EP-2024-WK-01
Project title: Mainstreaming walking as a mode of transport in urban decision-making from an intersectional gender perspective: a cross-regional case study of Brazil and Mozambique
Main Applicant: Maria José Nieto
Affiliation: The Bartlett Development Planning Unit , University College London, UK
Partners:
• Dr. Daniel Oviedo (DO), Associate Professor, DPU UCL
• Leticia Leda Sabino (LLS), President and Coordinator of Instituto Caminhabilidade (Walkability Institute – IC)
• Mariana Demuth, Design Analyst of IC
• Carolina Fortes (CF), Communication Analyst of IC
• Rebeca Rute Fumo (RRF), Researcher, Observatório da Mobilidade e Transporte de Moçambique (Transport and Mobility observatory of Mozambique – OMT)
• Neide Magul (NM), Researcher OMT
• Joaquin Romero de Tejada (JRT), founder member OMT
• Dr. Costâncio Augusto Machanguana (CAM), Member of the scientific committee OMT
Abstract
Safe, accessible, and enjoyable WMT is crucial to equitable and sustainable urban mobility. This requires WMT to be at the forefront of cities’ decision-making process. Walkability research provides valuable insights into the material conditions that make a built environment amenable for diverse pedestrians. Studies on unwalkable areas, where walking is the primary means of access, show precarious and gendered pedestrian experiences underscoring the urgency of transformative actions. Missing is the knowledge to initiate, sustain, or consolidate these actions. This project addresses the gap by:
1) identifying opportunities to forefront WMT with an intersectional gender lens in the urban mobility decision-making processes of five cities across two countries. Mapping the networked multilevel structure of urban mobility governance will pinpoint strategic pressure points to action change. Charting the institutions, the political, financial, and regulatory frameworks and their actions, connections, resources, and hierarchies will reveal where and how WMT is supported from an intersectional gendered perspective and recognise pivotal actors and spaces for action.
2) Co-designing actionable strategies to position walking at the forefront of urban mobility decision-making in one city per country. Pivotal stakeholders will engage in a design workshop guided by a preliminary collective Theory of Change exercise based on the identified room for manoeuvre.
3) Developing an adaptable methodology to identify and co-produce feasible actions for WMT to be at the forefront of urban mobility decision-making. By generating knowledge and methodologies to catalyse change, this research contributes to walking not being viewed and experienced as an option of last resort but as a desirable and equitable mode of transport for all. Co-producing roadmaps to feasible actions will contribute to (i) decolonising knowledge about transport, (ii) providing insights to nudge urban mobility governance away from automobility in rapidly urbanising, yet not fully car-dependent countries, and (iii) developing methods to address the governance of unwalkable realities globally.