Abstract
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 2019, VOL. 11, NO. 2, 141–153 https://doi.org/10.1080/19463138.2019.1630414 ARTICLE a b c Flavia Fryszman , Danielle Denes Dos Santos Carstens and Sieglinde Kindl Da Cunha a b PMDA - Programa de Mestrado e Doutorado em Administração, Universidade Positivo, Curitiba, Brazil; PMDA - Programa de Mestrado e Doutorado em Administração, Universidade Positivo, Curitiba, Brazil; PMDA - Programa de Mestrado e Doutorado em Administração, Universidade Positivo, Curitiba, Brazil ABSTRACT ARTICLE HISTORY Received 7 November 2018 Curitiba, located in the south of Brazil and recognized as a smart city, stands out for its Accepted 7 June 2019 pioneering project of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system. A smart city presupposes the existence of a smart mobility system. In this study, urban mobility was analysed based on KEYWORDS the socio-technical transition of innovation and the multi-level perspective. From the Smart mobility; history of urban planning in Curitiba we have developed a timeline of the initiatives socio-technical transition of considered as milestones towards the transition to smart mobility and proposed innovation; Curitiba; areflection about socio-technical innovation approach applied to smart urban mobility. multi-level perspective; urban mobility; urban We perceive small incremental and continuous advances that can bring positive results planning; smart city over time. To observe how this transition process is taking place in practice, we presented an illustrative case that points to niche innovations that put pressure on the current socio- technical regime. Emerging niche technologies, along with other social and technological innovations, can lead to transition. Abbrevations: BRT - Bus Rapid Transit; MLP - Multi-level Perspective. 1. Introduction a smart city presupposes the existence of a smart mobility. It is estimated that by 2050, more than two-thirds of the Smart mobility has come to play a prominent role in global population will be urban (World Business Council the last decades in areas related to planning and trans- for Sustainable Development [n.d]and that therewillbe portation in cities. The term emerged in the early 1990s an increase in transport demand. The transition to an to designate ‘a mobility system more and more depen- essentially urban population brings challenges for the dent on technology and innovation’ (Papa and Lauwers planning, development and operation of cities (Harrison 2015,p. 545). and Donnelly 2011). Located in south of Brazil, in the state of Paraná, Intelligent systems are configured as a relevant plat- Curitiba is a world reference in urban planning and form for sustainable urban development (Batagan 2011). intelligent environmental initiatives, having already The so-called smart cities appear in this context as a way been mentioned in several studies that involve the for more efficient and sustainable cities. There are multi- issue of urban mobility (Carvalho et al. 2012; Teixeira ple definitions of smart cities. Albino et al. (2015), in their et al. 2015; Twidel and Weir 2015; Garau et al. 2016; study, carried out an analysis of the literature on smart Mercier et al. 2016). The city has been recognized as cities and realized, from the concepts found, an exten- a smart city (Kotkin 2009), it stands out for its pio- sion of the idea beyond technology, towards the needs neering project in the 1970s of the BRT system (Bus of people and the community. Lombardi et al. (2012) Rapid Transit) (Carvalho et al. 2012), which provided compiled, based on a literature review, six dimensions for the implementation of a system of innovative that are components of smart cities: smart economy; transport, via exclusive routes and integration of smart mobility; smart environment; smart people; smart the different lines in some tube stations. According living; and smart governance. Thus, it is assumed that CONTACT Danielle Denes dos Santos Carstens danielle.carstens@up.edu.br Flavia Fryszman Universidade Positivo, Curitiba, Brazil © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group 142 F. FRYSZMAN ET AL. to the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics, The transitions refer to ‘changes from one socio- this system serves the population of the city and technical regime to another’ (Geels and Schot 2007, metropolitan region, which was estimated at p. 399), constituting themselves as processes in which 3.615.027 inhabitants in 2018 (1.917.185 inhabitants institutions, culture and existing practices give rise to in Curitiba and 1.697.842 in the metropolitan region). novelties (Loorbach 2007). One of the most striking Still based on Brazilian Institute of Geography and socio-technical transitions in the 20th century was the Statistics data, Curitiba, in 2017, had a territorial area transition from automobile mobility (Geels 2012). of 435,036 km (Ibge 2019). On the report of A socio-technical transition perspective, as well as Paranaense Institute for Economic and Social the MLP (Multi-level Perspective), needs to continu- Development – Ipardes, the demographic density of ally consider processes of both technological and the city of Curitiba in 2018 was 4,402.31 inhab/km social change. As stated by Kemp et al. (2011, p. 17): (Ipardes 2019). As an