A new urban paradigm pathways to sustainable development

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It is even more crucial
at this moment in
history to engage and
maintain a balance
between the public and
private sectors through
dialogue, innovation
and collaborative
deployment of
mobility solutions.
Photo: Augustus Binu. Buses at Vyttila Mobility Hub, Cochin, India, 2013 .
exists. The solutions can be as wide-ranging
as multi-million-dollar multi-modal hub
networks (as in the Vyttila Mobility Hub in
Cochin, India, which links the metro, the
bus, ferries, parking, motorcycle parking,
auto rickshaws and more).
In Manilla, Philippines, in an initiative
supported by the Rockefeller Foundation
and the Asian Development Bank, leaders
launched an inclusive mobility programme
including a range of connected and
sustainable mobility options, all starting
with SMART sessions in three different
key areas of the city.
New policy models
Where does policy come into all this?
Increasingly it is not only about which
policies should be adopted, but also about
how they should be integrated, framed and
applied. Here are some innovative mobility
policy approaches observed in the course
of SMART collaborations:
• y Expanding the policy palette:
The increasing complexity and
diversity of cities and mobility
demands integration of a wider set
of policy issues and players beyond
the traditional planning, land use,
infrastructure, safety and environment.
It is important also to include energy,
housing, IT and telecommunications,
data management, cyber security,
safety, social services, finance,
economic development, marketing,
tourism and more, all according to
local contexts and needs.
• y Access over excess: Focusing policy on
how a solution or approach helps meet
people’s needs or offers them access—
as opposed to how fast it can move
people and goods from point
A to point B—redefines ends and
means. This leads to new markets
and innovation opportunities.
• y Public–private innovation: Public- and
private-sector roles in transportation
are shifting to enable innovative
ventures, partnerships and policy
models. However, they can also pose
challenges as technology outpaces
policy, and as change happens faster.
This leads to serious questioning
over data ownership and cyber
security. It is even more crucial at
this moment in history to engage
and maintain a balance between the
public and private sectors through
dialogue, innovation and collaborative
deployment of mobility solutions.
This can simultaneously protect and
support public needs and quality of
life and the environment, while at
the same time fostering a vital local
economy that enables sustainable
enterprises and ventures (including
those related to mobility) to flourish.
y • Systems, platforms, architectures and
frameworks to enable open innovation
and responsive ongoing management:
In a context in which ‘we don’t know
what we don’t know’ (making it even
more difficult than usual to pick
winners), open and interoperable
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