING
CROSS-SECTORAL ACTION TO IMPROVE URBAN HEALTH
AND WELLBEING IN LATIN AMERICA Thursday, OCTOBER 18, 2018
Objective: Urban mobility presents important links with the health and wellbeing of the
population. For example, the health impacts associated with urban mobility options and transport
systems can orient urban planning strategies toward active mobility and alternative transport
options in cities. This session convened a group of experts from different sectors and disciplines
to understand the links among urban mobility, health and wellbeing for citizens with air pollution
and climate change. There were presentations of concrete examples of these impacts and options
to tackle them.
Key messages:
• Low-carbon mobility is achieved through avoiding unnecessary trips, shifting to public
or active transport modes and improving technologies and energy efficiency for vehicles.
To achieve these objectives, climate action must be integrated with a sustainable
development vision consistent with the international agenda;
• According to the last report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC),
the transport sector has not reduced its GHG emissions. The region must face the
challenge of reducing its emissions, considering that it is expected for the vehicle fleet to
triple in the next 32 years;
• Public and active transport are not only desirable for their health benefits, but also because
they promote an efficient use of urban land, reduce congestion, improve public space
quality and result in less spatial segregation;
• To decrease car use it is necessary to invest in quality public transport, increase road
capacity and give priority to sustainable transport modes. This is achievable through the
explicit restriction of space and car use;
• It is important to consider other benefits (health, economic, environmental) of improving
connectivity and accessibility to different services in cities;
• The impacts of air quality are unequal, and their distribution reflects regional inequities.
Generally, those most vulnerable are children, pregnant women and low-income people;
• Introducing the impacts of freight transport into the debate is a challenge, especially
because of its effects on mobility, congestion and emissions of global and local pollutants.
22
N. SMART MOBILITY: CHALLENGES AND OPORTUNITIES IN
LAC
Thursday, OCTOBER 18, 2018
Objectives: The session aimed to address the emerging smart mobility solutions and how they can
contribute to solving the challenges Latin American and Caribbean cities face. The private sector
is leading the way by offering mobility solutions based on integrating digital technologies such
as big data, optimized algorithms, artificial intelligence, smart sensors, georeferencing, mobile
devices, and cloud computation. This has been translated into a series of applications that optimize
and offer mobility alternatives for people such as digitalizing maps, information systems with
address and time routes, apps for sharing transport (carpooling or georeferenced bicycle renting
systems), among others. Additionally, there is a strong push for electromobility and
experimentation with autonomous cars. However, these systems mainly benefit the most
privileged groups with access to the necessary resources (credit cards, digital devices, etc.) and
that live in geographic areas with better connectivity. The challenge, and at the same time the
opportunity is to incorporate innovative technologies and solutions into urban transport public
policies and improve access and quality for the most disadvantaged groups who traditionally
depend on public transport daily.
Key messages:
• The different waves of the technological revolution impact the character of cities.
Leadership is required to understand how new technologies can be incorporated into
urban infrastructure and improve the management capacities of the public sector;
• The private sector generates more data than the public sector. To truly benefit from the
digital revolution, we have to form alliances that allow public access to data. One of the
participating companies gave an example of their platform that compiles information on
bus fleets and shares it with the public;
• One presenter shared an experience with the use of georeferenced crime data and how
this helped to prioritize lighting pedestrian crossings using solar energy;
• Various presenters emphasized the value of digital stoplights and the accompanying data
analysis that helps improve the flow of traffic;
• Mobility is not only transport. A SmartCity includes an operation component and
sustainable energy sources;
• Distrust in the public-private sector is a challenge despite many positive experiences. This
includes mobility infrastructure with smart energy management such as the growing fleet
of electric and hybrid vehicles, including electric scooters. There is an opportunity to add
value to fleet management through digital information;
• An important discussion point is the institutional capacity for public-private collaboration
that improves city management and services.
