Transforming Urban Transport - Paperback

by Diane E. Davis (Editor), Alan Altshuler (Editor)

Transforming Urban Transport brings into focus the origins and implementation pathways of significant urban transport innovations that have recently been adopted in major, democratically governed world cities that are seeking to advance sustainability aims. It documents how proponents of new transportation initiatives confronted a range of administrative, environmental, fiscal, and political obstacles by using a range of leadership skills, technical resources, and negotiation capacities to move a good idea from the drawing board to implementation. The book's eight case studies focus on cities of great interest across the globe--Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul, Stockholm, and Vienna--many of which are known for significant mayor leadership and efforts to rescale power from the nation to the city. The cases highlight innovations likely to be of interest to transport policy makers from all corners, such as strengthening public transportation services, vehicle and traffic management measures, repurposing roads and other urban spaces away from their initial function as vehicle travel corridors, and turning sidewalks and city streets into more pedestrian-friendly places for walking, cycling, and leisure.

Author Biography

Diane E. Davis, Charles Dyer Norton Professor of Regional Planning and Urbanism, and Chair of the Department of Urban Planning and Design, is author of Urban Leviathan: Mexico City in the Twentieth Century, Discipline and Development: Middle Classes and Prosperity in East Asia and Latin America, and Cities and Sovereignty: Identity Politics in Urban Spaces. Her published works examine the relations between urbanization and national development, comparative international development, the politics of urban development policy, and conflict cities.