Regional transport forum discusses coordination of public transport development and land-use planning

Ulaanbaatar /MONTSAME/. The 11th Intergovernmental Regional Environmentally Sustainable Transport Forum in Asia is continuing today, discussing the development of environmentally sustainable transport for the millions of rapidly increasing population in Asian cities. As mentioned before, issues on developing an environmentally sustainable transport (EST) and its possible solutions are mainly being discussed at the forum. Due to settlement density and the continuously expanding cities, traffic and air pollution have become issues not only in a single city, but the whole region and continent. To solve the issues, from the renewal of land-use planning in integration with public transport to having more environmentally friendly establishments to combat air pollution, a new planning of infrastructure has been in demand. The participants of the forum highlighted that there is no other way than shifting to the next stage of development based on smart technology to get behind the challenges. The Mayor of Ulaanbaatar, S.Batbold made opening remarks in the forum, noting “ The problems related to protecting our environment, renewing city planning as well as climate change and ecosystems, which the whole region faces can be solved as long as the countries of the Asian region work together with one soul, one heart and one policy. I am confident that this forum will put foundation of partnerships, cooperation and technology transfers, which will be of use and influential in making contributions by the cities and the region to the global goal of reducing climate change in the framework of the topic, the role of EST in sustainable city planning.” Previously, the 3rd Northeast Asian Mayors’ Forum on the topic ‘Low Carbon City Development: Improving air quality and reducing greenhouse gas emissions’ was held in Ulaanbaatar at the end of June this year. The representatives of 18 cities shared their experiences and discussed the policies in effect.