An innovative transit system and its impact on low income users: the case of the Metrocable in Medellín

The Metrocable in Medellín, Colombia, is an innovative system to improve access to deprived areas located in hilly zones. The idea to use cable cars as feeders to the metro was integrated into an ambitious urban project that, to date, has improved accessibility dramatically for some low-income residents. Using data before and after the project’s implementation, we evaluate the impact on social equity for the population in the zone of influence, considering changes in accessibility to employment and in housing-related costs. The access provided by the project to the main high-employment centres has doubled the number of opportunities that can be reached by the “target population,” even though travel-time savings and costs have seen only small changes. In fact, prior access to the CBD was poor and expensive, but time and costs were reduced with the Metrocable, although this reduction was not equal for all locations in the metropolitan area. In general, we argue that the main benefits, in terms of accessibility that differentiates the areas analysed from those used for comparison, are related to a localised ease of access to specific centres of activity according to the centralised development of the city’s job market along the mass transit lines. In terms of housing costs, we developed a set of difference-in-difference models that considered rent, transport, and public utilities costs; however, none of them have allowed us to conclude that there was a statistically valid relationship between the Metrocable and the changes in costs between the two analysed populations.     

Assessing equity in transport accessibility to work and study: The Bogotá region

This research was aimed at exploring levels of equity in accessibility to employment and education in the city-region of Bogotá, Colombia's capital city. Building on consolidated methodologies for the assessment of potential accessibility, we estimate accessibility indicators at the zone level, evaluate how potential accessibility varies among income groups, and present evidence related to transport mode, in order to analyze social and spatial inequalities produced by the distribution of accessibility to employment and education activities. The research incorporates a method to evaluate how accessibility varies among zones according to average income and mode of transport in order to produce evidence-based arguments that can inform transport policy in the city-region of Bogotá, and other similar contexts in the Global South. Our results show strong distributional effects of the socio-spatial and economic structure of the city-region, its transport infrastructure and services, and the effect of current transport and land-use policies for citizens of different income groups. The tools and empirical evidence in this research seek to contribute to informed policy development in Latin America and other developing contexts, and feeding current debates on the role of accessibility in addressing social and spatial inequalities stemming from urban mobility.     

Walking accessibility to bus rapid transit: Does it affect property values? The case of Bogotá, Colombia

This research sheds light on the relation of bus rapid transit and residential property values within walking distance to the system. The case study was Bogotá’s Transmilenio (Colombia). This research conducted a city-wide econometric hedonic analysis with 2000 to 2004 Department of Housing Control data across different walking distances, subsystems (trunk, feeder), socio-economic strata and time. The main results showed that, with respect to the value of properties in relation to proximity, the housing market places value premiums on the properties in the immediate walking proximity of feeder lines. The analysis by socio-economic strata showed that middle-income properties were valued more if they fell closer to the system, while there were opposite results for low-income housing. Finally, analysis across time reflects slight average annual increases in property values correlated with the implementation of the system in two specific areas analyzed. Throughout the paper, the author acknowledges some of the challenges of using hedonic modeling for property value impact assessments and emphasizes that the interpretation of the results are case specific.     

Touring the ‘comuna’: memory and transformation in Medellin,Colombia

The objective is to explore the touristification of some peripheral neighbourhoods of Medellin. The focus is on urban areas built by war-displaced populations commonly referred to as ‘comunas’ and often associated with crime and narco-traffic. Some tours generally labelled as ‘comuna tours’ have been emerging during the last three years and are largely included in the promotion of the ‘new Medellin’, focusing on its transformation from ‘the most violent to the most innovative city in the world’. Examining the role of the different stakeholders, including local community leaders, private entrepreneurs or state representatives, it will show that this practice is above all multiform and has to be analysed along with the general process of city branding ongoing in Medellin. Between the acknowledgement of past violent events and the will to look forward, competing narratives are at stake in this touristic and memorial arena.     

Informality and accessibility to jobs by public transit: Evidence from the São Paulo Metropolitan Region

Access to opportunities through public transport can have different impacts on individual's life especially in developing countries where opportunities are limited, job informality rates are high, and socioeconomic characteristics gaps are big. The aim of this paper is to explore the relationship between job informality and accessibility to employment by public transport in São Paulo Metropolitan Region (SPMR), Brazil. To do so, we calculate a cumulative-opportunity measure of accessibility to jobs for 633 areas within the SPMR. We use a multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression model to estimate the effect of job accessibility on the likelihood of being informally employed, controlling for individual and other area characteristics. To account for informal sector heterogeneity, two regression models are generated: one for the workers earning below minimum wage and one for the workers earning above minimum wage. The results show that accessibility to jobs is unevenly distributed across the region, largely concentrated in the core of the region, and especially in the high-income areas. The regression results show that for workers earning less than the minimum wage, a higher level of accessibility to jobs by public transport is associated with a lower likelihood of being a worker in the informal job sector. For informal workers earning more than the minimum wage, car ownership seem to be more relevant than transit accessibility in determining the likelihood of being part of the informal job sector. In light of these findings, increasing accessibility by public transport through either expanding transit services to areas with high informality rates to have a better access to formal jobs or supporting the decentralization of formal jobs may be a way to achieve reductions in informality rates, especially among those earning less than the minimum wage.     