23
O. URBAN MOBILITY AND ENERGY SUSTAINABILITY IN LATIN
AMERICA Thursday, OCTOBER 18, 2018
Objectives: In light of the fact that the transport sector is a large contributor to GHG emissions in
the region, which will likely increase in future years, this session focused on how to find
innovative mechanisms to advance towards a more sustainable urban mobility, supported by clean
and renewable energy. Due to the inequities in the region, the electrification of private mobility,
although necessary is not a sufficient solution in the medium-term. The region must change the
quality of its public mass transit systems and ensure that they run on sustainable energy sources.
The combination of investments in low carbon and renewable energy mobility industries to
change the energy matrix could drive sustainable production and contribute to the Paris
Agreement and the 2030 Agenda. This requires active policies linked with mobility policies in
addition to an energy transition and promotion of renewable and energy efficient projects.
Key messages:
• The connection between transport and energy is not only about technical innovation. A
more robust urban governance must be achieved through capacity building, including the
capacity coordinate between sectors to define shared priorities, realize goals, and
integrate the energy and mobility sectors. These two sectors have their own unique
approaches, creating a governance challenge to generate cross-sectoral collaboration;
• Trade-offs exist between sustainable transport and natural resource consumption.
Transport electrification requires higher consumption of lithium, coper and other
minerals. The transition can only be sustainable if we ensure sustainability throughout
the entire value chain;
• Electromobility implies changes not only to emissions, but also in city planning with
regards to charging stations. Additionally, electromobility of individual vehicles does not
resolve conflicts over the use of public space, road security, or traffic challenges that
cities face;
• Even in the countries of the region that have high investment and percentage of renewable
energy, transport continues to be an important source of contaminants and generates high
levels of GHG emissions. Consequently, the decarbonization of transport requires the
following: promoting more active mobility and modernizing public transport, rethinking
an interconnected bus system so that fewer vehicles enter central areas, incentives to
promote electric transport, and vehicle restrictions. This also implies planning at the level
of the metropolitan area;
• One company shared their goals to reduce emissions and spur innovation and operations.
The technical solutions exist, but they are slow to enter the market. The bidding processes
must be improved, not only for evaluating proposals based on active costs but also
including environmental benefits and innovative solutions. Bidding processes do not
value the total cost of energy use, maintenance, pollution and recycling. Highlighted
examples of innovative solutions entering the market include hydrogen fuelled trains and
electric buses with a wheel turning radius that occupy less space;
• It is important to consider the changes to the energy matrix and city planning. Despite
positive changes in the energy sector, the traditional planning model remains which tends
to reduce density and generate long trips. The role of digital platforms is important to stay
connected with city residents and to carry out consultation about how to improve mobility
systems and other services;
• With regard to massive transport systems like the metro, it is important to plan in
consultation with the municipalities and communities. There are some examples in
24
advances in modifying energy sources such as the Santiago metro. Running on 60%
renewable sources from solar and wind, it is one of the best systems in the world with
non-conventional energy sources.
25
P. MULTI-ACTOR COORDINATION FOR SUSTAINABLE URBAN
MOBILITY IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Friday, OCTOBER 19, 2018
Objectives: Achieving sustainable urban mobility requires the collaboration of multiple public and
private actors, different levels of government and government entities. This training seminar
aimed to foster policy coordination capacities for urban mobility and to offer an opportunity to
learn about the key themes in policy coordination, construct critical approaches, and analyse
strategies of developed cases in various metropolitan contexts as a reference to achieve better
multi-actor coordination.
Key messages:
• The urban level is a key strategic scale of interest for different actors. It is important to
understand which actors share an interest and how the state involves the growing number of
actors at each level. At the same time, urban processes require horizontal coordination among
state sectors, civil society, and the private sector. In this context the capacity to bring
stakeholders to the table (voluntarily or through sanctions) is key;
• The principal coordination challenges include: trade-offs between objectives and the capacity
to prioritize them, the capacity to implement plans, the role of generating indicators, alignment
with the administrative and fiscal capacities in the space where implementation or sanction will
occur (an important challenge in the centralized countries in the region), the capacity to
introduce innovations and scaled piloted innovations, increased decentralization to help
facilitate more local experimentation. All of these assume the continuous strengthening of public
management;
• It is important to define concrete urban mobility goals and objectives, while finding a balance
among ambition, substantial change, and feasibility of implementation. In this process it’s
crucial to have participation and feedback mechanisms, including commissions based in specific
territories that face different challenges and have different interests;
• In urban or metropolitan systems with big local differences in income, it is important to have
financing mechanisms from a high level to implement sustainable policies such as the
construction of bicycle lanes. The legal and/or administrative capacities at the local level to
prioritize actions are important for efficient implementation, such as the ability to redesign the
street layout to improve conditions for non-motorized transport;
• It is vital to include social evaluation criteria in investments. For example, to avoid that the
bicycle is seen as punishment for vehicle transit;
• There was discussion of how to promote mobility policies and interventions to orient the
development of subcentres in cities in order to encourage more balanced economic and
territorial development, that doesn’t prioritise only high-income areas.
