Governmental Capacity and the Smart Mobility Transition
Governance of the Smart Mobility Transition
ISBN: 978-1-78754-320-1, eISBN: 978-1-78754-317-1
Publication date: 13 March 2018
Abstract
Using materials drawn from San Francisco and Stockholm, this chapter assesses the extent to which recent efforts to upgrade transport services through smart mobility technologies have advanced short- or long-term urban policy aims in the arena of transport governance for sustainability. We argue that positive governance impacts depend largely on degrees of coordination and oversight. Our findings suggest that these aims are not going to be easily met by a network of competing private firms or individuals using smart technology to achieve their own singular trip priorities. Stated in the lingo of social science, the smart mobility transition will produce a ‘collective action problem’ if it remains in the hands of individual firms without some larger territorial and service coordination by governing authorities. To counter this possibility, we argue that transparent implementation processes involving multiple stakeholders will offer the best opportunity for ensuring that smart technology innovations will become a means for expanding governance capacity.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgements
This chapter builds on findings generated by a three-year research project focused on the role of political leadership in transforming urban transport, funded by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations (VREF). I was the project’s Principal Investigator (and a field researcher for the Stockholm case). Primarily our research focus was on leadership strategies and tactics used to transform urban transport in eight cities around the world. In this chapter, my focus is the smart mobility transition and its impact on governance capacities. The analysis presented here is entirely my own, and does not represent the views of the larger TUT-POL research team or any individuals within it. I owe a special debt of gratitude to Onesimo Flores Dewey, who conducted the primary research for San Francisco case discussed here, as well as Lisa Rayle his co-author. Thanks also to the project’s Senior Research Associate, Lily Song, who offered considerable wisdom and assistance in the crafting of this chapter.
Citation
Davis, D.E. (2018), "Governmental Capacity and the Smart Mobility Transition", Marsden, G. and Reardon, L. (Ed.) Governance of the Smart Mobility Transition, Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 105-122. https://doi.org/10.1108/978-1-78754-317-120181007
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2018 Emerald Publishing Limited