IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/natres/v40y2016i4p143-155.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable mobility as Swiss cheese? – Exploring influences on urban transport strategy in Basel

Author

Listed:
  • Paul Fenton

Abstract

This paper explores the development and implementation of strategies for sustainable mobility in Basel, Switzerland. Basel (Bâle, Basilea, Basle) has been identified as a ‘relatively successful’ practitioner of sustainable mobility, with an urban form that is not only conducive to walking and cycling, but also has an extensive public transport system and high levels of commuting using these sustainable modes of transport. With a low share of journeys by motor vehicles compared to many other European cities – combined with a legally‐binding objective to reduce vehicle traffic by a further 10% from 2010 to 2020 – Basel appears to be a forerunner with regard to sustainable mobility policy and practice. Five years after this objective was passed into law – following a public vote, as Basel is part of the Swiss confederation and practices direct democracy – this study aims to assess the extent of policy implementation and reflect on challenges and opportunities for the future. The paper presents findings from a series of interviews with stakeholders in Basel on the theme of sustainable mobility. Key questions include: is it possible to develop coherent strategies and policies to further reduce the role of motor vehicles and in doing so, achieve a modal shift? How does participation in a direct democracy influence strategy and policy development and outcomes? Do compromises and trade‐offs mean strategies and policies promoting sustainable mobility are, like Swiss cheese, riddled with holes? By illustrating challenges and opportunities when advancing sustainable mobility in a participative culture, the study provides insights for policymakers and researchers in other contexts. Among the conclusions is an emphasis on the importance of committed individuals capable of expanding the ‘strategy space’ of processes. Participation provides one such opportunity, yet may also generate divergent or contradictory trends causing incrementalism. A rapid transition to sustainable mobility is thus likely to require increased politicisation of the topic by both politicians and civil servants.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul Fenton, 2016. "Sustainable mobility as Swiss cheese? – Exploring influences on urban transport strategy in Basel," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 40(4), pages 143-155, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:natres:v:40:y:2016:i:4:p:143-155
    DOI: 10.1111/1477-8947.12093
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/1477-8947.12093
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/1477-8947.12093?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bornstein, Nicholas & Lanz, Bruno, 2008. "Voting on the environment: Price or ideology? Evidence from Swiss referendums," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 430-440, October.
    2. Hrelja, Robert & Isaksson, Karolina & Richardson, Tim, 2013. "Choosing conflict on the road to sustainable mobility: A risky strategy for breaking path dependency in urban policy making," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 195-205.
    3. Moshe Givoni & James Macmillen & David Banister & Eran Feitelson, 2013. "From Policy Measures to Policy Packages," Transport Reviews, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 1-20, January.
    4. Eric Bruun & Moshe Givoni, 2015. "Sustainable mobility: Six research routes to steer transport policy," Nature, Nature, vol. 523(7558), pages 29-31, July.
    5. Dani Rodrik, 2014. "When Ideas Trump Interests: Preferences, Worldviews, and Policy Innovations," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 28(1), pages 189-208, Winter.
    6. Galletta, Sergio & Jametti, Mario, 2015. "How to tame two Leviathans? Revisiting the effect of direct democracy on local public expenditure in a federation," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 82-93.
    7. Spickermann, Alexander & Grienitz, Volker & von der Gracht, Heiko A., 2014. "Heading towards a multimodal city of the future?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 201-221.
    8. Banister, David, 2011. "The trilogy of distance, speed and time," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 950-959.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Varvara Nikulina & David Simon & Henrik Ny & Henrikke Baumann, 2019. "Context-Adapted Urban Planning for Rapid Transitioning of Personal Mobility towards Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-37, February.
    2. Hrelja, Robert & Khan, Jamil & Pettersson, Fredrik, 2020. "How to create efficient public transport systems? A systematic review of critical problems and approaches for addressing the problems," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 186-196.
