Abstract
Systems approach offers an integrative perspective to the entire picture. The pandemic brought unprecedented disruptions to city development, infrastructure, supply chain, and healthcare, forced national leaders to adopt systems thinking to tackle sophisticated situations in real-time. In the post-COVID recovery, government officials are simultaneously facing two-dimensional challenges: the massive stimulus on bolstering economic recovery and creating a more sustainable and livable society. The article applies managerial strategy and systems approach to address complex transportation challenges and introduces a series of international cases that the authors have been working on for the past four years. First, transportation systems (e.g., transit and highway) and mobility services (ridesharing) represent the essential components in providing access to diverse socioeconomic activities. While heavily investing in highway and toll roads; cities are investing in metro and electric buses. What exactly you are trying to achieve? Cities built around cars would look and operate drastically different from those cities built around public transport. The examination focuses on the interrelation between public transport and cars and the corresponding measures to create livable cities. Second, developing cities faced a dramatic increase in car usage and significant growth stagnation alongside environmental cause célèbre issues. In contrast, progressive cities dedicated to managing externality, alleviating friction, and creating a balanced multimodal transportation system, generated long-term sustainable outcomes toward economic viability. The comparative analyses dissect meaningful lessons between policy measure and managerial practice. Third, practical case studies draw deliberative thinking to the development framework of the balanced multimodal transportation system. To go behind the scenes, the first case study showcases the astonishing transition of Moscow over the past two decades and the forward-looking plan of a proposed free public transport scheme. The case offers a diagnostic measure of the scheme and compares the spillover effect of the Moscow Metro (e.g., Moscow Central Circle and Central Diameter) vs. Kutuzovsky Prospekt public-private partnership project. The second case: Belgrade waterfront and Beograd center railway station (Prokop) relocation project compares the existing and proposed rail network from operation efficiency and land recapitalization aspects. This case tackles some of the most challenging aspects of the project and paves a new solution pathway forward. It is time to pay systematic attention to the city and regional development of sustainable transportation and livable cities. Keywords: Systems Approach, Managerial Strategy, Sustainable Development, Livable Cities
