Expert-citizens: Producing and contesting sustainable mobility policy in Mexican cities

Urban transport policymakers in Latin America are increasingly utilizing the “sustainable mobility” paradigm. This paradigm involves not only considering more seriously the environmental consequences of transport, but also including a wider variety of actors in transport policymaking processes. In this article the authors use qualitative evidence from Mexico City and Guadalajara to show the tensions that exist within the apparent consensus around sustainable mobility policy in Latin American cities. In doing so, the authors analyze a particular kind of non-state actor who has become a critical figure in both the production and contestation of sustainable mobility policy in Mexico. These actors, whom they call expert-citizens in this article, are characterized by their mobilization of legitimacy as both experts and citizens to influence urban transport policy agendas. This legitimacy is mobilized through three key practices: 1) their focus on small-scale interventions; 2) their capacity to engage the state and civil society through the use of a toned-down language; and 3) a strategic use of media and public opinion tools. The authors argue that the work these expert-citizens undertake –and the strategies, practices and spaces they use– are telling of a new type of urban political actor that goes beyond the traditional divide between state planners and civil society groups that has characterized studies of urban transport politics. Finally, by focusing on the relational ways in which these actors confront and collaborate with transport activists, planners and experts, both globally and in their home cities, they show new ways in which “sustainable mobility” policy is produced, circulated and contested in Latin American cities.

• Record URL:
  • https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2017.08.018
• Record URL:
  • http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692316303635
• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/issn/09666923
• Supplemental Notes:
  • Abstract reprinted with permission of Elsevier.
• Authors:
  • Sosa López, Oscar
  • Montero, Sergio
• Publication Date: 2018-2

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Web
• Features: Photos; References;
• Pagination: pp 137-144
• Serial:
  • Journal of Transport Geography
  • Volume: 67
  • Publisher: Elsevier
  • ISSN: 0966-6923
  • Serial URL: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jtrangeo

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Mobility; Policy making; Sustainable transportation; Urban transit; Urban transportation policy
• Geographic Terms: Guadalajara (Mexico); Mexico City (Mexico)
• Subject Areas: Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01669711
• Record Type: Publication
• Files: TRIS
• Created Date: May 22 2018 5:18PM