Project Description

PhD Program on Spatial Planning (2021)

This thesis has as its main objective the identification of territorial flaws in the provision of public transport in the Brazilian city of Recife. The municipality is located in the northeastern part of Brazil, a region that has the lowest values in some of the country's socioeconomic indicators. Recife's population density is 7,039.64 inhabitants / km² and only 49.6% of urban households on public roads have adequate urbanization, including essential infrastructure (IBGE, 2010). Following the trend of Latin American cities, the vulnerable population lives on the outskirts, depending on public transport to access the center. The imbalances between supply and demand for public transport and the gaps generated by them, contribute to accentuating social inequalities. Thus, this doctoral thesis sought to develop a methodology based on a literature review. This review of the literature was sought to be relevant in this matter and to allow the development of a methodology for identifying territorial flaws in the public transport service in Recife, especially in relation to people at a social disadvantage. In this way, we tried to create innovation based on Currie's (2010) need-gaps method. Other techniques were used to adapt the new method, such as those by Chen et al (2018), Jaramillo et al (2012), Saghapour et al (2016) and Delbosc and Currie (2011). The methodology first comprised the calculation of a measure of supply and a measure of demand for each of the 94 neighbourhoods in Recife. The confrontation between these measures results in the territorial failures of the offer in view of the social needs of the public transport user (need gaps). The proposed methodology for the Recife case study can contribute to decision-making in Recife's transport planning, with connection to the planning of its territory,  and can be used in other Brazilian cities and in other cities in the world, with adequate adaptation.

Research Team

• Cláudia Maria Guedes Alcoforado
• Anabela Salgueiro Narciso Ribeiro (supervisor)

Financial Support

• No specific financial support. The student is a Professor at the State University in Recife.

Stage of Progress

• Concluded in 2021