Les frontières au quotidien? Modes de vie dans l'agglomération trinationale de Bâle

The gradual opening of borders, which occurred over the past few decades have dramatically altered their role and function. Although these evolutions were not uniform, they have enabled the development of cross-border regions, which are characterized by a high diversity of opportunities for both sides of the border. These include but are not limited to employment and income, increased access to goods and services, and so on. But not everyone is able to or interested in crossing the border. They may be unaware of cross-border opportunities, lack the linguistic skills or the motivation. As such, the relation to the border and to the territories located beyond it is highly individual. With a specific focus on the trinational city of Basel, this study uses the concepts of motility and lifestyle to examine how a border influences the daily lives of people who live in a cross-border region. This study uses a mixed method design, combining contextual, qualitative (15 interviews) and quantitative data (1615 individuals). The findings indicate that, even as the border continues to play an important role in the daily lives of inhabitants, cross-border mobility is a significant feature defining their lifestyles. More than a third of the local population cross the borders for leisure or consumption activities and tens of thousands are cross-border workers. In terms of social networks, however, the study finds that the border tends to act more as a barrier. Finally, the cross-borderness of the city of Basel is deeply embedded in the city's identity to which a majority of the region inhabitants feel attached (about 75%). Even the individuals who never cross the border consider the cross-border situation of Basel an advantage. Inhabitants on the French side of the city are most active in "cross-border" activities, while the Swiss lifestyles are the least. Whereas Switzerland, as employment and metropolitan centre, and Germany, as an inexpensive destination, attract people from beyond their national borders for leisure or consumption activities, the French part seems to play a secondary role in this urban area. Even as individual characteristics, such as income or cross-border worker status, clearly have a large effect on lifestyle spatiality in cross-border regions, applying the concept of motility (Kaufmann, Bergman, & Joye 2004), provides important new and complementary findings. This concept makes it possible to address several questions linked to mobility practices in these regions, such as accessibility, the lack of motivation and interest for cross-border opportunities, the lack of skills (linguistic or social) and local knowledge, and so on. More generally, the work carried out underlines the need to better integrate social skills and spatial curiosity, into the understanding of mobility. Finally, the opening of borders may also have negative impacts on the inhabitants of these regions. Even if the overall cohesion of Basel is relatively good, there exists three structural weaknesses identified in other contexts. These include 1) the large differences in the living conditions between cross-border and non-cross-border workers, 2) the large motorized flows, 3) the functional and social specialization of the territories of the city. These weaknesses underline the need for stronger governance to regulate flows across borders carefully in order to mitigate the negative impacts of and utilize the opportunities associated with the opening of borders

