1.
Strategic participation
for sustainable transport
Lake Sagaris, MSc., PhD (c) Planning and
Community Development
Ciudad Viva, Santiago, Chile.
Transforming Transportation, Washington 2012
Overcoming the challenges of integrating urban transportation
systems

2.
The University of Life:
It started with a march and...
Ciudad Viva (Living City) was
born in the fight of 25
community organizations
against a major urban highway
concession, Chile’s first, the
Costanera Norte (1996-2000).
We saved our neighbourhoods
from destruction and voted to
continue with new proposals.

3.
...became citizen-led planning.
Practical, real-
world
experience and
the reflection
and theoretical
development of
MSc. and PhD.
studies (urban
planning)
Citizens and
government
celebrating pro-
cycling
roundtable,
Santiago 2007-
2010.

4.
What’s at stake?

5.
Sustainable transport
matters

6.
Going from this

7.
to some version of this...

8.
New living systems require:
• A new equation:
• Citizens x (widespread
understanding + articulate
demand) = political will to
change.
Academic Experiential Participatory institutions for
knowledge: knowledge: bridging: sustainable transport
bridging across Recognition of equivalent of Chambers of
silos value added Commerce.

9.
THE (FATAL) ATTRACTIONS OF
AUTOMOBILITY...
•100 years, billions of dollars in advertising…
•Main product (after mortgages) in the financial
industry.
•Forusers, cars (like cigarettes) promise “freedom”:
door-to-door service, user-defined timing, ability to
carry cargo (especially children and groceries)
HOW CAN WE CURB THE CAR?

10.
Cycling advocacy exploding
worldwide...

11.
•Missing to date:
•Citizens’ movements and advocacy in
favour of all sustainable transport, including
public transport and BRT.
•We won’t get more sustainable cities
without them...

12.
Practicalities = Policies

13.
Strategic participation
1. Fundamental 1: Making PARTICIPATION
strategic
2. Fundamental 2: POLICY STREAMS AND
ENTREPRENEURS
3. Fundamental 3: POLICY TRANSPLANTS
4. Planning and implementation: starting from
people
5. Putting it together, sustainable transport as
part of new systems for living

14.
Fundamental 1:
Strategic participation

15.
Well-planned, well-integrated participation builds
connections among disparate groups and players,
tuning individual voices by providing them with
information and incentives to sing out, but above
all connecting them, so they function with all the
power, inspiration and effectiveness of a well-
trained choir.

16.
Mobilizing “ecologies of actors”
(or “policy entrepreneurs”)
much Co-operate Involve
Partners Opponents
Influence
Fans
Outsiders
Source: Tom
little
Godefrooij, I-
positive Attitude on the issue negative
CE/Brabant
Utilise Inform planners, The
Netherlands

17.
TIME is an issue: the one-
two rule of policy innovation
•20- to 30-year cycle for significant policy change,
•roughly four stages.
1. Small innovations, often erroneous and/or imperfect
2. Contagion: problem-solution-crisis
3. “Sexy city”, crisis, or other catalyst
4. Exponential growth, often from one-city level to
national policy

18.
The one-two rule:
maintain the movement
2/3
Experts (technical staff, academics, NGOs, operators, others)

19.
create pro’s, to
The one-two rule:
counter the contras 3/3
CREDIBILITY
DEPENDS ON
Knowledge
Skills
Connections
Independence

20.
Individuals are good,
organizations better
Continuity beyond government turnover
Independent monitoring and evaluation that other
people value, credibility
Instant data, which can replace, supplement or
complement expensive studies
Optimal conditions for successful pilots
Accumulate: Skills, knowledge, capacity,
relationships, networks.

21.
Fundamental 2: Policy
streams and
entrepreneurs

22.
Policy not
“rational-
technical”
Reflects
framing
and
agenda
setting
(Kingdon)

23.
Connecting PROBLEM and POLICY streams
How can we resolve Who’s asking?
Congestion, road safety City and regional governments, citizens
Air pollution Governments at all levels, especially regional (metropolitan),
CSOs, health actors
Obesity/sedentarism, non-communicable Governments, WHO (urban, transport and education systems
diseases, social determinants of health highly relevant)
Inclusion: access to the city’s benefits (jobs, International agencies, policy makers, individuals, families and
culture, education, etc.) neighbourhoods
Improvement to public spaces, children Cities, neighbourhoods, people, especially children (nowhere to
play), public health especially US)
Social justice -- human, social, economic, Women, disabled, elderly, children, full inclusion -- international
environmental rights agencies, policymakers, citizens.
Global warming/climate change, especially International agencies, lead cities, environmental and other
heat island, transport energy citizens’ groups
Peak oil Public policy makers, leading edge academics and thinkers
(business, media)
Loss of biodiversity International agencies, environmental groups, biologists
Water quality International agencies, policy makers, lead cities, environmental
and other citizens’ groups

