Promoting low-carbon transport in African cities

Abstract

Major cities in Africa face an overwhelming urban transport crisis which is attributed to a number of factors; key among them is unprecedented motorisation; inefficient public transport systems; incoherent and disarticulated policies, dilapidated infrastructure and an increasing middleclass. This paper discusses potential transport alternatives such as non-motorized systems that can be harnessed for meeting social and economic needs of a growing urban population and its industrialization motif. Non-motorised transport (NMT) which includes cycling and walking which are predominant in many African cities despite limited policy recognition about their potential in socio-economic transformation. The potential of cycling and walking is still an unexploited resource that can change the fortunes of the transport demands of an African city and thus can help to address the attentive and adverse effects of motorisation including pollution and carbon emissions. The prioritization therefore of NMT as part of a national transport system can greatly augment the mobility of citizens, goods and services in a cleaner, sustainable and healthy manner. This discussion seeks to ignite debate on future research that can advance the agenda and quest for a sustainable urban mobility including cycling