“Unaa” means “a ride” in Mongolian. UNAA also stands for Ulaanbaatar Accessibility Appraisal, a multinational research and idea-generating project examining social equity and mobility, exploring access barriers faced by residents of Ulaanbaatar’s ger areas.
The current lack of available transport across the ger districts means that many residents face a lengthy walk over rough and hilly terrain to access public transport or services, such as schools, grocery stores, water collection kiosks, and solid fuel depots for domestic stoves.
With winter daytime temperatures regularly reaching below -25C and packs of feral dogs posing safety concerns to a majority of residents, poor access to transport is both uncomfortable and unsafe. For many residents, car ownership is seen as the only option to improve their circumstances. An increase in motorization would add pressure to Ulaanbaatar’s frequently gridlocked road infrastructure, would undermine efforts to improve local air quality, and would run counter to Mongolia’s commitment to reducing its greenhouse gas contribution under its UN Climate Change commitments as well as the broader aims of UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 on sustainable cities and communities, SDG10 on reducing inequalities and SDG13 on climate action.
Ulaanbaatar’s Ger districts are home to over half of the city’s 1.5 million residents or approximately one third of Mongolia’s national population.
As well as lacking in basic transport infrastructure and, in many places, effective urban planning, Ger area residents face the additional challenges of an extreme climate, with winter temperatures regularly plunging to -40 C. Majority of residents do not have cars, and most access tracks are narrow, steep and are unsuitable for upgrading to cater for buses and other public transport services. Many residents have challenges accessing safe and efficient access to the core functions of the city. The aims of UNAA are to understand how Ger area residents travel, to build evidence on the types of access residents face and develop sustainable and resilient approaches to address the discrepancy in levels of access.
Visit www.unaa-project.org for more. Full report here
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