Over May 1 – 2, 2019, the TUT-POL team partnered with VREF, GIZ, and SLOCAT to host “Transforming Urban Transport and Governance in African Cities,” an international workshop for African transport leaders and practitioners affiliated with the Transforming Urban Mobility Initiative. Workshop participants included researchers, transport experts in policy and practice, and members of the donor community.
Over the two days, participants considered existing research on the political and governance dimensions of urban transport changes and successes on the continent.
This included preliminary findings drawn from exploratory research for TUT-POL’s pilot project Transforming Urban Transport in Sub-Saharan Africa (TUT-SSA), funded by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (VREF), in collaboration with GIZ. This project focused on a small sample of cities in Sub-Saharan Africa to better understand urban transport interventions in the region, along with the institutions and actors responsible for their implementation. The research highlighted questions of governance, institutions and political economy, believed to play a critical albeit understudied role in advancing urban transport and shaping urban development more broadly.
Participants additionally undertook discussions about the opportunities and challenges for transformative urban transport and mobility in African cities, combining the perspectives and experiences of transport experts, researchers, and development practitioners. The result was a robust and invigorating discussion.