How the urban mobility landscape is fundamental to developing our cities

The growth of the urban mobility landscape is fundamental to developing our cities for the future.

Few regions in the world are able to challenge the Middle East and North Africa for not only the impressive development of public transport, but for understanding how best to tailor cities around the high rate of urbanisation and population growth.

For UITP, the International Association of Public Transport, their actions within the MENA region are among the most active of all the global body’s activities.

As a member-led association, UITP works to advance sustainable urban mobility alongside its global membership, including those in Dubai where next year, that membership collaboration will be on sight for all to see when the MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition takes place, jointly hosted by UITP and RTA, the Roads and Transport Authority for Dubai (28 February-1 March 2024).

Mobility in the Middle East and North Africa is experiencing record investment and growth, will public transport networks, operators, and authorities overseeing projects and investments of more than US$100 billion across the region.

With the rise of on-demand mobility services and the ongoing development of digitalisation, urban mobility is advancing across MENA to create more active, walkable, and sustainable urban areas that not only support economic development, but create more liveable and greener cities.

The region is also working hard to produce a higher public transport modal share in order to reduce transport emissions,

UITP MENA Events and Training Manager Dure Shewar, Project Manager for the MENA Transport Congress and Exhibition, and UITP Consultant for TRANSFORTIS Andrea Soehnchen, Programme Manager for the event, talk public transport development and the work being done to create the very best city living options – all which will be highlighted at the largest event of its kind in the MENA region.

With record investment in urban mobility landscape taking place within the Middle East and North Africa, can you tell us more about the changing landscape across the region?

Dure: Public transport is experiencing incredible growth across the MENA region. For UITP, we work alongside our local membership to make sure that the topic of public transport remain high up the agenda of decision makers, so it receives the attention it rightly deserves. The MENA region is a part of the world experiencing record investment, and a growing population too, with more people choosing urban life at their preferred way of living. The conversation on how to make our cities as liveable and functionable as possible must include public transport. The projects that have been greenlit will make the region’s cities more accessible, safer, more sustainable, and more inclusive.

With major developments in place to continue developing the region’s public transport, what can people expect to see and learn at the 2024 MENA Congress and Exhibition?

Andrea: There’s a reason that the MENA Congress and Exhibition is the largest event of its kind in the region, as only there can you meet and hear from the major players who will determine the future of urban mobility in this key global arena. With so many recognisable names and faces making up the Exhibition and Congress programme, it makes sense that it’s during our event that platforms are presented, and development objectives are set. In the past we’ve seen a lot of important players use the occasion to announce partnerships that will commit plans to implement new infrastructure, or to expand networks and operations. I think people have missed the connection of being together, and across public transport the community is defined by its sense of collaboration. For UITP it’s all about partnership, especially with our members, and no one knows more about what is happening right on the ground for passengers than those working at the local level. We’re fortunate to have that strategic partnership for the MENA Congress with the likes of Famco and Al Naboodah, to support us.

UITP is active in the MENA region, with many key industry players playing a role in the Committees and Working Bodies and Groups within the association. What work is being done right now?

Dure: For UITP in the MENA region, we bring together the major players to help drive forward the direction of urban mobility in the region. RTA is a crucial part of that conversation. We have a very active Regional Committee that covers all key updates across the region, and also, right now, our Bus Working Group is looking at how to make sure the Middle East and North Africa is part of the global conversation when it comes to zero emission buses and decarbonisation. We know that public transport is a solution to the climate crisis, and that climate action without public transport is not going to achieve its collective aim. Public transport is not always thought of as the most exciting sector, but I would disagree with that entirely, as our cities are kept moving by our networks, and they’re also made healthier, happier, and more financially viable. It’s a really interesting time for public transport and urban mobility.

In fact, the world of urban mobility will be brought together for the UITP Global Public Transport Summit when it arrives in Dubai for its 2026 edition. What was the approach to this collaboration coming about?

Dure For UITP, we’re extremely proud of the work we’ve carried out in collaboration with RTA. If every major global city goes through a development design change to improve the landscape every ten years, for Dubai, this happens every two to five years. That is the pace of rapid and exciting change within Dubai. The city lives and breathes advancement, with impressive plans always in place to keep making Dubai as accessible, and as liveable as possible. We know that outstanding public transport and urban mobility options are a huge part of that, and in Dubai the city loves to welcome the entire world of urban mobility to its doorstep for a global event such as the UITP Summit. We last partnered with RTA for the Global Summit in 2011, so by 2026, it will be 15 years since that fruitful and engaging event. In that decade and a half, Dubai has developed at such as impressive rate that guests will find it hard to believe what they will see when they arrive in 2026.

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