Dive Tourism and Local Communities: Active Participation or Subject to Impacts? Case Studies from Malaysia

Dive tourism impacts were examined in three Malaysian islands: Perhentian (backpackers), Redang (package tourism) and Mabul (upmarket dive tourism). Qualitative local participation approaches were applied to investigate whether host communities were merely reactive to dive tourism's impacts. Dive tourism affected many aspects of community life. Besides physical/ environmental impacts (new infrastructure), research found varied economic impacts including employment/business opportunities and differing economic linkages. Participation varied between locations, and obstacles to increased participation were revealed. Mainly negative socio‐cultural impacts were observed with minimal participation in cultural productions (handicrafts, performances). However, positive educational impacts emerged, especially environmental awareness and English language acquisition. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Urban change,mobility and transport in São Paulo: three decades,three cities

The paper analyses current transportation and traffic conditions in the São Paulo Metropolitan area and the factors that shaped them over the 1967–1997 period. Quantitative data from four subsequent Origin-Destination surveys (OD) were used. Transport progressively changed towards a motorized system, first with the intense use of buses and finally with the large increase in the use of automobiles. Public transport services experienced severe supply and quality problems and increasing fares led to the exclusion of a large number of users. Negative externalities related to the increasing use of the automobile—such as traffic accidents, congestion and pollution—skyrocketed, threatening the sustainability of the metropolis. Policies towards unsustainability continue to be supported and it also appears that even harsher negative consequences will have to be faced until a new vision of the problem is developed.     

Trends in vehicle kilometres of travel in world cities, 1960–1990: underlying drivers and policy responses

Increases in private motorised urban vehicle kilometres of travel are shown to arise from population growth, urban sprawl, increased car ownership and decreases in vehicle occupancy. In particular, the worldwide increase in urban mobility since 1960 has been the direct result of increased affluence and the consequent greater accessibility of private motor vehicles, as well as population growth. Urban sprawl has significantly less influence, although it has been significant in USA, Canadian and Australian cities. Despite this, a number of cities have shown that clear policy initiatives can contain the growth of urban private motorised mobility.     

Framing scrappage in Germany and the UK: from climate discourse to recession talk?

This paper highlights the distinctive discursive framing of transport policy in Germany and the UK. Using an analysis of the introduction of the ‘scrappage bonus’ in both countries, against the background of the financial crisis, we show how distinct nationally specific discourses and political cultures are expressed within these. The German government was an early adopter of the policy, but the UK government was relatively late in introducing its own scheme. While the German scrappage scheme was introduced officially as an environmental bonus, the UK scheme did not make any reference to environmental concerns. We argue that these differences are important in the context of a wider research aim, to identify nationally specific mobility regimes and to develop an understanding of different possible pathways towards more environmentally friendly transport futures.     

A comparative study of airport connectivity in China,Europe and US: Which network provides the best service to passengers?

This paper investigates the connectivity of the airport networks in China, Europe and US. Our aim is to analyze which network is most beneficial to final passengers in terms of travel time and which of the network features lead to such a result. A time-dependent minimum path approach is employed to calculate the minimum travel time between each pair of airports in the three networks, inclusive of flight times and waiting times in intermediate airports. We evaluate each fastest indirect connection in terms of waiting times and routing factors to consider the effect of the hubs’ coordination and locations. The Chinese network provides the quickest travels for passengers, but this performance is explained by a small number of airports per inhabitant. The US network is the most coordinated when considering indirect connections. The EU network provides the most homogeneous level of service when comparing airports of different sizes.     

‘We make more money now,but we don’t talk to each other anymore’: on new tourism and capitalism in the Danube Delta

ABSTRACT

In 1991, the Danube Delta (Romania), famous for its biodiversity, became a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Tourists have been a constant presence in this area for more than 50 years, being accommodated exclusively, informally, in the local fishing households. Relying on extended participant observation and semi-structured interviews as the main research methods, this study presents how locals from a fishing village relate to tourism and how this process leaves a significant imprint on their social organization, use of natural resources, household economy, norms and values. Exposed to new ideas, opportunities and challenges brought in by tourism, locals are not being swept away, as many of the studies in anthropology of fishing and tourism suggest, but rather act like ‘individuals with agency’, actually empowered by tourism; local fishing and women’s traditional role as ‘the manager of the household’ are reinforced by tourists’ demands for ‘home-cooked fish dish’ and local accommodation. On the other hand, the new tourism has launched local families into a constant competition for natural resources, eroding social cohesion while leading to a commodification of family relationships.