Urban Transport in the OIC Megacities
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megacities of the developed world such as the DOT in New York or TfL in London, prove that under a
single entity, it is easier and efficient to define the shared responsibilities of different actors and
coordinate their collaboration, whether these actors are public or private. At the same time, it is for
utmost importance to allow space in the planning procedures for bottom up input. Particularly in the
urban areas where social activity and human interaction and mobility are inevitably intense, it is the
citizens that recognise the problems and needs of the city the most, particularly when it comes to
transport. It has been proven that public participation, advocacy and awareness raising on issues such
as road safety, public space planning and active travel can provide valuable inputs and solutions to
urban problems. In addition, public participation provides the necessary space for ‘incompleteness’ in
an urban environment which means that allows the rapidly changing dynamics and needs of people
living in a city to be expressed rather than suppressed through stringent planning frameworks.
The coordination between different urban planning institutions is also equally important. Transport
interacts with land use planning, security, enforcement, education, trade, real estate, health and many
other sectors which have their own agendas and therefore it is necessary to define the boundaries and
overlapping responsibilities of different authorities. Conflicts between different sectors are common
both in developed and developing countries but they tend to be more difficult to resolve in developing
environments. The lack of regulations and cooperation between the private and the public sector
seems to be the most important obstacle in achieving the full implementation of transport policies.
Conflicts can take different forms, from fully unregulated public transport operations to land
ownership disagreements, which do not allow public infrastructure to proceed. In such cases, urban
authorities and national regulations need to be changed appropriately in order to prioritise public to
private operations, despite the contradicting benefits of the private sector. This does not mean that
the private sector should be restricted horizontally, but only that the public interest should be clearly
defined and put ahead as this is the only way to promote long term sustainability and welfare in urban
environments.
6.2.4. Freight and servicing
Imposing restrictions to private cars while supporting public and non-motorized transport can have
multiple benefits, including pollution reduction, healthier urban environment and reduced GHG
emissions. However, the megacities of the Islamic world also lack significant infrastructure which will
facilitate their urban freight transport. In terms of logistics operations in particular, most cities lack
the appropriate infrastructure (consolidation points, loading and unloading areas etc.), as well as
management skills to respond to the increasing trade and consumption needs.
It is noted however that freight is probably the area with the lowest level of transferability between
developed and developing countries. Freight consolidation and planning is favoured in the developed
world due to the fact that the retail sector is operating based on consistent supply and demand system.
On the other hand, informal and small shops do not always need to store a large amount of stock and
do not always sell a consistent range of products. This means that practices such as consolidation and
efficient last mile deliveries cannot be applied in developing world cities. Similar restrictions apply for
night time deliveries and online shopping deliveries as owners are unlikely to be willing to keep their
stores open at night and online shipping is not very popular respectively. It is therefore suggested that
consultation and research needs to be conducted on a local basis in order to identify the needs of
retailers and suggest specific solutions to alleviate freight traffic. Loading and unloading facilities are
considered essential in any case as the lack of them always obstructs traffic flows.
On the other hand, large scale logistics are essential to be planned for developing world megacities.
All the cities examined in this report are regional and national freight hubs, playing a crucial role in
local and national economies. Most cities are major regional ports and airports (with only exception
being Tehran, which is only a main airport and Cairo which is on waterway). Efficient freight
operations are necessary not only for the national and international economies but also for the urban
economies. Efficient operations cause significantly less disruption to the urban environment and
facilitate national and international trade. Dakar, for example, is the only port that offers access to