Villes à la frontière et transformation de l'espace

Lena Poschet El Moudden

Few borders exist which separate two countries as dramatically disparate as the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Both share the territory of the Hispaniola island, but a profound process of differentiation rooted in the colonial division of the island between France and Spain and ideologically maintained by both modern nations, has lead to what Théodat (1998, 2003) calls the "twofold insularity" – each country behaves as if it were located on a separate island. In spite of all prejudices and ethnical, historical, linguistic, social, economic or religious differences, people living in the border regions established cross-border relations which, even if largely based on economic interests, are much more frequent and important to both nations than officially admitted (De Jesus Cerdano and Dilla, 2005; Sillé & Segura & Cabral, 2002). The local dynamic created by this exchange becomes palpable when one observes the busy binational market in the border towns of Ouanaminthe (Haiti) and Dajabón (Dominican Republic). Twice a week, people from nearly the whole northern part of both countries travel to these towns located on either side of the Masacre River, in order to buy and sell goods or to offer services in the market of Dajabón. The other days, tons of cargo transit to Haiti, to the extent that the once small borderland settlements have become an important junction in the economic subsystem of the northern part of the island. Moreover, the construction of a free zone in Ouanaminthe in 2002 –to produce textiles for the US-market– has connected the borderland towns to the international economy. This recent development is set within a context of progressive opening of borders (Martinez, 1994). It is the result of international policies that have been decided in the capitals, without consulting the concerned regions. In Ouanaminthe and Dajabón, local institutions are weak and receive no or little financial and administrative support from central administration. They do not have the means to cope with growing pressure on land and infrastructure, as the emergence of legal and illegal livelihood opportunities in the borderland has generated a threefold increase of the overall population in the past twenty years (Dajabón grew from 8'500 inhabitants in 1980 to 16'000 in 2002 and Ouanaminthe from 7'000 in 1981 to 39'000 in 2003). How did these recent economic, political and societal transformations shape the urban space of the two borderland towns? I addressed this issue by analyzing the motivation of stakeholders involved in the process of spatial transformation, and the impact of their actions. In my work I refer to the conceptual framework of urban intermediation (Bolay and Rabinovich, 2004), i.e. the spatial issues that each town has to address according to its internal characteristics, its function in national and international networks and its relation to the direct rural environment. In order to use this framework for the borderland issues, the conceptual part of this study proposes to develop the concept of "borderland intermediation". To the existing urban intermediation concept, it adds the influence of the characteristics of the border (based on policy and political aspects, economic issues, local identities, social networks, national defense issues and geographical insertion). By doing so, it relates the bi-national system of borderland towns to the intermediation concept. Data has been collected over three and a half years during several periods of fieldwork: observation and mapping of occupation and use of urban space, cartography, qualitative interviews with local stakeholders and residents, completed by other primary and secondary sources. This study shows that the recent transformations have accentuated the existing unbalanced relationship between the two towns. The powerlessness of the municipality of Ouanaminthe to meet population growth and to impose regulations or taxes related to the growing trade has enhanced its dependency to the Dominican town. For a growing number of Haitians, it is of existential importance to cross over to Dajabón in order to seek income, healthcare and education and this, in spite of latent racism and mistreatments. Founded on a strong sentiment of exploitation, Haitians often criticize the capitalist or even colonialist relationship imposed by their neighbors: not only the fact that the bi-national market takes place in Dajabón, but also that Dominican enterprises develop subsidiaries in Ouanaminthe, taking advantage of cheap labor and the absence of local production. On the contrary, the majority of Dajabón residents interviewed do not need to cross the river for their living. Most of them have never been to Ouanaminthe, but consider it insalubrious, out of control and dangerous. Both towns lack application of regulations in urban planning matters. Thus, spatial growth has entirely been ruled by landowner structure and land occupation practices. Around Dajabón, the adjacent land belongs mainly to two landowners, whose strategy –to enhance soil value through development of equipped middleclass neighborhoods– has restricted the urban sprawl. In Ouanaminthe land belongs to a multitude of small peasants. The selling and illegal occupation of rather small plots leads to sprawling urban growth, guided by rural pathways and leaving entire parts of neighborhoods inaccessible to motor vehicles. Population growth has also been absorbed by high densification of existing neighborhoods. No formal collaborations exist between the two municipalities. Informal ones do, through the implication of the two mayors, but overall, cross-border collaboration is left to NGOs and professional associations who militate for human rights, environmental issues and fair treatment inside the bi-national market. International development agencies present in the borderland initiate projects with bi-national concern, but these are disconnected from the local level and strongly influenced by the fact that these agencies relate directly to the central governments. We also observe a process of internal segregation in both towns, as commercial establishments progressively occupy parts of the town centers and the emergent middle class gathers in specific neighborhoods. Ouanaminthe and Dajabón are functionally interlinked and their transformation is undeniably governed by the progressive permeability of the border. Nevertheless, this border separates two completely different urban landscapes that are deeply marked by the internal characteristics of each town. Furthermore, the unequal and complex relationship of both populations creates the paradox that their spatial proximity accentuates the segregation in both towns, as it allows the citizens of both countries to stay in their environment and to commute –if necessary– even daily. This work shows that the application of the intermediation concept is relevant for the study of complex relationships that govern borderland space. The analysis based on this concept has enabled to study, on a local level, processes that are taking place on a global level. In so doing, it has allowed us to provide some answers to the central question: "How do local populations, national and international firms and governments react when a territorial economy, based on agriculture, is progressively linked to international networks? "

