Metropolitics

Planning in the Age of Political Populism: Kolkata's Tram Debate

Tathagata Chatterji — 2025-06-10T05:00:00Z

Using the case of Kolkata's tram system, Tathagata Chatterji shows how two distinct political strategies—populism and clientelism—operate in a symbiotic relationship to circumvent formal planning processes in India's third-largest city.
Political populism and clientelism are two distinct political strategies with significant conceptual overlaps. From a theoretical standpoint, political populism is associated with charismatic leaders who mobilise mass support through ideological and rhetorical

- Essays / India, Global South, Asia, Kolkata, mass transit, rapid transit, transport, transport policy, public transportation, tram, clientelism, populism, streetcar, light rail, tramway

Episodes from the Social Life of the Delhi Metro

Sneha Mandhan — 2023-01-20T06:00:00Z

What is the impact of a new metro on a large and growing city? As new metros are cropping up across Asia, Rashmi Sadana documents the changes brought to the city of Delhi by a sprawling new transportation system. She shows that the Delhi metro is both similar to other subways of the world and unique in its inscription in a distinctive cultural landscape.
Infrastructures straddle the line between large, shiny artefacts imposed on urban landscapes marking modernity, and the backdrop for scenes

- Reviews / India, Delhi, transport, public transportation, mass transit, rapid transit, metro, subway, infrastructure, ethnography, vignettes, public space

(Re)Constructing Inequality: Community Development in Public and Private

Claire Dunning — 2021-12-14T06:00:00Z

Claire Dunning reviews Jeremy R. Levine's new book, Constructing Community, an ethnographic study of community development projects in Boston.
For a book about urban poverty and redevelopment, Constructing Community recounts few protests or headline-grabbing incidents. Instead, the drama unfolds slowly over the course of a decade in poorly lit community rooms, downtown board rooms, and the backseats of cars. This is a book about the banalities of bureaucracy and governance—a fact that author

- Reviews / Boston, Massachusetts, United States, mass transit, rapid transit, transport, public transportation, community-based organizations, urban poverty, redevelopment, poverty, governance, local governance, urban governance, ethnography

Dunkirk as a New “Laboratory” for Free Transit

Henri Briche & Maxime Huré & translated by Oliver Waine — 2018-06-29T05:00:00Z

From September 2018, the public transport network in Dunkirk, France, will be free of charge for all users. Henri Briche and Maxime Huré's research into the zero-fare system already in place in the city at weekends affirms the feasibility of a public policy that encourages urban development and benefits working-class populations – but is often decried as being unrealistic and costly. How was this policy forged locally, and what is the current state of the art in fare-free transit in France and

- From the Field / France, public transportation, United States, mobility, transport, free, mass transit, rapid transit, bus, transport policy, Dunkerque, Hauts-de-France, Nord–Pas-de-Calais, Dunkirk, Northern France, fares

A flat-rate travel card for the Paris region: revolution or illusion?

Marie-Hélène Massot & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-11-06T06:00:00Z

Fare “dezoning” in the Paris region – a key reform to mark the end of Jean-Paul Huchon's term as leader of Île‑de‑France regional council – came into force in September 2015. Marie-Hélène Massot takes a look at the origins of this measure and questions its relevance and its long-term sustainability.
Farewell, fare zones! For every one of the 3.8 million holders of weekly, monthly and annual travel cards in the Paris region – whether they live in Paris proper or the farthest-flung suburb – a

- Debates / Île-de-France, public transportation, mobility, transport, Greater Paris, mass transit, rapid transit, transport policy

Transport as both a function and a facilitator of metropolitan development?

Aurélien Delpirou & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-02-12T05:50:00Z

In Paris, Lyon and Marseille, the development of public transport is a central element of the metropolitan projects currently under way. However, the challenges to be tackled and the approaches adopted differ significantly from one city to another. Here, Aurélien Delpirou compares the three situations and analyses the strengths and weaknesses of their respective strategies.
As part of the major territorial shake-up presently under way in France, a new type of intermunicipal body is set to

- Essays / Île-de-France, Grand Paris, public transportation, Paris region, governance, Marseille, Paris, transport, Lyon, metropolis, Greater Paris, mass transit, rapid transit, Rhône-Alpes

In the Paris metro, hell is other people

Luke Haywood & Martin Koning & translated by Oliver Waine — 2015-01-15T05:50:00Z

In the medical field, it is not unusual for remedies prescribed to combat a particular condition to have undesirable side effects. Similarly, the example of Paris shows us that rising levels of discomfort on public transport can be considered the “price of success” of anti-car policies…
While Parisian transport policy – which primarily hinges upon the reassignment of lanes dedicated to polluting modes of transport (cars, essentially) to cleaner alternatives (buses, trams, bicycles) – has made

- From the Field / France, public space, public transportation, Paris region, well-being, Paris, density, transport, Greater Paris, public policy, mass transit, metro, subway, tube, underground, rapid transit, comfort

Coping with crowdedness in mass transportation

Martin Aranguren & Stéphane Tonnelat & translated by Oliver Waine — 2014-02-26T05:50:00Z

Riding overcrowded metros, tubes or subways with dozens of strangers in varying moods is routinely viewed as a trying experience. Yet we know very little about the discreet but crucial emotional work that passengers do every day in order to facilitate the smooth functioning of urban mass transportation.
In Paris, annual metro ridership increased from 1.2 billion journeys in 2000 to 1.5 billion in 2011, or 5.16 million trips per weekday. [1] This roughly 25% growth in passenger numbers has

- From the Field / France, public space, public transportation, Paris, density, métro, mass transit, metro, subway, tube, underground, emotions, antisocial behaviour, sociabilities, rapid transit