Population, territory and sustainable development

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settlements with low-income populations) are still excluded from service coverage. This is why policies
and programmes oriented toward achieving the Millennium Development Goal of improving the lives of
at least 100 million slum dwellers continue to be so important in the region.
The high degree of urbanization and the average income levels in most countries in the region
have contributed to an expansion in service networks. Paradoxically, however, in some countries this
expansion has not led to quality improvements or reliable service. Services are often unreliable (water for
a few hours a day, constant blackouts, and other problems) and in some cases very poor (few people drink
piped water directly in countries like the Dominican Republic). Achieving coverage thus opens a new
challenge in terms of supplying good quality, reliable services.
3. Urban mobility and transport
The transformations taking place in urban areas brought a disconnect between the urban landscape and
the mobility and transport system that changed living conditions for the population, especially the lowerincome
segment. Transport inside cities (especially the bigger ones) has become crucial for the proper
functioning of cities, for the family budget, and for the quality of life of residents. This is especially the
case in large cities, or metropolises, whose functioning depends on means of transport for traveling long
distances (several kilometres). This issue is therefore taken up again in the chapter on metropolitan areas,
where it is analysed less from a supply perspective (that is, the transport system) and more from a demand
standpoint, in particular from the angle of trip origins and destinations (that is, commuting, conmutación
in Spanish, pendularidade in Portuguese) and costs in terms of both time and money.
Montezuma (2003) argues that five factors have hindered urban mobility, especially for women,
children and the poor: (i) the unfavourable economic situation characteristic of globalization; (ii) the
centrifugal growth of cities; (iii) difficult access to housing and public services; (iv) the never-ending
mass-transit crisis; and (v) the increased investment of time and money in commuting.
The majority of countries have, unsurprisingly, implemented urban transit policies in recent
years, following the seminal example of Curitiba and, later, the TransMilenio rapid transit system in
Bogotá (ECLAC, 2011). This was preceded by a gradual withdrawal of the State from public transport
over the course of many years or even decades and the transfer of this service to small business owners.
The transition involved a gradual deregulation of public transport, which resulted in uncontrolled, cutthroat
competition for the streets. When the social and economic costs of this self-regulated model
became devastating and threatened to disrupt the functioning of cities, it became clear that a new
approach by the State was in order. There has been a wide range of national and subnational
arrangements, but in general it has entailed the extension, expansion and/or improvement of mass transit
(city buses and subways), greater coordination and integration of components, increased government
regulation and oversight and centralized planning and design. Despite heavy investments and high-profile
innovations, few cases have achieved resounding success, with the majority seeing partial progress and,
unfortunately, some failures and frustrations.
With regard to private transport, public policies have basically been permissive and reactive
—permissive because there have been few containment initiatives (such as driving restrictions, toll
roads, commuter or fuel taxes, construction standards and parking requirements for streets and
buildings); reactive because the response to the growing number of vehicles, which more than
doubled from 8 vehicles per 100 people in 1990 to 17 in 2007 (ECLAC, 2011, p. 74), has been to
expand road infrastructure, build urban highways and widen streets to support more vehicles. This