MEASURES TO ADDRESS PUBLIC TRANSPORT’S BLIND SPOT COUNTRY: Australia SCHOOL: University of Sydney Business School Better public transport is shown to improve social inclusion, health and employment while reducing crime in a new study from the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies (ITLS) at the University of Sydney Business School. Led by adjunct professor John Stanley, the study focuses on place- based disadvantage – the idea that a person’s risk of social exclusion is not only impacted by individual characteristics such as income, employment status and social connections, but also by where they live. “Investment in local public transport is a valuable way to improve inclusion and, as such, inclusion benefits which are currently ignored in transport evaluation should be factored into government infrastructure spending decisions,” Stanley says. These benefits, according to Stanley, are often overlooked because they come from serving ‘social transit’ markets rather than ‘mass transit’ markets and are therefore harder to quantify. Encompassing peak-hour trains and light rail services, Stanley describes the benefits of mass transit public transport “as relatively easy to quantify in dollar terms”. Such benefits include reduced road congestion costs, lower greenhouse gas emissions and productivity improvements from denser urban places. However, social transit public transport, such as more frequent local bus routes, tends to offer advantages that are less tangible. “It indirectly benefits society in the form of lower unemployment, lower crime rates and better health, which reduces legal system costs, health system costs and adds to productivity. These initiatives are particularly important in outer suburbs, where local transport options are typically few in Australian cities,” explains Stanley. “Equity is getting much higher priority in cities such as London and Vancouver. In personal mobility terms, it’s very much about improving access to travel opportunities and thereby removing a significant potential barrier to social inclusion,” he continues. The paper builds on previous work surrounding mobility’s impact on inclusion conducted with researchers from the ITLS and the University of Melbourne and is published in Transportation Research . TBD
STEP-BY-STEP GUIDE TO SUSTAINABLE CITIES COUNTRY: Brazil SCHOOL: Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Sao Paulo School of Business Administration Big tasks are always easier to complete when split into smaller chunks and that rule seems to apply when tackling something as complicated as making cities sustainable in view of a new guide’s step-by- step approach. The Green and Blue Infrastructure Guide , created in partnership with a number of organisations, offers comprehensive instructions on how to make a sustainable city. It also aims to help cities improve their local governance and Fundação Getulio Vargas’ Sao Paulo School of Business Administration’s (FGV EAESP) primary role in the guide has been in this area. In particular, it has looked at ways in which municipal governments can improve food, water and energy systems to reduce the risk of shortages. The guide presents best practices with regards to supplies, regulation and cultural practices, while also touching on how to preserve different species. A total of 10 cities around the world have initially been selected to apply the guide’s wide-ranging lessons but the expectation is that the guide will ultimately be used in more than 30 cities. These include two different cities in Brazil, São José dos Campos in the state of São Paulo and Florianópolis, Santa Catarina. With the escalating impact of climate change and the increased demand for water, energy and food in cities, it is hoped that this guide will support their management of resources and curb shortages. Research professor at FGV and lead researcher on the project Jose Antonio Puppim De Oliveira outlined the scale of the challenge. “It is estimated that there will be a large increase in the consumption of food, water and energy over the next 50 years, and much of this consumption will be in cities. In terms of governance, it is evident that cities tend to have little management of these systems. For example, most of the food comes from outside cities, the water system is usually managed at state level and the energy system tends to be managed at country level.” EB
10 | Ambition | MARCH 2023
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