illustration we also present ‘The transitions perspective brings an innovative approach a map with data referring to the evolution of the to the analysis of change processes, particularly through urban occupation of the city of Curitiba (see the manner in which it allows us to not only trace the Figure 1). often complex dynamics of the interactions between tech- nological and social change but also how these relate to In the present study, the urban mobility of Curitiba the framing of ideas and the associated shifting perspec- was analyzed from its historical aspects. In this sense, this tives with regard to problems and their solutions’. article presents the following research question: How does the transition to smart urban mobility take place The MLP analyzes transition processes and has in the city of Curitiba? already been applied in the context of mobility, The paper sought to analyze the transition to smart in historical case studies of transitions in land mobility in the city, in light of the socio-technical theory transportation (Geels 2005b) and in the analysis of innovation and includes some additional sections: of the process of dissemination of the BRT con- Section 2 and 3 provides the theoretical basis; Section cept in Latin America (Mejía-dugand et al. 2013), 4 addresses striking historical aspects of urban mobility for example. It is so named for identifying three in the city and, from them, the identification of signs that levels within social systems: niches, where radical lead the city towards smart mobility; Section 5 presents innovation emerges; the regime, which includes an illustrative case of innovation that is configured as dominant institutions and technologies; and the a transition initiative for smart mobility and; Finally, sec- landscape, which represents the contextual ten- tion 6 presents the main conclusions. In methodological dencies, drivers and barriers to change (Geels terms, the article consists of a qualitative documentary and Schot 2007; Schot and Kanger 2018), each analysis, whose purpose was not to draw definitive con- level presenting its own dynamics of coevolution, clusions, but rather to propose a reflection on the sub- which, when linked, develop the process of transi- ject in question. This study was developed based on the tion (Geels 2005a). approach of socio-technical transition of innovation and The niche level is a protected place where the the emerging theme of smart urban mobility, which we radical innovations that initially are unstable and will detail below. of low performance occur (Geels and Schot 2007). Tyfield and Zuev (2018) highlight low-carbon innovations as indispensable to the future of urban mobility. Seemingly promising, these inno- 2. Socio-technical transition theory of vationsare notalwayssuccessful,butthey can innovation stabilize in the form of dominant projects that The socio-technical perspective, which has its roots in go beyond the micro level (Geels 2002). institutional theory and the theory of evolutionary eco- At the meso level are the socio-technical nomics, proposes that the innovation process must be regimes that ‘constitute the mainstream, and understood within the system of innovation at all levels: highly institutionalized, way of currently realizing niche, regime and landscape (Carstens and Cunha 2019). societal functions’ (Smith et al. 2010,p.440). This multi-level structure is, therefore, the basis for According to Carstens and Cunha (2018), regimes detailed understanding of system innovations and are made up of a network of actors whose activ- socio-technical transitions (Hodson and Marvin 2010). ities are governed by normative rules and INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 143 Figure 1. Evolution of urban occupation – Curitiba. Source: Adapted from IPPUC (2012) 144 F. FRYSZMAN ET AL. permeated by material and technical elements. analyzes the transition to smart urban mobility, Thinking in the context of mobility, these rules which we will discuss below. are reflected in road and fuel infrastructure itself, user practices, industry standards, and regulations and policies that govern society (Schot and 3. Smart urban mobility Kanger 2018). Inthecaseofmobilitysystems, Geels (2018, p. 88) also argues that the demand Urban mobility refers to the ‘condition in which the for mobility is ‘[. . .] strongly shaped by develop- movement of people and cargo in urban space takes ments in non-transport regimes (e.g. work, retail place’ (Brasil 2012, Article 4, item II). But what would and spatial planning) and by socio-economic land- smart mobility be? There is a difficulty in conceptualiz- scape developments (e.g. economic growth, ing smart mobility, because there are different demographics)’. approaches in the current literature on urban planning Regimes characterize the dynamic stability of the (Papa and Lauwers 2015). system, with incremental innovations (Geels 2005a, Lyons (2016) proposes, based on Lam and Head 2012). For regime change to occur, it must be consid- (2012), Banister (2008) and Curtis (2008), that urban ered useful, viable and advantageous by different actors mobility is said to be smart when it confers connectivity and institutions (Carstens and Cunha 2019). It is also in centers and cities, and is accessible, effective, attrac- worth noting that it is from the windows