| Mauritius is a small economy nation, with a predicted annual economic growthbetween3to4%in the next few years. Its population size is around1.3million witha yearly growth of only0.4%, among which some500000people live in the25kmlong linear conurbation. In2013, the government decided to soon construct an LRTmass-transit system along the conurbation despite, expects’ warning that it might beineffective due to low ridership predictions.Literature review and case studies illustrate that with the implementation ofseveral supportive policies and land use planning, the ridership and capacityefficiency of the LRT can be increased. This paper focuses on increasing thepassenger carrying capacity, by alleviating the significant bi-directional passengerflow disparity. On one hand, this increases ridership in the reverse commutingdirection, and also raises the level of service in the dominant commuting direction.According several existing studies, evidences have been provided that the LRTconstruction will boost urban development along its corridor, especially around thestations. Without proper urban development control, like land use planning or astrategic development master plan, not only, the opportunity to maximize on thevalue-capture of the LRT is diminished, but, it may also aggravate the existingproblems like bi-directional flow and job-housing disparities.The problem is that detailed land use plans are not employed in Mauritius. Theurban development is most privately executed and market-driven. The governmentadopts a laisser-faire attitude towards land development, because it believes thisrestricts development in the country. In this paper, I propose a series of supportiveplanning policies and land use plans that is suitable for Mauritius LRT corridor.To this end, to obtain more information about the transportation situation and theurban development trend of Mauritius, I have interned during three months in theTransport Ministry of Mauritius, interviewed several public and private sectorofficers, and reviewed existing reports regarding the economic, urban and transportdevelopment in Mauritius. However, because most of needed information to complete this project is either incomplete or outdated by decades, considerable amount ofanalysis has been deducted by me, directly from most recent raw statistical database.Thus, I could understand and present a comprehensive developmental background forMauritius, and deduce urban indicative demands in terms of housing, commercial,industrial and civic uses.Another major original contribution of this paper was the survey and analysis ofthe LRT corridor. The job-housing ratio around stations was calculated based onCensus data, and rated according to existing conventions. Secondly the existing landuse around the13stations was done through site visit and satellite imaging survey.Priority developable lands, that is re-developable, vacant or assemblable lands weresurveyed in order to deduce the existing development potential around the all thestations.As both the demand and supply sides have been laid down, planning strategiesand urban developmental models were studied, through a problem-orientedcase-study. More than25cities, regions and transit systems were studied in order toexplore the possibilities, and find the most suitable and adaptable strategies andmeasure for the Mauritian case. Policies directing affecting urban development,planning strategies models and various ways of alleviating bi-directional flow andjob-housing disparities have been explored.Finally, it was judged adequate that an indicative land-use planningrecommendation be proposed. This minimizes market-driven developmentrestrictions on capacity/footage, while keeping a control on the usage type. Few broad,but essential planning-related policies were recommended, and a two-level plan waspresented. The first level is an overall developmental strategy along the LRT corridor,and secondly, land use was recommended for the priority developable lands aroundthe stations. |
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