Cities and the governance of transport interfaces: Ethiopia's new rail systems

Philipp Rode, Biruk Terrefe and Nuno da Cruz

Transport Policy, 2020, vol. 91, issue C, 76-94

Abstract: This paper investigates the governance of transport infrastructure interfaces. These are connection or touching points that bring together different city systems, technical characteristics and governance regimes. The empirical evidence comes from Ethiopia's new rail systems and is based on experiences in two cities, the capital Addis Ababa and the second largest city Dire Dawa. The techno-spatial and organisational boundaries that define infrastructure interfaces are under-researched across disciplines. Yet it is at these hotspots of urban governance where many critical questions for cities arise: who governs, what to prioritise, how to coordinate? Based on a multiple case study approach, this paper combines socio-spatial analysis with institutional analysis of infrastructure governance. The findings include the identification of highly centralised and hierarchical governance and coordination dynamics, as well as the critical role of a new bureaucracy (the Ethiopian Railway Corporation) structured around core railway engineering competence rather than urban transport and development expertise. More generally, it is a techno-political alliance in Ethiopia which shapes urban development and the rollout of infrastructure at an unprecedented speed and scale.

Keywords: Integration; Infrastructure coordination; Interchanges; Railways; Sub-Saharan Africa; Urbanisation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

Downloads: (external link)
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X19305669
Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:trapol:v:91:y:2020:i:c:p:76-94

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/supportfaq.cws_home/regional
https://shop.elsevie ... _01_ooc_1&version=01

DOI: 10.1016/j.tranpol.2020.03.004

Access Statistics for this article

Transport Policy is currently edited by Y. Hayashi

More articles in Transport Policy from Elsevier
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Catherine Liu ().