“Ideal” decision-making processes for transport planning: A comparison between Europe and South East Asia

In a recently completed research project on the decision-making process of sustainable urban transport planning issues for the European Union (EU) – entitled PROSPECTS (Procedures for Recommending Optimal Sustainable Planning of European City Transport Systems) – an “ideal” decision-making process for sustainable transport planning decisions in the European context was identified. A further EU-funded networking project (SPARKLE (Sustainability Planning for Asian Cities making use of Research, Know-How and Lessons from Europe)) considered the relevance of the PROSPECTS process to South East Asia, through seminars and workshops in Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. This paper summarises various conclusions reached in these events. Whilst it was generally found that the basic element of the PROSPECTS approach transferred reasonably well to South East Asia, various key factors require revisions to be made to the approach. The most important of these factors are: differing traditions in planning; different weights in the transport-related objectives, use of only a limited set of potential policy instruments, fast growth rates (in both economic and travel terms); differences in types of vehicle used; and lack of data for use in assessment and modelling. These factors could be addressed in more detail in future research projects.