Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/271376 
Year of Publication: 
2020
Citation: 
[Journal:] Journal of Urban Management [ISSN:] 2226-5856 [Volume:] 9 [Issue:] 1 [Year:] 2020 [Pages:] 67-76
Publisher: 
Elsevier, Amsterdam
Abstract: 
Cities in transition need strategies to do more and better using less or limited resources, i.e., to be frugal in approach, especially when implementing expensive infrastructures. Addis-Ababa city in recent years acquired the light-rail transport (LRT) from China, which entails different multi-actors interacting to achieve resource-efficient LRT in terms of cost, technical knowledge and time. Addis-Ababa re-organized their organizational structure to interact with multi-actors, in providing affordable LRT, measurable technological transfer and learning routine via structured absorptive capacity, delivering an environmentally sound electrified light-rail, as a zero-carbon emission transport system. Using mixed research methods, consisting of light-rail expert's semi-structured interviews and passenger's survey, this article aims to know how the multi-actor interaction processes and absorptive capacity structure have delivered frugality in urban rail transport. Thus, delivering the LRT, despite inadequate country-owned financial resources, less technological and knowledge capability of LRT, within a limited period of three years. Results show that frugality strongly depends on the structure of absorptive capacity and process of multi-actor interactions. In addition, tacit knowledge developed by Addis-Ababa, as an existing knowledge base is vital in harnessing the explicit knowledge provided by China. This frugally delivered light-rail consequently brought changes to the low-income passengers, including some part of the bottom of pyramid (PoB) category, and a fraction of modal shift from other motorized transport modes to the light-rail public transport.
Subjects: 
Absorptive-capacity
Bottom-of-pyramid
Frugality
Light-rail
Modal-shift
Multi-actors
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Creative Commons License: 
cc-by-nc-nd Logo
Document Type: 
Article

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