Beyond moving people: excavating the motivations for investing in urban public transit infrastructure in Bilbao Spain

Abstract

This paper explores the context and contradictions that have brought Bilbao Spain, a city of some 1 million inhabitants, to its stature as a leader and model of contemporary public transit. The decision to invest in public transit infrastructure is situated within an urban context that includes historical, economic, urban design, social, environmental and political motivations. From this contextual rooting, public transit projects are examined for their potential to achieve both a tangible set of objectives and an intangible symbolic meaning that presents transit projects as being about more than just moving people.

Notes

For background and contextual purposes, a series of eight confidential interviews were conducted with individuals involved in or familiar with the Metro Bilbao planning process. These included four transportation planners, two city planners and two Bilbao based academics.