of opportunity, tive and sustainable. For Lam and Head (2012), sustain- resulting from existing dynamics and tensions, that inno- able urban mobility is associated with the convenience vations at the niche level can emerge and compete for and ease of access to transportation, whose use has the influence with the existing regime (Smith et al. 2010). least negative effect possible, both in the environmen- Finally, the landscape represents the exogenous tal sphere and in other areas that may impact. environment and therefore the ‘forces’ that are beyond Pinna et al. (2017) also consider sustainable mobi- the direct influence of the involved actors, such as lity as part of smart mobility. For them, it ‘[. . .] is often macroeconomics, macropolitics, cultural patterns presented as one of the main options for more sustain- (Geels 2005a) and environmental problems – elements able transport systems’ (Pinna et al. 2017, p. 3). Smart that form a set of heterogeneous factors influencing mobility is associated with more efficient public niche and regime levels (Geels 2012). As Hodson and transport, which causes fewer environmental impacts Marvin (2010) point out, landscapes are perceived as and the implementation of a network of appropriate external pressures, as a scenario of opportunities and bicycle lanes (Chun and Lee 2015). limitations, within which the various actors act and can We understand smart mobility such as the con- influence regimes and niches. In this sense, Smith et al. ception brought by Zawieska and Pieriegud (2018), (2010) report that changes in the landscape exert pres- who consider it to be a comprehensive concept that sure on the regime and create opportunities for the makes the sustainability of the system more achiev- niches, sometimes acting to reinforce the trajectories of able. This is due to the search for improvements in the regime and sometimes causing tensions that transportation services, weighing technological, impede its positioning, allowing the opening of paths social, economic and environmental aspects. for the emergence of niche novelties. Papa and Lauwers (2015), in its turn, discuss smart In short, the socio-technical transition is a multi- mobility under two different approaches: the ‘tech- actor, long-term and multi-institutional process nocentric’ and the ‘consumer centric’. Smart techno- that requires a wide range of changes in socio- centric mobility has Information Technology (IT) for technical systems and involves the creation and the transport infrastructure at its core, emphasizing use of technical innovations of application in the ‘hardware’. In this area, the infrastructure of society (Geels 2012). As a broad process, the transi- smart cities is associated with its operability and tion demands its analysis through a more global organization, through the process of management perspective (Loorbach 2007), highlighting the rele- and optimization. On the other hand, the ‘consumer- vance of historical aspects in the socio-technical centric’ approach emphasizes the human side, focus- analysis of the transition with a long-term vision ing on providing new mobility products to consu- (Carstens and Cunha 2018). From the socio- mers (transport users). In this sense, technologies technical approach of innovation, this study alone would not be capable of creating a smart INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 145 system – they work only as facilitators. Mobility only drawn trams in the years 1887 to 1910 in Curitiba. Trams becomes truly smart if, through technology and driven by animal traction, however, demanded a system infrastructure, it provides a better quality of life for of cleaning and efficient veterinary care, which was society (Papa and Lauwers 2015). expensive and ended up driving the insertion of new The transition to smart mobility, therefore, requires technologies to replace them (Pires 2014). In the effective governance. According to Docherty et al sequence, electric trams begin to circulate, a modal (2017,p.2), ‘there is no time to be lost in beginning the that was maintained until 1952 (Ippuc [date unknown]). task of thinking through how state action and public The implementation of the tramway system was config- policy will need to change to take account of the implica- ured within a framework of progress in public transport, tions of the transition to a “Smart Mobility” future’.It is enabling greater intra-urban integration and, conse- necessary for the State to be able to respond ade- quently, a reduction in travel times. The emergence of quatelyand in a timelymannertothe demandsfor electric trams generated impacts on the structure of the a smart transition, with a view to economic, social and city, boosted the real estate market and the movement environmental objectives, playing an important role in of people and goods (Pires 2012). This modality was an the destination of the new initiatives that emerge in the ecological public transport, generating less pollution, mobility system. It is also important to contribute with compared to the buses, which would later replace the projects of new smart solutions, as well as to them (Pires 2014). encourage research and development. It is worth men- As in almost all cities in the world, tramway trans- tioning that innovations of smart mobility often coexist portation