With support from EUROCLIMA+, the Peruvian city will be integrating its transport systems towards long-term sustainability.
Arequipa, Peru, November 16, 2020 - Sustainable urban mobility planning at the local level allows cities to implement sustainable transport initiatives for the benefit of the population, while articulating and contributing to national and international climate commitments. To add to these efforts and objectives, on December 9 the Municipality of Arequipa and the French Development Agency (AFD), representing the European Union, held the event to launch the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) for the Provincial Municipality of Arequipa.
The event took place under the framework of the project “Preparation of the Mobility and Sustainable Urban Transport Plan for the Provincial Municipality of Arequipa”, which is part of the Urban Mobility sector of the EUROCLIMA+ programme. The activities began on October 26 and are expected to last 16 months, ending in February 2022. The project has a budget of 500,000 euros, provided by the European Union.
With the implementation of the AFD and with the technical consultancy of Egis and Ruprrecht Consortium Consult, the Municipality of Arequipa will have an "integrated, strategic and long-term mobility planning document, with clear objectives and monitoring that aims to improve accessibility and quality of life for the functional urban area". With this tool the Peruvian city will be able to integrate all its modes of transport with a focus on sustainability.
The event was attended by representatives of the Municipality of Arequipa as the beneficiary of the project, the AFD as the implementing agency, and the consortium Egis and Ruprrecht Consult, the company that will carry out the studies and technical implementation.
Laurent Pacoud, Director of AFD in Peru, highlighted the efforts that the cooperation agency has been making in Peru for the past five years in the areas of transport, social housing, urban development, and biodiversity, among others. With respect to the transport sector, they have collaborated with Arequipa through partnerships with the Peruvian Ministry of Transport and Communications, the city's tramway study --the results of which were also presented at the event-- and now with the EUROCLIMA+ project.
"It is with great honour that we are arriving today in Arequipa. The AFD is a portal of cooperation in which we commit more than 14 billion euros to all kinds of projects. We are very proud to be at the side of the city's transport actors," said Laurent Pacoud.
Technical Implementation of Arequipa’s SUMP
For her part, Katy Huaylla, international consultant in sustainable urban mobility for Ruprrecht Consult, explained the vision, the work plan, and the technical plans for this project. The implementation is based on eight specific principles, as follows
At the same time, she stressed the importance of having a long-term vision for transforming the city's mobility with clear objectives and monitoring, in which an implementation exercise can actually be carried out.
"We don't want to generate a plan that would be a document that just sits there. We want a tool that allows us to transform mobility in Arequipa," said Katy Huaylla.
For the development of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan, work will be done according to the European Guide and the SUMP Cycle, which consists of a series of steps and phases for developing these documents. Although the guide provides a path, it must be adapted to local contexts, such as "local conditions, regulations, laws and the culture of Arequipa, to make a plan according to the conditions of Arequipa and international standards".
In terms of its components, the SUMP will aim to generate synergy among all transport systems in Arequipa, such as public transport, cycling, pedestrianisation, private transport, and logistics for regulation, monitoring and control. In this way, they will be integrated with cross-cutting aspects such as:
- Universal accessibility: For people living in the peripheries and reducing the social exclusion of people with limited resources.
- Road safety: To reduce insecurity in public spaces and decrease road accidents and deaths.
- Environment: To contribute to the reduction of carbon emissions from the transport sector
- Citizen culture: To integrate civil society and the population with road policies and the use of public space.
- Institutional management: To encourage coordinated inter- and multi-sectoral efforts.
An instrument for improving quality of life
The project is currently in the preparation, analysis, and diagnosis phase. In the long term, it is expected to be a tool to promote economic development and provide a better quality of life for the citizens of Arequipa.
According to the Mayor of Arequipa, Omar Candía Aguilar, this project allows us to meet our commitments to govern in a more technical and professional way. "We are generating management that is truly planned, with a strategic vision for the city we want".
At the same time, he stressed that the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan is in line with his government's four main objectives: to achieve a healthy, attractive, educated, and democratic Arequipa.
"The SUMP brings together our strategic actions for healthy transport, such as bicycles and pedestrian paths. We provide the information and our studies so that there is feedback, and we have a policy instrument that can better guide us and fulfil our commitments to the citizenry. I thank the AFD and the European Union for helping to drive our processes forward," concluded Omar Candía Aguilar.
As part of the project, on November 10 and 11, the forum "Challenges and Opportunities for Sustainable Urban Mobility in Arequipa" was held to socialise the initiative and gather the opinions of those involved in mobility in the Peruvian city.
To learn more about the project "Preparation of the Plan for Mobility and Sustainable Urban Transport of the Provincial Municipality of Arequipa", consult the following link.
Here you will find the video of the event:
About EUROCLIMA+
EUROCLIMA+ is a programme financed by the European Union to promote environmentally sustainable and climate-resilient development in 18 Latin American countries, particularly for the benefit of the most vulnerable populations. The Programme is implemented under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-American Foundation for Public Administration and Policy (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ), and UN Environment.
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About the French Development Agency
AFD is a public and solidarity-based bank committed to projects that concretely improve the quality of life of populations in developing countries, emerging countries, and overseas territories and collectivities. AFD is active in several sectors - energy, health, biodiversity, water, digital innovation, training - and accompanies the transition to a safer, more just, and more sustainable world: a common world. Its action is fully in line with the United Nations' Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Present in 115 countries through a network of 85 agencies, AFD currently finances, monitors, and supports more than four thousand development projects. In 2018, ADF invested 11.4 billion euros in financing projects in developing countries as well as overseas territories and collectivities.