24.
Fundamental 3: Getting
the most out of policy
transplants

25.
Leverage points
Where change happens
Level of action Formal relations Informal practices
Constitutional level Legal systems Value orientations
(ground rules)
Policy area level Formal regulations Informal codes
(relations between
governmental bodies)
Operation level (daily Procedures
activities) Roles
De Jong et al. The Theory and Practice of Institutional Transformation

26.
Who does the
leveraging? Our policy
entrepreneurs (Kingdon),
mavens, connectors
(Gladwell and others), “owners”

27.
Passive recipients vs...

28.
Active policy
entrepreneurs

29.
A specific kind of
communication needed

30.
You have all these
allies sitting out there
on your buses, walking
or riding alongside on
their bikes, how to bring
them on-board?

31.
Communication
SMALL
FORMAL GROUPS,
LARGE
SPACES FORMAL
FORMAL
LARGE AND AND
SPACES
SMALL INFORMAL
SPACES

32.
Communication-
participation spectrum

33.
4. Planning and
implementation:
starting with the right
people (the choir
director)

34.
Bringing people
together: deliberation
Small groups and large
Ongoing and one-off
Multiple feedback mechanisms
Genuine integration: of people into processes, of
walking and cycling into public transport, of
different transport layers within the city, with
respect for public spaces.

35.
Don’t call a vet when you
need a doctor...
Not communications, marketing, sociology...
We need experts in URBAN SYSTEMS (the spatial
dimension) and PEOPLE. INTERACTIONS and
RELATIONSHIPS. DIVERSITY. INCLUSION.
EMPOWERMENT.
Wholistic, bridge-builders, strong participatory skills.
Most common in NGOs and CSOs (civil society
organizations), adult education, some health, urban
planners (north), anthropologists, human
geographers, mediation (law, women’s studies).

36.
Civil society actors KEY
Extensive networking, diverse relationships (internal,
external), multiple skills.
Horizontal relationships: governments set rules and
give orders, the private sector sells, civil society
educates and invites people to change.
Low-risk experimentation, small-scale to mid- to
large.
CREDIBLE, autonomous, transparent, communicate
Outsiders, effective innovators (Jane Jacobs:
innovation comes from outside the system).

37.
All over the world...
Global CSOs sowing grassroots change: bottom up, but also middle out, and
reaching through the top, down. Interface for Cycling Expertise, ITDP, Embarq...

38.
5. Putting it together...
by focusing on people

39.
Remember that
sustainable transport
is the answer: what if
the question is how to
live happier, healthier,
more socially inclusive
lives?

40.
WHO - Public health:
new priorities everywhere
Social determinants of health
Obesity epidemic, under- and over-nutrition
Mainstreaming health into every policy area
WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, HEALTH NGOS
AND HEALTH AUTHORITIES, EG. KENYA, CHILE,
INDIA, US, CANADA.

41.
Obesity epidemic, under-
and over-nutrition
The main challenge in public health for the 21st
century, in both developed and developing countries
Associated with high-calorie, low-nutrient foods
And car-based urban (not only transport) systems.
EG. THE ACTIVE LIVING CENTER, US, FINANCING CIVIL
SOCIETY AND RESEARCH, PUBLISHING URBAN DESIGN
AND OTHER MANUALS TO FIGHT THE OBESITY EPIDEMIC.

42.
OVERWEIGHT &
OBESE ADULTS
38%
HEALTHY 62 %
ADULTS
ACTIVE LIVING
RESOURCE CENTER

43.
OBESITY RATES IN THE UNITED
STATES IN 1989
LESS THAN 10% OBESE 15-20% OBESE
10-14% OBESE MORE THAN 20% OBESE
NO DATA
ACTIVE LIVING
RESOURCE CENTER

44.
OBESITY RATES IN THE UNITED
STATES IN 1993
LESS THAN 10% OBESE 15-20% OBESE
10-14% OBESE MORE THAN 20% OBESE
NO DATA
ACTIVE LIVING
RESOURCE CENTER

45.
OBESITY RATES IN THE UNITED
STATES IN 1997
LESS THAN 10% OBESE 15-20% OBESE
10-14% OBESE MORE THAN 20% OBESE
ACTIVE LIVING
RESOURCE CENTER

46.
OBESITY RATES IN THE UNITED
STATES IN 2000
LESS THAN 10% OBESE 15-20% OBESE
10-14% OBESE MORE THAN 20% OBESE
ACTIVE LIVING
RESOURCE CENTER