26
Q. THE KEY ROLE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN THE
IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NEW URBAN AGENDA AND THE
2030 AGENDA Friday, OCTOBER 19, 2018
Objectives: Cities and regions are ideally positioned to catalyse the transformation of the global
agendas into concrete actions. Therefore, it is important to promote a concrete and lasting
dialogue to strengthen the collaboration among different levels of government, civil society, the
private sector and academia. The session aimed to help consolidate the participation and
empowerment of the local governments in implementing the global agendas in collaboration with
national governments, specifically the New Urban Agenda and SDG 11.
Key messages:
• It is fundamental to promote capacities for the coordination of urban mobility policies;
• Critical approaches must be created in order to analyse strategies and concrete cases
developed in different metropolitan context as a reference to achieve better coordination
between different stakeholders;
• The scale and rhythm of urbanization presents housing, transport, poverty, health and
security problems, among others;
• It is fundamental to focus on the urban level because it is a strategic scale to solve specific
problems related to megacities, great resource demands and socio-cultural differences;
• Globalization, the proliferation of stakeholders and new levels of government have made
this topic even more important;
• There are barriers to coordinating these efforts, mainly related to the lack of interest,
incentives to maintain information and power, and political cycles;
• There are important examples that describe how the local / urban level has been critical
to confront problems of sustainable development, as in the example of Chile, where
despite various aspects still requiring improvement such as the need for an evaluation
system and the need for more metropolitan authorities, there has been significant progress
in developing sustainable transport policies;
• Cuenca, Ecuador is a concrete example of a city that has developed its public policies
based on the Sustainable Development Goals and consequently these polices are related
to the New Urban Agenda;
• The example of Guatemala presents challenges and ways to move forward related to the
monitoring of public policies and sustainable urban development, and how this relates to
the New Urban Agenda;
• Other examples such as Medellín, and the support from multilateral agencies such as
ECLAC, UN-Habitat and UN agencies in countries (and others like the Asociación de
Grandes Metrópolis para América Latina y el Caribe, the Fira Barcelona or the AL-LAS
Network) have played a crucial role in catalysing progress in implementing the New
Urban Agenda and promoting sustainable development in cities of the region.
27
R. URBAN MOBILITY AND SUSTAINABLE TRANSPORT PROJECT
PREPARATION Friday, 19, OCTOBER 2018
Objectives: The training systematically presented how transport can contribute to the global
agendas, and how to prepare urban mobility and sustainable transport projects with innovative
approaches. The workshop aimed to train participants from different parts of the region in urban
mobility project preparation, with the objective of financing projects with funds from different
international agencies.
Key messages:
• Project financing has different sources, many of which are of a local and national level
and are well complemented with international climate or other funding sources;
• There are global agendas that promote sustainable development and transport that can
align with country or city transport policies and projects and help generate more
financing;
• Sustainable transport (promoting greater efficiency and lower emissions and sustainable
transport that complements it) is a very effective way of accomplishing the Sustainable
Development Goals and those of different global agreements also in addition to
generating well-being in the cities;
• The project cycle has several ways of being materialized that can be used for better
monitoring. Financing agencies have similar monitoring mechanisms that also align with
global agreements and pursue the same objectives;
• There are some participatory processes that can be generated to include the public and
different members of the community in the development of sustainable transport projects;
• Estimating demands and evaluating and planning to avoid risks are two key complements
of the development of sustainable transport projects.