in Curitiba was decayed by competition with the dominant regime, and current governance with public transportation by bus that allowed access may be incompatible with or insufficiently adequate to any street and had lower costs. In this context, the to new initiatives (Docherty et al. 2017). Next, we will emergence of the automotive industry, which started discuss the socio-technical transition to smart urban to manufacture cars with lower production costs, mobility in the city of Curitiba, recovering historical stands out. This has resulted in the end of the circu- aspects of its urban planning and presenting an illus- lation of trams that have now returned to assume trative case on the theme. a prominent role in large cities around the world as a response to urban pollution (Garcez 2006). Thus, we can say that the shift from mule-drawn transport 4. Historical retrospective of Curitiba’s to cars consisted of a radical transition in many urban mobility and the transition to smart respects as it involved changing technologies, actors, mobility culture, and institutions. In 1721 the Vila de Nossa Senhora da Luz dos Pinhais was Formally the history of urban planning of the city renamed Curitiba. The economy of Curitiba was stimu- was given in 1943, with the Agache Plan (Urbanization latedaround1730withthe openingofthe Viamão Road Master Plan of Curitiba) that established norms and used by tropeirismo.From1800onwards,immigrants of guidelines to guide urban expansion, focusing mainly different ethnicities began to arrive and wide avenues on traffic and zoning of urban functions. With were built with the purpose of directing the urban a proposal of radial growth for the city, it was also growth of the city (Ippuc [date unknown]). In the year called the Avenues Plan (Ippuc [date unknown]). After 1856, the City Council was asked to draw up a plan for 10 years of implementation, the Agache Plan became the city in order to transform it into the new condition of obsolete due to the large expansion of urban areas capital of the Province. It was Pierre Taulois who defined beyond the limits established by the plan (Garcez this new plan (Garcez 2006), with the Taulois Plan being 2006). the starting point for urban planning in Curitiba (Moraes In 1964 the Preliminary Plan of Urbanism – Plano 2015). Serete was defined, bringing the proposal of a linear The demand for transportation modes, due to the urban growth model. In place of the Agache Plan, in expansion of the city, caused many innovations to be 1966, the new Master Plan was approved, from which developed. As Geels (2005b) had already verified in his the bases of urban planning emerged in Curitiba study of the transition from horse drawn carriages to (Ippuc [date unknown]). It was based on the idea of cars in the United States, the innovative urban transport an urban growth in two main traffic axes, north- of the time was based on animals, such as the mule- south and east-west, which would be integrated 146 F. FRYSZMAN ET AL. with other bus feeders in the terminals (Duarte and and, as Zawieska and Pieriegue (2018) asserts, take Ultramari 2012). environmental aspects into account in order to The guidelines of the new plan were based on improve the mobility system. land use, public transportation and road system, From the implantation of the east and west axes, focusing on environmental elements and economic four new express lines and three Interbairros begin to and social development. The previously predicted circulate, establishing the Integrated Transportation radial growth pattern was replaced by the linear Network. The Single Social Fare begins to be used, model. In order to make possible the implantation which consists in the payment of a single ticket for of the structural axes with a view to linear growth, several routes. In 1985, the Municipal Urban the Trinário System was adopted – a road dedicated Development Plan was formulated as a result of the only to public transportation, two slow traffic routes revision and complementation of the Serete Plan (for access to commerce and residences) and two (Garcez 2006). highways (center-neighborhood and neighborhood- The tube stations of Curitiba were established in center) (Ippuc [date unknown]). 1991 as part of the implementation of the so called In the early 1970s, Brazil’s first ‘boardwalk’ was cre- Direct Line. Curitiba’s transportation model was ated in Curitiba, with the closing of Rua XV de a reference in terms of innovation and urban mobi- Novembro (Ippuc [date unknown]), an initiative that lity, even when it was not yet discussed about smart can be considered a sign of smart mobility, as it goes mobility, being copied by several cities in Brazil and towards the idea of sustainable mobility recommended in the world. in the National Urban Mobility Policy of 2012, when the As sustainable practices from 1990 to 2000, alter- prioritization of non-motorized modes of transporta- native fuels were adopted, such as hydrated alcohol, tion over motorized ones was established. Once you B20 Biodiesel and Anhydrous Alcohol – MAD 8 (Karas have adequate infrastructure for walking, people may [date unknown]). With the B20 and MAD-8 Biodiesel feel more motivated to adopt it, contributing positively program, the opacity index was reduced by to economic, social and environmental impacts. 