How to Transform Urban Transport:
The Role of Political Leadership and Governance
Lily Song
Harvard University Graduate School of Design
May 10th, 2017
Tartu, Estonia
Transforming Urban Transport-The Role
of Political Leadership (TUT-POL)
Project aim is to advance our knowledge of how, when, and where
political leadership and governance have proven critical to the successful
implementation of path-breaking transportation policies.
Each case focuses on the origins and implementation pathway of
significant urban transport innovations in major, democratically governed,
world cities.
The project is sponsored by the Volvo Research and Educational
Foundations (VREF) and hosted at the Harvard University Graduate
School of Design (GSD) under the direction of Professor Diane Davis.
Project Website: http://www.transformingurbantransport.com
Shorter Term:
What is Being Transformed?
Shifting Mode Share
private cars  public transport
Repurposing
Streets + Public Spaces
pedestrianism and cycling
New Mobility Patterns
for sustainable urban
futures*
*Reduced carbon emissions and enhanced urban livability through mobility improvements.
Longer Term:
What is Being Transformed?
Process of planning
and implementation
Expanded
institutional
commitments
and capacities
Strengthened
cross-sectoral
relationships
Tightened
urban transitland use nexus
Sustainable Urban Futures*
*Strengthened public mandate and capacity to curb automobile dominance and promote non-motorized transport at expanded metropolitan
scales with far reaching policies and planning goals linking transport, housing, and commercial development that prioritize regional
densification of land uses.
TUT-POL CASE STUDY CITIES
Stockholm
San Francisco
Los Angeles
Mexico City
Vienna
New York City
Paris
Seoul
WHAT DO WE MEAN BY TRANSFORMATIVE POLICY?
Two Pathways of Innovation
Hardware
Software
Physical
transport and
streetscape
interventions
Regulatory
reforms and
institutional
redesigns
SEOUL
Cheonggyecheon
Hardware
Highway demolition and
enhancement of pedestrian
environment
Bus fleet renewal, median bus
lanes, integrated ticketing
system
Software
Photo credit: Reuters (left),
Bankoo/Shutterstock.com (right)
Gangbuk CBD Masterplan
‘Quasi-public’ bus system
VIENNA
Transit Expansion & Parking Management
Hardware
Software
Subway improvements
(along w/ modernization of
feeder tramways)
Parking management
Transport Plans (1980,
1993, 2003, 2014)
Photo credit: Vienncouver.com
PARIS
Sustainable Urban Transport
Hardware
Software
Photo credit: ITDP
Urban tramway
Bus expansion
Bike share
Electric car share
Street repurposing
Paris Mobility Plan
Regional Mobility Plan
Regional Spatial Planning Document
Regional Transport Authority
How to Transform Urban Transport?
Political Strategies for Introducing Change
Identify Appropriate Timing
Frame the Issues
Assess and Enable Stakeholders
Recruit and Empower Technical Team
Enhancing Program Feasibility
SEOUL
TIMING
Seoul
Political Atmosphere
Increasingly progressive electoral context where
voters desire alternative development approach
Triggering Opportunity
Han River Bridge Collapse; bus ridership
decline, public demand for change, willingness
of bus industry
Availability of a Solution
Policy transfers from Curitiba and Boston and
expertise at Seoul Development Institute
Photo credit: Korean Herald
BROADENING SUPPORT
Issue Framing and Stakeholder Engagement
Seoul
Assess Political Strength of
Opponents
Recruit and Enable Allies
National government, industry
and neighborhood-based interests
Working groups, consultation
venues, popular media
“Highway removal”
Choose the Venue:
Private vs. Public
Quasi-public stakeholder
consultation and behind-thescenes negotiation
“Redeveloping downtown”
“Restoring a stream”
“Reinventing Seoul”
INCORPORATING TECHNICAL EXPERTISE
Seoul
Create Actionable Proposals
Consulting Seoul Development Institute and
allied scholars and activists to translate
research findings into actionable proposals for
stream restoration.
Shape Popular Opinion
Enlisting high-profile supporters to defend
policies against public challenge through
media opinion pieces.
ENHANCING PROGRAM FEASIBILITY
Seoul
Financing
Korea Smart Card Company
Public-Private Corporation 34.4 percent
owned by the city. Develops, installs,
and runs multimodal payment mechanism for
1.5 percent of each transaction.
Photo credit: Business Korea
Prototypes and Trials
Dubong Mia Median Bus Lane Trial
(March-May 2003)
Little public investment; No compensation
plan for affected bus operators, businesses,
or passengers.
Photo credit: Karl Fjellstrom ITDP
VIENNA
TIMING
Vienna
Political Atmosphere
Increasing electoral competitiveness of Green
Party and formation of Social DemocraticGreen Coalition (2010)
Triggering Opportunity
Influx of immigrant with lower rates of car
ownership supports higher levels of ridership
and cycling.
Availability of a Solution
Complementary package of reinforcing policies
promoting public transport use, walking, and
cycling as well as dense, mixed use, transitserved land use development.