EPFL2006

Public Urban Transport, Mobility Patterns and Social Exclusion

Regina Witter

What are the social impacts of a new, less efficient public transport system in a city that is known for its inequality concerning access to daily activities and participation in urban life? More precisely, what are the implications of a re-regulated transport system, if the city has previously gone through a long period of deregulation? Are the changes limited to altered accessibility conditions, or are there further consequences for people's travel competencies, habits and mobility patterns? And what does that mean for the dissolution or manifestation of social inequality and risks of social exclusion? With a specific regard to these interests, this work specifically focuses on the case of Santiago de Chile. There the public transport policy passed from a period of complete de-regulation in the 1970s and 1980s to a period of re-regulation as of the 1990s. During the deregulation period, the services had been characterized by an uncoordinated oversupply of private busses that existed in parallel to the more expensive public metro. In order to suspend the stigmatization of bus-based transport as the 'mode for the poor', the sophisticated 'Transantiago' bus system was implemented in February 2007, which was modelled of the famous BRT system 'Transmilenio' in Bogotá. The Transantiago project included the total re-design of the network system and the private operating companies at one glance. It introduced new vehicles and infrastructures as well as an electronic ticketing system that combined the bus and metro systems in a tariff union. Unfortunately, the ambitious project failed, due to various political, technical and social reasons. Up until today, the acceptance and satisfaction of the inhabitants with Transantiago have been rather low. Being aware of the importance of the technical problems, this study concentrates on the social problems and the related impacts Transantiago has had on people's daily life. The research is done on the basis of three hypotheses that are strongly based on the concept of 'motility', i.e. the potential to be mobile, including the set of factors which enable spatial mobility (access, competencies and appropriation). The hypotheses are tested on the basis of a mixed approach that combines various qualitative methods with an 'ad-hoc' survey of 2000 households in five different areas of the metropolitan Santiago area. The survey results are analysed on the basis of various spatial and statistical procedures, including, among others, structural equation modelling. We first consider the relation between the differences related to mobility and the social differences during the period of deregulation and describe the major mobility patterns and habits developed during that time (hypothesis 1). Then we come to the Transantiago failures and the changes imposed on people's accessibility conditions, travel competencies, preferences and habits (hypothesis 2). Finally we also explore the impact the Transantiago system has had on people's daily life, more precisely on people's daily activities and the activity locations as well as the main travel modes used to reach these locations. Comparing people's current activity patterns and travel patterns with those of the deregulated transport period, we intend to reveal if Transantiago has aggravated or alleviated existing mobility inequalities and related risks of social exclusion (hypothesis 3). The results show that mobility patterns developed during the deregulated period have had a strong negative impact on people's ability to get used to and accept the sophisticated Transantiago system. Particularly people of low income, people of a lower education level, people without access to a private car and people who live in peripheral areas and don't have direct access to the metro were most heavily impacted. Sometimes, older people and women within these groups suffered more than younger adults and men. The initial difficulties have had a negative impact on the current evaluation and image of public transport, and on the other hand they have exacerbated already existing risks of social exclusion and segregation. Especially the more 'vulnerable' inhabitants have adapted their daily activity patterns and travel patterns. They travel less for job-related and leisure-related purposes; they prefer other modes to bus-based public transport and remain often closer to their place of residence than before the Transantiago implementation. Nonetheless, Transantiago has also had some positive impacts such as increased spatial mobility for inhabitants with direct access to the metro, low travel expenditures due to permanent operating subsidies as well as reduced environmental emissions and safety problems. After all, it is hardly possible to definitively determine if the current mobility-related and social inequalities are effectively a consequence of the Transantiago system. It is also unclear if these inequalities have today a more widespread impact than during the deregulated transport period. In general, throughout this study the important influence of income and social status on inhabitants' mobility conditions and travel behaviour is revealed. Alternative concepts related to residential preferences and urban lifestyles turn out to be less pertinent to the explanation of social differences in travel behaviour. This also means that transport policy aimed at equal mobility conditions can only give a contribution to social inclusion. Therefore, additional urban and social measures are needed. This work consists of six parts. Following the introduction (chapter 1), a broad theoretical framework is presented where the different topics of interest are discussed and examples of empirical studies are presented, with a focus on emerging economies (chapter 2): transport regulation and deregulation and recent trends in public transport policy and supply (2.1); the various spatial, social and individual determinants of travel behaviour and mobility patterns and the implications for transport research (2.2); mobility inequality as possible source of social exclusion, which calls for transport policy making with a focus on social equity (2.3). After having presented the research hypotheses and the methodology employed (chapter 3), the case study area of Santiago is introduced. In this context we describe the development from the deregulated transport period up until today with regard to four issues: the spatial and social structure of the city as well as the development of transport policy and people's mobility patterns (chapter 4). Each of the three hypotheses is analysed and evaluated on the basis of the own empiric works (chapter 5). The work concludes with a synthesis as well as some final remarks and implications for the development of transport policy in Santiago and other cities in emerging economies, where comprehensive transport changes are envisaged (chapter 6).

