2007 Workshop
Transport, Health, Environment, and Equity
in Indian Cities
Summary
Motor vehicle growth is occurring most rapidly in the low income countries in Asia. While motor vehicles provide mobility to millions in India, they are causing serious environmental, health and welfare impacts. The urban transport challenge is made more difficult by financial, technological, and institutional resource constraints.
This three-day workshop was jointly organised by Professor Madhav G. Badami of the Schools of Urban Planning and Environment at McGill University and Professor Geetam Tiwari of the Transportation Research and Injury Prevention Programme (TRIPP) at IIT Delhi, the first international Centre of Excellence funded by the Volvo Research and Educational Foundations of Sweden.
The workshop brought together around 60 participants. They included academic researchers in a wide range of disciplines (atmospheric sciences, biomedical, civil and mechanical engineering, economics, environmental policy, epidemiology, management, urban policy, and urban transport planning), senior government decision makers, medical professionals, as well as private-sector, industry, NGO, and pedestrian, cyclist, and cycle-rickshaw-puller group representatives, from India, Canada, and other countries. The discussions focused on the critical research needs for better understanding, and more effectively addressing, the urban transport situation in India, and useful approaches for meeting those needs. Workshop sessions were devoted to the following topics: Transport Air Pollution, and Health; Road Safety; Access for Non-motorized Modes and the Urban Poor; and The Research-Policy Interface.
Apart from contributing to the development of research approaches for addressing the urban transport challenge in India, the workshop highlighted India-Canada collaboration, provided opportunities for exploring long-term academic and research partnerships, and served as a platform from which to launch on-going debate on this important policy issue. Finally, it contributed to training future researchers, by actively involving several graduate students and research associates from India, Canada, and the UK.
The Workshop was organised by McGill University and Indian Institute of Technology (Delhi), and funded by the Shastri Indo-Canadian Institute, the Canadian International Development Agency, and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
You can view or download a PDF of the Workshop Schedule and List of Participants here:
