Sustainable Development Goals
- © City of Buenos Aires
- © City of Buenos Aires
- © City of Buenos Aires
- © City of Buenos Aires- - © City of Buenos Aires
- - © City of Buenos Aires
- - © City of Buenos Aires
- - © City of Buenos Aires
- - © City of Buenos Aires
- - © City of Buenos Aires
- - © City of Buenos Aires
- - © City of Buenos Aires
Item 1 of 4
Status
ongoing
50%
City
Buenos Aires
Main actors
Local Government
Project area
Inner City
Duration
Ongoing since 2020
The Covid-19 pandemic highlights the need for bike-friendly cities.
The COVID-19 pandemic has provided an opportunity for the City of Buenos Aires to re-examine existing transport models in relation to resilience and sustainability. Increased access to safe public transit and the deployment of new technologies to combat traffic congestion, road traffic incidents and air pollution will ensure the transport system is more inclusive, affordable, integrated and responsive to emergency situations.
This case study was contributed from the UCLG Learning team. Peer-Learning Note #29 on Sustainable Urban Mobility & COVID-19
City
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Size and population development
Buenos Aires extends across an approximate of 200 square kilometres, in a perimeter of 60 kilometres. The population in the city is 3.06 million people, whereas Greater Buenos Aires is comprised of 14 million. According to The National Institute of Statistics and Census (INDEC), the population density is at par with that of Mexico City, with 15,000 people living per square kilometre, with 75 percent of the households in the city being apartments. Future projections of population growth is low, with the city intending to keep the number of citizens constant between now and 2040.
Population composition
As an important multicultural city, Buenos Aires is very diverse, with 38 percent of its population being born elsewhere, with one third of this international. The women-to-men ratio is 114 to every 100, respectively. The average age for women is 35 whereas for men it is 40, which is to say that Buenos Aires is an aging city. Buenos Aires houses the largest population of Jewish people in Latin America, with an approximate of 250,000 Jewish inhabitants.
Main functions
The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires is the capital city of Argentina, located on the Western side of the enormous estuary known as Río de la Plata, which separates Argentina from Uruguay (it is not to be confused with the province of Buenos Aires, to which the city does not belong). The capital is an autonomous district with an ample conurbation that is understood as Greater Buenos Aires. It is the most populated city of Argentina, and a significant multicultural centre in South America. Buenos Aires is both the financial hub and the cultural capital of the country. The cultural attractions of the city are housed in any of the 30 public libraries, 7 theatres, 11 museums, and more than 40 cultural centres. The city excels in the number of active theatrical plays that are presented, having more than 300 plays enacted every weekend.
Main industries / business
The main industries of the city of Buenos Aires are hospitality, medicines and textiles. The production of goods is intended both for local consumption and exports. In 2016 there was over US$316 million worth of exports, with the city contributing 22 percent of the national Gross Geographic Product. The Port of Buenos Aires, one of the busiest in the whole of Latin America, transacted a total of 11 million revenue tons. The finance and real-estate sectors of Buenos Aires are also prominent, as they contribute 31 percent of the city’s economy. As a tourist capital, Buenos Aires welcomes 4.5 million people every year, with an intensive influx of other Americans, north and south, particularly Brazilians, Canadians and those from the United States.
Sources for city budget
The budget of the city of Buenos Aires is decided by the National Congress, after the Executive Power concocts the priorities and amounts desirable. Three main sources for the budget can be distinguished: the city government’s tax revenues (78.9 percent), funds from national co-participation (a scheme through which the provinces of Argentina and the city of Buenos Aires share a common pool of national tax revenue), and other local revenues sources (e.g. theatre events, transit violations, concessions, etc.).
Political structure
Politically, the city of Buenos Aires is divided into 15 comunas or communes, which are ruled by the Juntas Comunales made up by seven members belonging to the neighbourhoods of each comuna. The Juntas will propose a governance plan through on behalf of their constituents. In 2011, the city spent 26 percent of its budget on education, followed by health and public services with 22 and 17 percent respectively, whereas the lowest percentage of budget was dedicated to law enforcement. The city of Buenos Aires, houses Argentina’s the Executive, Legislative and Judicial branches of the federal government. However, since the city is an autonomous district, it is governed by a chief of government who is elected by vote in a double round election, with a duration of four years that may be doubled through re-election.
Administrative structure
The Autonomous City of Buenos Aires is divided into 48 barrios or neighbourhoods. These fit into a political division of the city’s geography into 15 comunas or communes, which are in charge of such matters as the state of green areas, walkways, the streets and of the lighting. The rest of the administration is left to the city’s government, which handles matters of education, public health transit, and water treatment.
Website
http://www.buenosaires.gov.ar/
Background:
Mobility is a fundamental function of all urban areas. In the decade leading up to the COVID-19 pandemic, many regions saw increased investment in walking and cycling infrastructure, traffic calming measures, and public realm improvements as cities focused on developing mixed-mode public transportation systems that would be less reliant on carbon-intensive modes of transport, such as private cars.