    3. Nadine Gatzert & Katrin Osterrieder, 2020. "The future of mobility and its impact on the automobile insurance industry," Risk Management and Insurance Review, American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 23(1), pages 31-51, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Varvara Nikulina & David Simon & Henrik Ny & Henrikke Baumann, 2019. "Context-Adapted Urban Planning for Rapid Transitioning of Personal Mobility towards Sustainability: A Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-37, February.
    2. Francesco Filippi, 2022. "A Paradigm Shift for a Transition to Sustainable Urban Transport," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-27, March.
    3. Skeete, Jean-Paul, 2018. "Level 5 autonomy: The new face of disruption in road transport," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 134(C), pages 22-34.
    4. Tan Ngoc Vu & Duc Hong Vo & Michael McAleer, 2019. "Rent seeking for export licenses: Application to the Vietnam rice market," Documentos de Trabajo del ICAE 2019-13, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Económicas y Empresariales, Instituto Complutense de Análisis Económico.
    5. Lamberova, Natalia, 2021. "The puzzling politics of R&D: Signaling competence through risky projects," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 801-818.
    6. Barbora Mazúrová & Ján Kollár & Gabriela Nedelová, 2021. "Travel Mode of Commuting in Context of Subjective Well-Being—Experience from Slovakia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(6), pages 1-17, March.
    7. Gutmann, Jerg & Metelska-Szaniawska, Katarzyna & Voigt, Stefan, 2024. "Leader characteristics and constitutional compliance," European Journal of Political Economy, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    8. Bhardwaj, Chandan & Axsen, Jonn & Kern, Florian & McCollum, David, 2020. "Why have multiple climate policies for light-duty vehicles? Policy mix rationales, interactions and research gaps," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 309-326.
    9. Raquel Ortega-Argilés, 2022. "The evolution of regional entrepreneurship policies: “no one size fits all”," The Annals of Regional Science, Springer;Western Regional Science Association, vol. 69(3), pages 585-610, December.
    10. Stefano Carattini & Andrea Baranzini & Philippe Thalmann & Frédéric Varone & Frank Vöhringer, 2017. "Green Taxes in a Post-Paris World: Are Millions of Nays Inevitable?," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 68(1), pages 97-128, September.
    11. Romanika Okraszewska & Aleksandra Romanowska & Marcin Wołek & Jacek Oskarbski & Krystian Birr & Kazimierz Jamroz, 2018. "Integration of a Multilevel Transport System Model into Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-20, February.
    12. Wang, Kun & Xia, Wenyi & Zhang, Anming & Zhang, Qiong, 2018. "Effects of train speed on airline demand and price: Theory and empirical evidence from a natural experiment," Transportation Research Part B: Methodological, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 99-130.
    13. Douenne, Thomas & Fabre, Adrien, 2020. "French attitudes on climate change, carbon taxation and other climate policies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 169(C).
    14. Karst Geurs & Cathy Macharis, 2019. "The future of European communication and transportation research: a research agenda," REGION, European Regional Science Association, vol. 6, pages 1-21.
    15. Bordo, Michael & Istrefi, Klodiana, 2023. "Perceived FOMC: The making of hawks, doves and swingers," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C), pages 125-143.
    16. Emiliano Toni & Pablo Paniagua & Patricio 'Ordenes, 2024. "Policy Changes and Growth Slowdown: Assessing the Lost Decade of the Latin American Miracle," Papers 2407.02003, arXiv.org.
    17. Á. Pereira & A. Carballo-Penela & A. Guerra & X. Vence, 2018. "Designing a policy package for the promotion of servicising: A case study of vineyard crop protection in Galicia (Spain)," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(2), pages 348-369, January.
    18. Carsten Hefeker & Michael Neugart, 2019. "Policy Coordination Under Model Disagreement and Uncertainty," Open Economies Review, Springer, vol. 30(4), pages 719-737, September.
    19. Hefeker, Carsten, 2022. "Policy coordination under model disagreement and asymmetric shocks," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    20. Gabriella Vitorino Guimarães & Tálita Floriano Santos & Vicente Aprigliano Fernandes & Jorge Eliécer Córdoba Maquilón & Marcelino Aurélio Vieira da Silva, 2020. "Assessment for the Social Sustainability and Equity under the Perspective of Accessibility to Jobs," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(23), pages 1-23, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:natres:v:40:y:2016:i:4:p:143-155. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1477-8947 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.