The phenomenon of mobility, a development challenge for the city of Algiers

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A B S T R A C T Urban displacements are a major challenge for the economic and social development of the city and are a sign of quality of life. They are defined by less congestion, less pollution, congestion and urban sprawl. In Algeria, the new urban policies are seen as the beginning of a positive transformation of the city's situation, which degradation seems to have origin in a lack of coordination between planning, the deregulation of the transport sector and the urban planning of cities. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a transportation policy based on a logic of sustainable development of the urban area where the optimization of mobility is required. In Algiers, transport and urban planning have been the subject of many debates that have shown that the city suffers from several problems, in terms of transport, mobility, traffic and parking. This makes it a perfect example of a city affected by urban sprawl generating a series of other problems that come together to cause an imbalance in the layout of spaces. In attempting to address these problems in order, the first would be the increase in the various displacements due to the metropolisation and centralization of human activities. These displacements are not only in continuous increase but are experiencing a real imbalance where the quantity dominates on the quality, which leads to a remarkable saturation of the transport networks, and thus to a dense traffic notably during the peak hours. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the importance of developing the most adequate operating policies for the various modes of transport that are the most appropriate in the capital city of Algiers, and to implement an investment program in the management of mobility in order to transform the city.

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The phenomenon of mobility, a development challenge for the city of Algiers * Ph.D. candidate OUAFA LOUAFI1 1 University of Salah BOUBNIDER, Constantine, Algeria E mail: ouafa.louafi@univ-constantine3.dz A B S T R A C T Urban displacements are a major challenge for the economic and social development of the city and are a sign of quality of life. They are defined by less congestion, less pollution, congestion and urban sprawl. In Algeria, the new urban policies are seen as the beginning of a positive transformation of the city's situation, which degradation seems to have origin in a lack of coordination between planning, the deregulation of the transport sector and the urban planning of cities. Therefore, it is necessary to develop a transportation policy based on a logic of sustainable development of the urban area where the optimization of mobility is required. In Algiers, transport and urban planning have been the subject of many debates that have shown that the city suffers from several problems, in terms of transport, mobility, traffic and parking. This makes it a perfect example of a city affected by urban sprawl generating a series of other problems that come together to cause an imbalance in the layout of spaces. In attempting to address these problems in order, the first would be the increase in the various displacements due to the metropolisation and centralization of human activities. These displacements are not only in continuous increase but are experiencing a real imbalance where the quantity dominates on the quality, which leads to a remarkable saturation of the transport networks, and thus to a dense traffic notably during the peak hours. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate the importance of developing the most adequate operating policies for the various modes of transport that are the most appropriate in the capital city of Algiers, and to implement an investment program in the management of mobility in order to transform the city. CONTEMPORARY URBAN AFFAIRS (2019), 3(1), 144-155. https://doi.org/10.25034/ijcua.2018.4711 www.ijcua.com Copyright © 2018 Contemporary Urban Affairs. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction There can be no territories without connection, nor a city without system of transportation (KAUFMANN, YVES FRRARI, DOMINIQUE JOYE, & FRITZ , 2003) . Transport is a necessary condition for performing daily activities, however to satisfy these needs, a number of transportations is accomplished every day by individuals who leave their homes to go to different destinations, moving is a concept that improves over time through the multiplication of transportation motives leading to various forms of transport (Korkaz, 2013). This generated the need of concentration and convergence that gave birth to cities, where the reflection on the city became very tied to the reflection on transport “... the transport networks in a city, are just like the skeleton and the circulatory system at the same time. In short, they constitute the main conditions for a city functioning” (Merlin). In Algeria, with the acceleration of urbanization «As of January 1, 2016, the total resident population in Algeria reached 40.4 million inhabitants» , transport has become a key sector for the economic and social development of the country. These recent years, traditional transport policies have an interest towards the demand for the private car, and have focused on assessing the role of urban transport and its contribution to urban integration and improvement of the quality of life in cities. Automobile-oriented development of city of Algiers with 1,254,553 cars 26.07% of the national car fleet brought with it several problems in terms of transport, mobility, circulation and parking, as well as other problems related to pollution and urban sprawl. This is why the Algerian authorities take this term into consideration in the strategies for the implementation of the National Spatial Use Planning Scheme (NSPS) 2025. The studies for drawing up the four Master Plans for Urban Development Metropolitan Areas (MPDMA) Algiers, Oran, Annaba and Constantine, below the following objectives: setting off a major transport infrastructures, large structural facilities, and general orientations for protecting and enhancing the environment . The objective of this research is to demonstrate the importance of developing the operating policies of the various modes of transport most adequate in the Capital of Algiers, through the analysis of the different processes of transport planning and mobility management. 2. Methodology of research This analytical research has allowed us to identify the major questions related to the problem of urban transport and its relation with the modernization and metropolisation of Algiers so that we can identify and understand the procedures and methods to follow, taking into account coordination between transportation and planning. Then, to better develop our research, we opted for a reading of the legislative framework for urban transport and urbanism documents dealing with the issue of mobility to arrive later in the presentation of the city of Algiers, type and mode of transport in the capital (case of study) and follow the strategies for modernization. Finally, we have the results of our analytical research that have demonstrated the absence of coordination between transport and urban planning and the inconsistency found in certain legislative and regulatory texts. 3. Theoretical background 3.1. Urban policy and transport: According to (Merlin), the transport policy is "the set of guidelines determined by public authorities". The transport policy is the result of a process of regulation and control of transport reserves, to facilitate the efficient operation of economic, social and political aspects of a country (mobility of people and goods) to the lowest social cost and with total security. The transport policy in Algeria has experienced several levels since independence, which the table below summarizes: see table ‘1’, in Appendix ‘A’. 3.2. The institutional organization of transport 3.3. Planning in the transport sector Law N 01-20 of 12/12/2001, relating to the planning and sustainable development of the territory defined the items and origins of the national planning policy and sustainable development via orientations, instruments of national policy and implementation of the national development plan of the territory, these instruments and tools form the interface of this policy, the following table summarizes the planning instruments in Algeria. See table ‘2&3’, in Appendix ‘A’. 3.4. Existing laws and regulations in Algeria The laws and regulations in Algeria are reviewed at the General Secretariat of the Government, before they were proposed for discussion and adoption, and according to this the participation of the Ministry of Relations with Parliament should be noted, whose one of its missions is precisely to study and make a contribution to the projects initiated texts by other sectors. See table ‘4’, Appendix ‘A’. 3.5 The report transport / town planning and town planning / Transport The relation between transport and town planning is a transitive relation. This gives some explanation by the impact of the decentring of equipments on the transport. More the poles of the various activities are far, more the distances traveled are long which involves an increase of car traffic on one hand.

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