35 per cent and 32 per cent respectively, which In 1974, the ‘Express Buses’ system was implemen- results in a better air quality and a positive social ted – the first segregated bus corridor in Curitiba – impact (Urbs [n.d]a). These were smart initiatives, that would be known as BRT. In addition to the since they consist of practices that are consistent exclusive lanes for buses, this system has a network with the diffusion of the use of environmentally of integrated bus lines and embarkation and disem- friendly and efficient means of transport (Lam and barkation in level, with advance payment of the fare, Head 2012; Chun and Lee 2015; Papa and Lauwers optimizing travel time. This system played an impor- 2015; Zawieska and Pieriegud 2018). tant role in the organization and remodeling of the A special focus on urban mobility took place in city and, later, of its Metropolitan Region. The BRT is the period 2000 to 2010. The Master Plan was an urban planning project that considers road sys- adapted to the City Statute in 2004, providing gen- tem, public transportation and land use zoning eral guidelines, including those dealing with mobility (Duarte and Ultramari 2012). and transportation, so that the Municipality achieves This smart initiative was a totally innovative system sustainable development. Among the sectoral plans for the time, bringing Curitiba to the vanguard with elaborated from the Master Plan is that of Mobility regard to its transportation system. This model, having and Accessibility (Ippuc [date unknown]). a route dedicated to express buses, as previously men- In 2009 with the B100 Biodiesel Project, structured tioned, optimizes travel times, which generates by Urbanization Company of Curitiba, part of the a reduction in the circulating buses, contributing posi- city’s bus fleet started to make use of this fuel, of tively with a reduction in the emission of polluting gases. 100 per cent vegetable origin (soybean), cooperating In the period between 1980 and 1990, Curitiba’s with minimizing the emission of pollutants in the first bicycle lanes (34 km long) (Ippuc [date environment and becoming a major step towards unknown]) was implemented. This was a sign of sustainability (Urbs [n.d]a). For the same reason men- smart mobility, since, as described by Chun and Lee tioned previously, in the adoption of sustainable (2015), smart mobility is associated with the imple- practices in the period from 1990 to 2000, this initia- mentation of a network of appropriate bicycle lanes tive is also a sign of smart mobility. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 147 Between 2010 and 2015, the use of public trans- overtaking area (Curitiba 2012). This has contributed port and non-motorized modes (Ippuc [date to the increase of the operational capacity of the unknown]) are encouraged as a way to reduce pollu- system and reduction of the travel time for the user tants and noise and improve circulation and safety, (Urbs 2009). especially in the city center. In order to control air In 2012, Curitiba advanced its path of using clean quality, a problem of great concern in the current energy in public transportation with the start of pro- global context, the Urbanization Company of Curitiba duction of the new bus model Hibribus, standing out as began to work with companies that operate public a pioneer in the placement of this kind of bus in the transport in order to control the emission of pollut- streets of the country. These vehicles, powered by ing gases, performing opacity tests and aiming for electricity and biodiesel, contribute to the minimization adequate regulation of Integrated Transportation of pollutant emissions and fuel consumption, in addi- Network buses engines. In addition to the smoke tion to being quieter (Ducati 2012). This initiative will tests, the Urbanization Company of Curitiba also con- be detailed in the sequence from the presentation of ducts inspections throughout the Integrated the illustrative case in section 5. Transportation Network fleet every six months, in Regarding bicycle modalities, the following initia- order to check engine conditions so that there are tives were taken: expansion and improvement of the no oil leaks and excessive noise (Urbs [n.d]a). All bicycle lane network, installation of bike racks and these initiatives are based on actions aimed at implementation of Via Calma, with an exclusive track sustainability. for cyclists (Ippuc [date unknown]). Via Calma was In the same period, the Integrated Mobility System designed by Curitiba Institute of Urban Planning and (IMS), which monitors the transportation and trafficof Research and implemented in 2014. The implemen- the city in real time was also implemented in order to tation of this route had as its objective to stimulate make mobility more efficient (Ippuc [date unknown]). the use of the modal bicycle as an alternative trans- The Operational Control Center (OCC) of the portation, becoming an action of a larger project to Urbanization Company of Curitiba, inaugurated in promote changes in habits in the population 2012, composes the IMS and aims to improve the effi- (Curitiba 2016). ciency of the city’s transportation system by forming an In 2014, Curitiba took another step towards smart online operations command center. Through the mon- mobility, with the development