Policy drivers for urban transformations

In the context of Sub-Saharan Africa, most recent migration dynamics have started to blur the traditional boundaries of “rural” and “urban” – categories that no longer capture the spatial as well as occupational complexity of rural and urban livelihoods. Of course, low-density remote areas still exist in Sub-Saharan Africa but generally the improved access to information and communication technologies and to transportation networks as well as better educational standards foster the movement of people, blurring the limits of the old rural – urban divide.³¹

With this development come new challenges: Urban areas in most parts of Sub-Saharan Africa are faced with major obstacles in order to meet current and future needs of the populations. Mobility and energy will become the twin pillars of future urban transformations. The central task of urban mobility concepts is to encourage transport policies and investments that improve living and working conditions for urban residents by catering for their mobility needs in an environmentally-friendly and economically sustainable manner.

The United Nations Agency for Housing and Urban Development, UN-HABITAT, and the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, both promote policies and models to achieve sustainable urban transportation systems across the globe. The following interviews provide a better overview of their approaches towards sustainable urban mobility.