EPFL2012

Planification urbaine et usages des quartiers précaires en Afrique

Benjamin Michelon

Since 2000, declarations issued in rapid succession by the international community have aimed at setting goals to drastically improve the living conditions of slum dwellers while, in the same time, the slums dwellers increased by 4,5% per year in Africa. Simultaneously, we have witnessed changes in the manner in which city residents perceive space: in today's city, the relationship between places and flows constitutes the new living space and sense of belonging (Castells, 1996). With the changes in the information society, space of flows are transformed into power flows, concentrated in space of flows which dominates more and more space of places, peripheriques areas where flows takes place everyday. Using this theory as grid, it is to re-examine the evolution of urbanization in African cities and their shantytowns. Indeed, this process of domination of the space of flows has implications for the planning approaches and uses of space of place in slums. This dual vision, putting power to the flows of space valued by the elites'cities of the living spaces of places experienced by people, is used to observe, name and understand the past and the future of cities. These elements have resulted in the formulation of a number of questions that have served as guidelines for this research. This research first targets the development of the urbanization process and the role of precarious neighborhoods: what measures are now being implemented by the authorities to reconcile the need to improve the competitiveness of African cities (advocated by donors) with the expectations of people in poor neighborhoods? In a second phase, the role of these neighborhoods' community areas is evaluated: are they a media to be valued and included in the projects to restructure the neighborhoods? Two assumptions have emerged from said questions. The first concerns the process of urbanization in African cities. This involves an analysis of the balance of power between the application of modernizing planning practices and the use of space by the residents of the neighborhoods. The second questions the role of community spaces as efficient public areas within the framework of projects to upgrade the neighborhood. The expected results of this thesis aim i) to understand the evolution of these precarious areas in the building of African cities, ii) to learn about the place and the role of community spaces and to learn from neighborhood upgrading projects. For this study, two cities were chosen: Douala (Cameroon's economic capital) and Kigali (Rwanda's political capital). For each, two methodological perspectives were adopted: the first is a comprehensive study of the entire city, based on plans, planning documents, interviews with local officials, archive documents; and the second is as a local study carried out in a market area of the city, based on observations, interviews, a questionnaire developed from a representative sample of traders, and a social and spatial analysis of the neighborhood. This approach is therefore comparative (two cities and two districts), multi-scale (two scales of analysis), historical (identifying cultural, social and political customs) and interdisciplinary (even holistic to a certain extent, taking into account different disciplines such as law, economics and urban sociology). Ultimately, this study reveals both the local specificities and differences of each city. These dissimilarities were largely developed in the presentation of these territories. They are indeed important, especially for the city of Kigali, which is undergoing a process of post-genocidal reconstruction. However, it also appears that each city's path contains a significant number of common characteristics, mainly linked to the responses they provide to urban problems: globalization today tends to standardize practices. The first element common to both areas is urban duality. This process occurs first in an urban form. The African city today remains a binary geographical entity: the city that separated the indigenous people from the settlers was succeeded by a post-colonial city marking the separation between the inherited formal city and the informal city in creation. This urban confrontation can be seen as a form of inertia, defined as a rectilinear uniform advance, suitable for the fabric of the city. The analysis of the evolution of city planning shows that projects have failed to break this logic. The delay accumulated in this field since the 80s had the effect of amplifying the phenomenon. Furthermore, this duality is reflected in the urban power struggle between the authorities and the inhabitants. On the one hand, the authorities seem determined to reproduce and keep constant both tension with and distance to the population, seeking to maintain their social control over the population. On the other hand, residents of poor neighborhoods regularly claim a "right to the city". This inertia does not mean a lack of change. This manifests itself through urban crises which temporarily break the balance. A new order is then implemented, replicating the urbanization process that prevailed in the old order. In a second phase, this research highlights the struggle for territory which emerges in these African cities. Indeed, in the midst of the general trend of inertia and reproduction, a few evolutions are worth mentioning. There is first of all a real spatial and social fragmentation of urban areas. This process occurs both in the slums and the formal rich neighborhoods mushrooming more and more on the outskirts of the city (near the urban ring roads serving these new places in which to live). To this diversification of territorial situations can be added an increasing number of slum upgrading projects, the results of which fail to meet the original targets. Moreover, even within neighborhoods, there is a fragmentation of community spaces, such as markets. The latter have undergone an important evolution since the 80s, sometimes leading to conflict between this type of local trade and the business carried out in shopping malls, which is claimed to be modern. The influence of the space of flows and the implementation planning process promote liberal "modern" sector, consisting of subsidiaries of large corporations, supermarket chains to a upper class people, while causing profound changes in space with neighborhood markets. The challenge of planning for the city of tomorrow appears to reduce this duality and to take into account this duality to prevent the development of precarious neighborhoods and urban fragmentation.

EPFL2012

Villes à la frontière et transformation de l'espace

Lena Poschet El Moudden

EPFL2006

Public Urban Transport, Mobility Patterns and Social Exclusion

Regina Witter

EPFL2012

Planification urbaine et usages des quartiers précaires en Afrique

Benjamin Michelon

EPFL2012