of the Curitiba Eco itoring of the city’svehicles and traffic, it enables an Elétrico Project. This project is in line with the commit- integrated and coordinated management (Urbs [n.d]b). ment made by the city council in the C40 (network of This initiative was a milestone in the modernization of megacities committed to the cause of climate change) public transport in the city. In partnership with some (C40 [n.d]), in Johannesburg – South Africa, regarding companies, the fiber optic connectivity, along with other the reduction of CO emissions. The project proposed equipment were installed in terminals, tube stations and the adoption of zero emission greenhouse gases and public roads, helping to control and manage the system noise, followed by phases of deployment of multifunc- (Urbs 2012). IMS is associated with the idea of smart tional supply totems, implementation of car and mobility that has information technology at its core, bicycle sharing and integration with public transport using it as a resource for the proper management of services (Ici [n.d]). the city. The control of urban transport operations con- In the year 2015, there were advances in electro- tributes to the optimization of the system (Papa and mobility. Evaluations were carried out on electric Lauwers 2015). In addition, real-time monitoring is clo- vehicles for public transportation and for the city’s sely linked to the connectivity issue, cited by Lyons taxi service. In addition, a station for the rental of (2016). electric bicycles – Eleeze – was inaugurated in Barigui In 2011, Ligeirão Azul, with capacity to carry up to Park. In the same year, the bases for the Curitiba 250 passengers, began operating in the city, making Electromobility Plan were established. As an incen- use of biodiesel (Ippuc [date unknown]). For its tive to multimodality in transportation, it is men- implementation, the Urbanization Company of tioned the implantation of paracycles in all the bus Curitiba began to misalign tube stations, allowing terminals of the city (Urbs 2015). an uninterrupted flow, even when a bus is embarking In March 2016, Curitiba began the test of the first or disembarking at the station, by creating an articulated hybrid in Latin America, HibriPlus and in 148 F. FRYSZMAN ET AL. August began testing the first hybrid electric bus All the examples raised in the historical aspects as with plug-in technology, HibriPlug. For HibriPlug, signs of smart mobility, contributed and/or are con- a recharging station was installed, enabling the tributing to this transition process in the city of operation of the bus, most of the time, in the electric Curitiba. As already argued by Geels (2018, p. 87), mode. Also in 2016, was published the Manifestation ‘[. . .] most whole system transitions are likely to involve of Interest Procedure, towards electromobility initia- multiple regimes and multiple niche-innovations’.We tives (Urbs 2016). can see, based on the history of transport planning in Advances in electromobility, with initiatives and Curitiba, that after the establishment of the BRT sys- projects such as Hibribus, Curitiba Eco Elétrico, tem regime, many optimizations and incremental HibriPlus and HibriPlug were also considered signs innovations occurred within an already well- for smart mobility, since it is associated with a more established mobility regime. This fact indicates the efficient public transport that generates less environ- existence of incremental and continuous small mental impacts or optimizes the transport system, advances that may, over time, according to Geels taking into account sustainability (Chun and Lee (2018) lead to substantial improvements in perfor- 2015; Pinna et al. 2017; Zawieska and Pieriegud mance, even if gradually. 2018). In order to analyze how this transition is develop- Finally, it is worth mentioning the emergence of ing in practice, we present below the illustrative case e-hailing applications, which make it possible to call of Hibribus, a niche-level project developed in the an individual transport vehicle/taxi through city of Curitiba. a platform such as smartphones, that allows commu- nication between taxi driver and users (He and Shen 5. Hibribus illustrative case in Curitiba: niche 2015). In this context stand out the applications of level innovation and the transition to smart Uber and Cabify. mobility Thus, from the historical retrospective of the urban planning of Curitiba-PR, we identified striking Once attention is focused on sustainable development, aspects of urban mobility in the city and elaborate an the need for innovations towards the transitions of the illustrative timeline of the initiatives considered tran- current system is growing, breaking away from the sition signs for smart mobility (see Figure 2), through- lock-in and path-dependence mechanisms that char- out history of the city. acterize sociotechnical regimes (Smith et al. 2010). Figure 2. Timeline – milestones of smart mobility in Curitiba. Source: Prepared by the authors INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 149 Curitiba was always at the forefront of the are long-term processes and require some effort initiative to use clean energy in public transport from the actors involved, it is still difficult to con- in the country, pioneering the adoption of the clude whether this