The City of Buenos Aires has long been committed to making the bicycle a real, safe, ecological, economic and pleasurable means of transportation. With a well-structured and mature transportation network, composed of urban and metropolitan bus systems, BRT, subway, train, highways, intermodal stations and a centre for management and monitoring of urban mobility, the City has been investing in the development of a protected bikeway network. This network has seen a ten-fold increase in the modal split for bicycles since 2009, reaching 4% by 2019.
Objectives:
The City has a goal of reaching 350km of protected bikeways by 2023, connecting the city’s main points of interest, key avenues, and the bus, train, and metro stations, creating a cohesive and comprehensive transportation system.
The City is now looking at how to avoid a massive return to the private car and sees cycling as key to guaranteeing balanced, healthy, inclusive, and sustainable mobility.
The City of Buenos Aires is investing in quality infrastructure to support an increase in the number of bike lanes and the development of a new economy associated with the buying and selling of bicycles. The goal is to redefine the urban landscape and use the bicycle as a fundamental axis of a new social and environmental contract.
In addition to increasing the number of bike lanes, the City is also providing parking solutions for roads, parks and metro stations. To encourage more people to cycle, the City is expanding the children’s cycling learning program and introducing one for adults in 2022. The City is also working with businesses, NGOs and citizens to engage in collaborative work to support these changes.
Previously, the City of Buenos Aires focussed on building cycling infrastructure on secondary and residential streets. However, with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic that focus changed and it became necessary to accelerate many of the mobility projects that were planned or in development to accommodate the record number of bicycle trips registered on city streets.
In September 2020, 17 km of inexpensive and quick-to-implement bike lanes were designed and executed with the goal of rapidly guaranteeing road space for bicycles, with the understanding that the project could be improved over time.
The results were extremely positive: after one month of operation of these pop-up bike lanes, the numbers of bicycle trips on Cordoba Avenue rose 186% and on Corrientes Avenue 113 %. Additionally, the number of women’s bike trips tripled on these new corridors during the same period.
Since then, Buenos Aires’ pop-up bike lanes have been consolidated and improved, thus becoming a permanent part of the city’s structured network of protected bike lanes.
The approved budget for the development of the city's cycling infrastructure for the period 2021-2023 is 15 million USD. This will be used mostly for the construction of 11km bicycle lanes on each side of Libertador Avenue (22 km in total).
Bicycle use in Buenos Aires has increased during the pandemic, with daily trips rising by 27 %. Additionally, there has been a 50 % increase in parcel deliveries by bicycle and a 131 % increase in bicycle sales.
The experience and expertise gained in the last 2 years has allowed the City to develop a more creative and innovative visions, based on data-drive decision making. Hypotheses have been tested and error have corrected as can be seen in the continuous improvement of infrastructure.
The many benefits of bike-riding have been widely documented and include increased freedom of movement, sustainability, improved health and increased quality of life. In addition, bike infrastructure is relatively affordable to implement and maintain, and can have a significant impact on reducing green gas emissions and noise pollution.
Some of the specific benefits of bike infrastructure have been estimated in a 2021 study by Steer for the World Bank (not yet published). The study found that the benefits of bike lanes in the cities of Córdoba and Corrientes more than quadrupled the costs of investment in infrastructure. Benefits were estimated in terms of health, time savings, road safety and GHG reduction. This infrastructure also had a direct impact on equity, as the number of female cyclists on the intervened avenues tripled during the quarantine period imposed for COVID-19.
The current economic situation and lack of funding pose unprecedented challenges that require short-term planning and creativity to find low-cost, high-impact solutions. The involvement of the private sector is key in meeting these challenges.
The City of Buenos Aires has taken steps to involve the private sector in promoting sustainable mobility, such as allowing businesses and residents to install bicycle racks in front of their homes or businesses. The private sector also participates in the City's "Let go" cycling program, which teaches adults and children how to safely cycle in traffic.
In addition to financial barriers, there are also cultural barriers to promoting sustainable mobility. In some cases, the City has difficulty convincing car users of the benefits of sharing public space, diversifying uses of the curb, or reducing traffic speeds.
Fortunately, there is an increasing number of businesses and citizens who are asking for more and better cycling infrastructure. A good example of this is the bike lane on Newbery Avenue, which includes bus stops, restaurant tables, containers, car and bike parking, and improved pedestrian safety.
In order to increase the use of bicycles, municipalities need to collect data, build new or repurpose existing infrastructure and address the needs and concerns of their citizens.
Bike-sharing systems can encourage more people to use bikes, but only if the infrastructure is in place to support it.
Addressing gender and age gaps in ridership and perceptions of safety is critical to increasing bicycle use. In order to increase mutual respect between different road users, bike-only days on weekends can help to promote cycling and raise awareness of cyclists’ road safety.
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