Uwe Niedzballa: Mobilität im Großraum Algier vor dem Hintergrund der siedlungsstrukturellen Dispersion und der Liberalisierung im Verkehrsmarkt. Mannheim (Studien zur Mobilitäts- und Verkehrsforschung 20) 2008. 134 S.
The objective of the work presented by NIEDZBALLA, is to eliminate the discrepancies between transport provision and the demand for transport in the metropolitan region of Algiers and to examine their main causes and effects. Courses of action have been developed from this, which contribute to a sustainable and integrated transport system for the metropolitan area of Algiers, with which in addition to transport, the urban-structural framework conditions and developments had to be observed and considered appropriately in the options.
To date, the public transport provision in Algiers has been dominated to a large extent by buses and taxis taking specific routes. As a result of the continuing growth of towns and cities and the increasing urban-structural spread in the bay of Algiers, these transport systems are, however, no longer in the position to satisfy the demand at the requisite level. Permanently overcrowded buses, which only move at snail's pace during the rush hour, are a topic on the agenda. The state reacted to this development with a comprehensive liberalisation of the transport market. However, the implementation of a planned Mass Rapid Transit-System has still not been realised to date.
In the first chapter of his work, a general, theoretical introduction and approach to the topic is made. Chapter 2 gives an insight into the essential problems, which are responsible for the urbanisation processes described in the developing countries and emerging markets. One of these future challenges is posed by the area of urban transport systems, the presentation of which is focused upon in the third chapter. In addition to the characteristic hallmarks, the shortcomings of this transport situation and the emerging negative consequences for the densely populated areas and the resident population are particularly discussed. Chapter 4 gives an historical summary of the origin of the metropolitan region of Algiers and reveals the consequences of a town/city planning, described as having collapsed. With the analysis of the current transport market for private suppliers, the individual modes of transport in operation are worked on in detail and analysed with regard to their capacity and their share in the overall transport provision. The mobility requirements of the population arising from in-situ surveys are contrasted with these provisions in Chapter 5. Based on the socalled data acquired on the behaviour in the respective spheres of action and the mobility requirements of the population, the formulation of possible courses of action subsequently follow in the last chapter.
Against this background, the concern of this study is to record the mobility requirements of residents in the metropolis of Algiers by selecting a sub-area as an example and to contrast the choices for a solution by way of existing transport options. The analysis forms the focal point between relation of provision and the situation of demand to develop from fundamental considerations, stemming from this knowledge, for the improvement of the transport situation in Algiers as a basis for a sustainable local public transport concept.
The urban-structural defects not only have in consequence an impact on the shape and functional structure of the urban centre, but also prevent the further development of the local public transport provision in many areas into a sustainable system for the metropolitan area. Last but not least, consequently transport planning in the past could increasingly be only a reaction to existing urban-structural structures, the provision of public transport in Algiers also shows distinctive deficits. The fact that particularly areas outside the town/city are affected by these shortfalls in the local public transport provision - and thus, a considerable part of the residents in Algiers - is pointed out by the author's results.
Thomas J. Mager