Green Mobility for Luang Prabang and Seam Reap

Basic Information

Grant ID: K-142

Region: East Asia & Pacific

Country: Lao PDR

Approval Year: 2019

Grant Year: Year 7

Amount Approved by Donor: $600000.00

Main Product Line: ASA

Sector: Transport

Grant start/completion: October 31, 2019~ May 25, 2022 (Anticipated)

Grant Status: Closed

TTLs: Sombath Southivong (Senior Infrastructure Specialist)

Grant Activities

Project Summary:

The objective of this grant is to support municipal authorities of Luang Prabang and Siem Reap in fostering green mobility strategies to preserve both cities’ cultural, historical and economic values. There is a global consensus that transitioning to greener mobility will be crucial to the overall success of the climate agenda. Many cities are increasingly facing challenges of high motorization and congestion which undermine their sustainable growth, damage living conditions, and increase the environmental footprint. With the rapid pace of urbanization, the concept of green mobility and walkable cities is becoming imperative for inclusive and sustainable growth, creating high demand for design and implementation of green mobility actions. The proposed activity covers two similar cities of Cambodia (Siem Reap) and Lao PDR (Luang Prabang), that are included on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Both cities are having significant cultural, historical and economic value and both are facing similar development challenges: increased motorization, unplanned land use and disordered transport systems expansion, driven by growing tourist numbers. These problems put their future sustainable and inclusive growth at risk but are also creating an opportunity for learning from each other’s experiences and benefiting from synergies in the application of innovative solutions. To implement this program the World Bank KGGTF team will work to strengthen and grow partnerships with institutions in Korea, facilitate knowledge exchange and exposure to best practices, and build innovative tools for the two beneficiary cities.

List of Activities:

  1. Green mobility and walkable city strategy and investment plan for Siem Reap and Luang Prabang
    1. Diagnostic of mobility patterns and constraints on shifting towards greener mobility modes
    2. Development of green mobility vision and strategy, including priority investments
    3. Business case for enhancing NMT including a scheme of core cycling paths for the pilot corridor improvement, and Workshop and Knowledge Exchange on Korean experiences and best practices
  2. Enhancing institutional resilience and capacity building to support implementation of green mobility actions
    1. Institutional strengthening and capacity building of city governments to support with implementation of green mobility actions
    2. Supporting civil engineering schools of National University of Laos and Institute of Technology of Cambodia to build a knowledge base for students on innovative, entrepreneurial and new data tools application

Outcomes:

Output 1:

  • Diagnostic review of mobility patterns, inventory of public space in historic cores (roads, sidewalks & public spaces) and constraints on shifting towards greener modes of mobility; 
  • Workshop on Korean experiences and best practices in lively and sustainable historic urban areas, i.e. Gyeongsang, Jeju.
  • Participatory stakeholder consultation at city, provincial and national levels completed
  • Green mobility and walkable city vision, strategy and priority investments 
  • Business case for enhancing NMT including a scheme to crowd-in private sector bikesharing systems and implement a core network of cycling paths for the pilot historic areas

Output 2:

  • Capacity needs assessment, training and knowledge exchange to support implementation of green mobility plans and actions 
  • Implementation of training and field data collection and analysis by students using innovative data tools

Outcomes:

  • Short-term: Informed policy, capacity and decision making to retrofit ongoing programs and expenditures
  • Medium term: Identification of priority investments and financing and funding options (public and private), including pilot NMT corridor improvement
  • Long-term: Preparation and implementation of full-scale green mobility and walkable city strategies to mitigate high economic and social impacts of motorization and associated costs to city and national governments
  • Enhancing resilience through improvement institutional capacity as well as data and evidence-based decision making at subnational levels (city and provinces) to mitigate future risks related to motorization, unplanned transport systems and risks related to floods and climate change
  • Strong institutional capacity to plan, implement and monitor green mobility projects  

Collaboration with K-Partners and Others:

  • Korea Transport Institute (KOTI)
  • Seoul Human Resource Development Center (SHRDC). SHRDC has been fundamental in providing the World Bank and CityNet with a platform for delivering workshops, trainings and knowledge exchange with Seoul and broader Korean institutions
  • Urban Design Laboratory
  • Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Seoul National University