Photo credit: Actilingua
BROADENING SUPPORT
Issue Framing and Stakeholder Engagement
Vienna
Assess Political Strength of
Opponents
Recruit and Enable Allies
Choose the Venue:
Private vs. Public
Parking management concessions for
district residents and businesses;
transit revenue compensation for
public transport managers
Partner with environmental
organizations affiliated with Green
Party, neighborhood groups that are
against traffic, noise, and pollution
Consensual decision making
between parties; district-level
commissions, townhall meetings,
and public referenda
“Taking away streets from
cars”
“Preserving the old town”
INCORPORATING TECHNICAL EXPERTISE
Vienna
Assess policy
feasibility
Using opinion surveys to measure
public support and legitimate policy
decisions (e.g. subway improvements,
district-by-district parking
management).
Promote public
education and
outreach
Holding town hall meetings, where
exhibits portray the advantages of
parking management and how it
would operate, with planning staff
available to answer questions and
conduct one-on-one consultations
with individual residents.
ENHANCING PROGRAM FEASIBILITY
Vienna
Financing
Coordinating public transportation investment with national
authorities over the long term by linking the servicing of the
city to national political and economic aims.
Along with federal funding, Vienna draws on user fare revenue,
a local transport tax on large employers, and revenue from onstreet parking and city-owned parking garages for public
transport financing.
Revenue by Ticket Type
Other types of tickets
Photo credit: Urban Mobility Plan Vienna
Travelcards
Parking Pilots
Initiated in high intensity area for quick and visible results to
facilitate public approval and support.
Differentiating transport measures across districts to
accommodate changing density and overall quality of the built
environment.
Single Tickets
Annual season
tickets
Weekly tickets
Schoolchildren season
tickets
Monthly season tickets
Photo credit: Wiener Linien
PARIS
TIMING
Paris
Political Atmosphere
Statist governance failure; Decentralization
reforms
Triggering Opportunity
Air pollution peaks; General Strike of 1995
Availability of a Solution
Photo credit: Alberto Hernandez
(Non-coercive) Alternatives to car use: cycling,
bus and tramway improvements, street
repurposing
BROADENING SUPPORT
Issue Framing and Stakeholder Engagement
Paris
Assess Political Strength of
Opponents
Conservative party, car-dependent
municipalities, State elites and
enterprises
Recruit and Enable Allies
Choose the Venue:
Private vs. Public
Policy co-production across levels of
government, parties, and sectors
From closed-door tramway planning
to public debates
“Taking away streets from
cars”
“Reducing noise”
“Giving Paris back to its
inhabitants”
INCORPORATING TECHNICAL EXPERTISE
Paris
Influence Public Opinion
Incorporating research from network of public health
professionals, urban planners, and alternative transportation
proponents to raise public awareness and concern.
Attract Expert Talent
Creating new incentive structure within the civil service
bureaucracy to draw highly skilled state elites to urban
transportation projects.
Leverage Existing Technical Capacity and Resources
Forming an alliance with city planners to incorporate the urban
tramway project into a larger urban renewal program and
thereby expand proponents and stakeholders as well as access
funding and tools across levels of government.
ENHANCING PROGRAM FEASIBILITY
Paris
Financing
Velib (2007) Autolib (2011)
Advertising concession granted to JC Decaux
in exchange for start up and operation costs of
bike share program. Similar public service
concession agreement with Bollore group for
electric car share.
Photo credit: Lesenfantsaparis.com
Prototypes and Trials
Paris Plage (2007)
Extended existing week-long traffic ban
through the entire summer; Complemented
w/small-scale, interim programs
Photo credit: Autolib
In all three cases, political leaders successfully:
Identified Appropriate Timing
to disrupt the status quo and introduce change.
Framed and Reframed the Issues
so as to build momentum and get the relevant actors “to the table.”
Assessed and Enabled Stakeholders
Recruited and Empowered Technical Team
that contributed to the political discussion.
Enhanced Program Feasibility
often through prototypes and trials as well as innovative financing.
Longer Term:
What is Being Transformed?
Process of planning
and implementation
Expanded
institutional
commitments
and capacities
Strengthened
cross-sectoral
relationships
Tightened
urban transitland use nexus
Sustainable Urban Futures*
*Strengthened public mandate and capacity to curb automobile dominance and promote non-motorized transport at expanded
metropolitan scales with far reaching policies and planning goals linking transport, housing, and commercial development that
prioritize regional densification of land uses.
Nature and Dynamics of Policy
Implementation Process
Prominent Role of
Mayors
Across 8 cases in
advancing urban
transport policy
changes.
Common
Strategies and
Tactics
Leadership
Assemblages
Piloting; Referencing;
Framing; Anticipating
resistance; Empowering
technical experts;
Exploiting crisis events to
broaden citizen support.
Distributed vs.
individual styles of
political leadership.
Institutional and
Stakeholder
Engagement
Co-production
across multiple
sectors, levels of
government, and
territorial scales.
Transactional
Engagement
Strategic use of
cooperation vs.
conflict; disruptive
vs. incremental
change.
THANK YOU
www.transformingurbantransport.com
For Questions: Lily Song
[email protected]
Harvard University
Graduate School of Design
48 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA 02138
617-496-3151