47.
OBESITY RATES IN THE UNITED
STATES IN 2001
LESS THAN 10% OBESE 15-20% OBESE
10-14% OBESE MORE THAN 20% OBESE
MORE THAN 25%
OBESE
ACTIVE LIVING
RESOURCE CENTER

48.
Developing SOBREPESO, OBESIDAD
Y
countries too OBESIDAD MÓRBIDA
NACIONAL: 89.4%
HOMBRES: 87.9%
MUJERES: 90.8%
Sedentarismo en Chile
Sobrepeso 43% > en Hombres
Obesidad 25% > en Mujeres
Ob.Mórbida 2.3% > en Mujeres
FUENTE : ENCUESTA NACIONAL DE SALUD 2003

49.
What about healthy
transport?

50.
Health measures:
Bans on pro-car advertising
Health warnings on cars: “Driving causes cancer,
obesity, heart attacks, diabetes 2 and other disabling
and fatal conditions.”
Ban on cars in “sensitive” areas:
• congested, polluted, vulnerable population
(residential, commercial)
• needy population, especially children, desperate for
places to play and move,
• low-income and high-density living spaces...
Healthy transport-only roads and districts: Imagine the
savings in infrastructure if ST has its own roads!

51.
Not as crazy as you
might think
After all, as Peñalosa reminds us, we’re
building our cities for a hundred years
Some cities have already started, and
They are succeeding with cigarettes...

52.
Transport/land
use/public space
Take short trips OFF buses and metros and improve comfort
Limit space on roads, discourage car use for short journeys,
give whole roads to buses and active transport, improve
walking and cycling access as part of projects
Improve quality, expand catchment area: walking 1 km in 15
minutes, cycling or cycling-rickshaw-taxi 5 km, added comfort
(loads), reduced costs (stations more spaced out)
Add green: to corridors, bus-ways, access ways, roofs of
stops and service buildings. Think water.

53.
We are already seeing
(relatively) isolated
examples of these
shifts.
We need to mobilize them
more often, more
coherently, in more
diverse spaces...

54.
Arguments for reduced
car use
Increasingly cars are used for short trips (under 5 km)
– from 41% (Santiago) to as much as 75% (New York-
Manhattan).
Drivers at high risk for heart attacks, road rage and
other physical and mental health problems
Children spend long hours being shunted from one
place to another by car, limiting their physical, mental
and social development

55.
For “road diets” and
“complete streets”

56.
Arguments for Women
Trip-chaining makes public transit expensive
Multiple roles, particularly shopping and children, make
public transit very uncomfortable for tasks involving
cargo
Double duties leave little time for health-related
activities.

57.
To foster cycle use
Public transit as “back-up” for bad weather, ill health,
cycle breakdown, getting over physical barriers (hills,
highways).
Saves money – makes car ownership unnecessary
and can save on feeder services and station costs
Multiple health benefits from both cycling and public
transit use.

58.
For Social Justice and Inclusion
FOTO JOSÉ IGNACIO MOLINA

59.
Learning to see the whole picture:
Fitting the pieces together
Walking and cycling:
short distances from 0-
7 km, including
transport ingress and
egress trips
Car: Long
Public transport: distances, low
medium to long density
distances, medium to
high density,
concentrated concept: Tom
destinations Godefrooij, I-CE.

60.
•A Powerful Alliance is possible
Modal share local trips in Selected Cities (%)
Sustainable
Pub. Tr. Walking Cycling Car/ mot,
Transport
City (PT) (W) (C) cycle
(PT + W + C)
Hong Kong 84 46 38 0 16
Santiago 73 33 37 3 27
Amsterdam 67 15 26 26 34
Sao Paulo 66 29 37 0 34
New York 62 54 8 0.4 32
Berlin 61 25 26 10 39
Delhi 57 42 n.d. 15 29
Copenhagen 51 12 19 20 49
London 50 19 30 1 50
Toronto 44 35 9 55
Stuttgart 40 15 21 4 59
Chicago 12 6 5 1 88

61.
…and
necessary

62.
When will we see these kinds of movements
advocating for public transport too?

63.
When we work together!
Walking, cycling, public transit are complementary
modes.
Better conditions for all three offer potential for
strong, complementary effects – and better reviews
from the public.
Campaigning and design information from
walking- and cycling-inclusive planners can
significantly improve public transit’s image and
facilities.
Participation by active, well organized citizens and
their organizations is a STRATEGIC NECESSITY

64.
We live the city of our dreams, from the first moment we
dare to dream and build it, together.