initiative could break with the first hybrid buses produced in Brazil in 2012 dominant regime in the future. Reflecting on this, (Ducati 2012). The Hibribus project is a practical we can raise as possible barriers to this develop- example of triple hellix consolidation: it was ment, the economic issue, in view of the high cost developed in a partnership between private com- of this vehicle, as well as the lack of greater pany, university and public sector. incentive policies that could further promote the The hybrid buses, powered by electricity and bio- dissemination of this model. diesel, contribute to the minimization of pollutant We can conclude that the use of hybrid vehicle emissions, compared to other buses that operate, solutions is an incremental optimization within the generate fuel economy and are quieter (Ducati current system, characterized by a mobility mainly 2012). The vehicle initially operates with the electric based on combustion engines. Geels (2018, p. 88) motor, which is activated at start-up and acceleration suggests that the ‘mobility system reconfiguration is up to 20 km/h. When the speed reaches this mileage, likely to involve multiple niche-innovations which may the engine to biodiesel (soy-based) starts to work. affect regimes through different mechanisms’. One of The electric motor also functions as a power genera- these mechanisms, he said, would be the symbiosis tor when the vehicle brakes, charging the batteries between these niches and current regimes, coexist- (Brustolin 2012). ing in the form of hybrid systems. In this way, we can According to Zawieska and Pieriegud (2018, p. 39), think of the case of Hibribus as an example in this ‘[. . .] smart city solutions can play a crucial role in sense. mitigating transport emissions and meeting reduction It cannot be said whether the transition to goals’ which places the Project Hibribus as an inno- a sustainable and smart transport will actually vative initiative towards smart mobility. occur, as Geels (2018) has pointed out, transport Hybrid buses were presented at the Rio + 20 – regimes can follow different paths. The question- United Nations Conference on Sustainable ing of a real transition had already been brought Development, held in Rio de Janeiro in June 2012, as in the very foreword of Geels, Kemp, Dudley and a sustainable development initiative (Ducati 2012). It Lyons’sbookentitled ‘Automobility in Transition? was an important step in the Curitiba system, which A Socio-Technical Analysis of Sustainable Transport’ always sought to combine and promote the use of (2011, xiii-xiv): public transport in combination with sustainability (Brustolin 2012). “[. . .] the title contains a question mark, because we do not take for granted that a transition to sustainable trans- Being thus treated as an example of sustainability, port will happen. Transport and automobility may well be it can be said that the Hibribus initiative goes the “hardest case”, because there are many stabilizing towards the concept of smart mobility of Zawieska mechanisms and secular trends that point in the direction and Pieriegud (2018), which considers it as some- of more, not less, mobility. So, it is an open question if and thing that aims at achieving sustainable develop- how fast the transition to sustainable mobility can hap- pen on the ground. If a transition will take place, a further ment through optimization of transport services. question is what kind of path will it follow? [. . .] “ The technology adopted took into account social and environmental aspects. The hybrid, however, is not yet at a level of economic sustainability com- The case of Hibribus demonstrates a pioneering pared to other operating vehicles – according initiative towards the transition of technology and Ducati (2012), the technology of these vehicles are points to niche innovations that put pressure on about 60 per cent more expensive than the tradi- the current socio-technical regime. The transition to tional ones. a smart urban mobility depends, among other fac- There are a few hybrid buses in circulation in tors, on stakeholder engagement in the three levels the city and we can say, based on this scenario of the socio-technical system (landscape, regime and then, that the technological transition is very inci- niche), which identify innovation as an opportunity pient, configuring itself only as a sign of change to be explored towards sustainability in urban mobi- towards smart mobility in the city. As transitions lity of the city. 150 F. FRYSZMAN ET AL. 6. Conclusion approach of innovation. The emergence of innova- tions in the context of smart mobility, facing chal- Reflecting on the process of urbanization, we can lenges of economic, social, environmental and think that its development is also characterized by technological, goes towards achieving sustainable the expansion of the use of vehicles, which has led urban development of cities. many large cities to plan their structure for the effec- The study reinforces the foundations of the socio- tive use of their own car by expanding their road technical theory of innovation by showing niche initia- system. This scenario generated negative impacts on tives and the emergence of new technologies that the urban environment and required a revision of the present an opportunity for modifying the