A program of exchanges and “good practices”for a shared Mediterranean culture

SUSTAINABLEURBAN TRANSPORT IN MEDITERRANEAN

MARSEILLE CENTER for MEDITERRANEAN INTEGRATION

CMI

The CMI was launched in Marseille in October 2009 in order to build a platform to promote integrationin the Mediterranean through high level dialogue on sectoral policies that would allow knowledgedissemination and management in areas that are vital for the development of the region: urban andspatial development, environment and water, transport and logistics, innovation and technology, skillsdevelopment and labor mobility.

CMI founding members are the World Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the governments ofEgypt, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Lebanon and France (represented by the Ministry of ForeignAffairs and the Ministry of Ecology, in partnership with the FrenchDevelopment Agency (AFD), the Caisse des Dépôts etConsignations and the City of Marseille). Other partners will join the Center inthe near future.

TARGET COUNTRIES

The CMI’s objective is to create a multi-partnership between all countries on both shores of the Mediterraneanaimed at achieving a shared ownership of the sub-region’s development challenges and improving public policiesin areas identified as crucial for these countries.

PROGRAM PARTNERS

The “Sustainable Urban Transport” program (UD4) is one of the fourteen programs currently conducted withinthis multi-partnership framework. It is primarily funded by the AFD, also head of the program, and in chargeof the program’s set up, finding complementary financing and methodological approach. The program’soperational implementation has been entrusted to the association CODATU (Cooperation for urban mobility inthe developing world) that works with centers of expertise and research: CERTU, CETE Méditerranée and theBlue Plan. Other technical or financial partners include the countries and cities that host events organized bythe program, the City of Marseille, the World Bank, the European Investment Bank and organizations likeMedCities or the Mediterranean Commission of UCLG.

OTHER PARTNERS

In the course of the program, other public institutions, localgovernments, municipal associations, universities or centersof excellence of the countries in the sub-region will be ableto join the program.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION

MAIN ISSUES

All Mediterranean basin cities, North and South, face a criticalsituation in urban transport. The causes of this crisis may beeconomic growth, motorization of the population, developingactivities or urban sprawl.

The growing needs in urban transport (sub-urban and intra-urban) result in rising levels of urban congestion and pollutionthat slow down economic development while increasinggreenhouse gas emissions. Also, the public transport offer—both mass transport and small-scale transport—requires moreand more investments and organization efforts to meetthe mobility needs of the population, including those with a low income.

Adequate management of urban transport is therefore acritical issue that concerns all aspects of sustainable urbandevelopment : technica l , economic , soc ia l , spat ia l ,environmental , f inanc ia l and inst i tut ional . Effect ivemanagement should be able to better control urban sprawl,stabilize the demand of fossil energy, preserve the urbanenvironment and provide improved access for the greatestnumber to jobs and services in the city.

Central governments and local actors are now aware of theneed to develop their

urban transport networks according to a global multimodalintegrated approach. They have already undertaken manyinitiatives to this end. They also feel the need to exchange withtheir counterparts, who are confronted in other cities andcountries with the same challenges, and to be able to compareand discuss their respective “good practices”, assess the inputand its limitations, in order to obtain the best references toimprove the strategy best suited to their city and their country.

A PROGRAM FOR CAPACITY BUILDINGAND REINFORCEMENT OF PUBLIC POLICIES

The “Sustainable Urban Transport” program will thereforepresent and analyze noteworthy, concrete cases of “goodpractices” that may be observed in the field in cities on bothshores of the Mediterranean. It will also place these concretecases in their own urban context in order to set forth, throughexchanges between participants, the necessary coherence andpossible limitations of the approaches chosen by these cities.

The program will reinforce the Mediterranean network ofknowledge and partnerships in the urban transport sector. Itwill also favor building a “body of knowledge” on the sector,

which is both concrete and adapted to the realities ofMediterranean cities.

It is one of the four complementary programs on urban andspatial development of the CMI: Strategic Urban Development(UD1); Cities and Climate Change (UD2); Medinas 2030(UD3) and Sustainable Urban Transport (UD4).

ELEMENTS OF THE PROGRAM

SIX MEETINGS OVER A THREE-YEAR PERIOD: The program is based on a series of six meetings over a three-year period from 2010 to 2012: an inauguralregional conference (Damascus, April 2010), four thematic workshops (one per semester), and a regionalsumming up conference (end of 2012).

The final objective of these meetings is to gradually create a shared Mediterranean culture of good practicesin sustainable urban transport by:

• consolidating the sector’s knowledge networks throughout the Mediterranean;• developing multiple partnerships;• building a body of knowledge tailored for Mediterranean cities.

This collaborative work will also provide continuing skills development opportunities for hundreds of leadersin Mediterranean cities and will reinforce the shared culture for the implementation of sustainable systems ofurban mobility, adapted to common Mediterranean characteristics (climate, urbanization patterns—includingmedinas and historic centers—, social practices, etc.), yet taking into account the specificities or distinctivefeatures of each city.

Calendar of Meetings:• Inaugural Regional Conference:

Damascus, April 23-24, 2010 • Thematic Workshop on Mobility in Medinas and Historic

Centers: Marseille, November 29 and December 1, 2010

• Two workshops in 2011 (May-June and November-December)One workshop in 2012 (May-June)

• Regional Summing up Conference: end of 2012

The exact place and date of the events scheduled for 2011 and2012, as well as programs, may be consulted on the CMI website,www.cmimarseille.org, that would be updated regularly.

MANUAL OF GOOD PRACTICES AND DOCUMENTARY BASE As the meetings take place, a collection of good practices will gradually be compiled and complemented withdiscussions with meeting participants. The interactive preparation of the document, a truly shared and commonmanual, will be the most visible and concrete “intellectual product” of the program.

The manual will also contain documents, studies and reports assembled in the course of the program. It willbecome a permanent documentary base that may be accessed on line by all during and after the program.

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PROGRAM TEAMHead of Program: AFD (French Development Agency) / Xavier HOANG, Jocelyne VAUQUELINProgram Management: CODATU / Laurence LAFON, Xavier GODARD, Alexis JOVIGNOTTechnical Support: CERTU / Thierry GOUIN; CETE Méditerranée / Marine MILLOT; Blue Plan / Sylvain HOUPIN andPhilippe VALLOUIS

CONTACTSMarseille Center for Mediterranean Integration (CMI)Villa Valmer - 271, Corniche Kennedy - 13007 Marseille - FranceTel: 33 (0)4 91 99 24 56www.cmimarseille.org

CODATU21, boulevard Vivier Merle - 69003 Lyon - FranceTel: 33 (0)4 78 62 23 09Codatu.lafon@wanadoo.frcodatu.ajovignot@orange.fr