sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

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Transportation infrastructure for connections between different cities and regions is a crucial element
for the <strong>development</strong> of the entire territory of a given country. In the mid-1980s and early 1990s, most of the
Latin American countries made a great deal of progress in expanding and improving transport infrastructure
and services. The region still exhibits a substantial shortfall in terms of infrastructure and associated logistical
services. Private enterprises have been actively encouraged to take up infrastructure concessions, but transport
service coverage has not expanded a great deal, as most public and private investment in infrastructure has
been channelled into highway construction, rather than into other modes of transport, such as railroads and
shipping, which could provide more <strong>sustainable</strong> transportation options.
A comparison of the stock of infrastructure in the region with the stock in other emerging
economies shows that the expansion of infrastructure service coverage in Latin America has fallen short of
what is required to meet existing needs. This is illustrated in figure I.<strong>20</strong>, which depicts the trend in per capita
kilometres of paved roadways. While the countries of South-East Asia witnessed an increase in this
indicator between 1980 and <strong>20</strong>05, the Latin American and Caribbean region has seen a decline. This
situation poses a physical constraint on <strong>development</strong>, which needs to be overcome as a matter of urgency,
At the same time, however, it is an opportunity to incorporate sustainability criteria in future transport
infrastructure investments, so as to promote low-carbon solutions, minimize other types of environmental
impact and improve (rather than impair) the quality of life of the population. This poses major
institutional challenges. Most of the countries in the region make explicit reference to sustainability in
government policy, but there has been very little progress in terms of the <strong>development</strong> and effective
implementation of policies and programmes on public transport and related infrastructure.
Figure I.22
LAND TRANSPORT IN LATIN AMERICA AND SOUTH-EAST ASIA
(Kilometres of paved roads, per capita)
2.5
2.0
1.5
1.0
0.5
0.0
1980 1990 1995 <strong>20</strong>00 <strong>20</strong>05
South-east Asia
Latin America
Source: D. E. Perrotti and R. Sánchez, “La brecha de infraestructura en América Latina y el Caribe”, Recursos naturales e
infraestructura series, No. 153 (LC/L.3342), Santiago, Chile, Economic Commission for Latin America and the
Caribbean (ECLAC), <strong>20</strong>11.