current Master Plans in order to privilege non-motorized and regime. The co-existence of the electric bus and bio- public transport in an effective, socially inclusive and diesel solutions provided the opening of the so-called ecologically sustainable way. In this sense, urban windows of opportunity mentioned by Smith et al. planning, in addition to developing a mobility policy, (2010), which stress a change in the urban mobility which encompasses all modes of transport, as well as regime of the city of Curitiba from these innovations of their interrelationships, also incorporates the concept the level of niche technology. The results show that of sustainability (Duarte et al. 2009). changes in urban mobility occur over a long-term time Technology has a great influence on transport effi- horizon, and may take one to two generations to ciency, since the use of its best available version can be constitute dominant technologies in the system. applied to engine design, alternative fuels and the use The idea of socio-technical transition to smart of renewable energy sources (Banister 2008). mobility involves a long-term, multilevel and multi- Thus, confronting the history of Curitiba’s mobility actor process. This transition takes into account system with the smart mobility discourse, it was initiatives for the development of new, more sustain- possible to perceive that there are milestones and able technologies for urban mobility at the techno- initiatives that can be said as signs of smart mobility. logical niche level, as well as aspects related to Some initiatives that were considered signs of smart population culture to the development of regulatory mobility are: animal and electric traction trams, the BRT policies and to encourage smart urban mobility. In system and tube stations, the implantation of bicycle the case analyzed, what we could perceive is that lanes, the creation of a ‘boardwalk’, the adoption of both the dimensions of the socio-technical landscape alternative fuels, the creation of the IMS and of the OCC and the technological niche pressurize the sociotech- and the advances in electromobility. nical regime for a transition to sustainability. This was We present the illustrative case of the Hibribus observed from the case of Hibribus, an initiative that Project as a practical example in the city, an initiative seek this transition towards a more sustainable urban that materialized the issue of electromobility and the mobility. These small incremental and continuous use of alternative fuels in the city of Curitiba. If analyzed advances are aligned with the assumptions of transi- from a multi-level perspective, this is still an initiative at tional theories, focused mainly on a long-term analy- the niche level. Innovations at the micro level, often sis. Such changes reinforce the idea that emerging experimental, bring to the system the opportunity for niche technologies can lead to transition in an change to occur and point out ways for the transition ongoing process, but that can bring profound trans- to smart urban mobility in this context. formations over time. This innovation in the mobility sector has entered As future research, it is suggested to extend the the market in a subtle and slow way and has not yet analysis of socio-technical transition in urban mobi- had the legitimacy to break with the dominant lity to the other types of transport modes existing regime, marked by automobility and fossil fuels use. in the city of Curitiba, with the exploration of multi- So we can conclude that there are emerging niche ple cases. It is also proposed to carry out this technologies entering the market that, along with transition analysis for smart mobility in other capi- other social and technological innovations, can lead tals of the country or in a comparative way with to a real transition process in sustainable mobility. cities of other countries or even among the various The main contribution of this study was to awa- initiatives of the city of Curitiba. This perspective ken reflections on an emerging theme in the context can be approached from the analysis of the devel- of cities, smart mobility, from the socio-technical opment of the niche dynamics as well as influences INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT 151 of the context on the innovations of the system. Brasil - Lei Federal nº 12.587 de 2012. Política Nacional de Mobilidade Urbana. [accessed 2017 Jul 13]. http://www.pla Another relevant study would be the gathering of nalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2011-2014/2012/lei/l12587.htm. information associated with the decisions of recent Brustolin C 2012 Jun 18. Curitiba apresenta o Hibribus na Rio+20. innovative initiatives, directly with the actors and Urbs Notícias. [accessed 2018 Jun 25]; Research: [about 2 institutions involved in its planning and execution, screens]. http://www.urbs.curitiba.pr.gov.br/noticia/transporte. in accordance with transformative innovation policy C40 – About C40. 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Journal
International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development
– Taylor & Francis
Published: May 4, 2019
Keywords: Smart mobility; socio-technical transition of innovation; Curitiba; multi-level perspective; urban mobility; urban planning; smart city
