Understanding Community Severance and its Impact on Women’s Access and Mobility in African Countries – Literature Review

This review examines the phenomenon that large or busy roads that pass through settlements can drive a community apart

Abstract

Community severance, or the traffic barrier effect, is a well-established phenomenon of transport planning in developed countries but has not been explored in Sub-Saharan Africa. It describes the phenomenon that large or busy roads that pass through settlements can have the effect of driving a wedge through a community by limiting people’s ability or desire to move through that area. This can reduce accessibility to key services and damage local social networks and community ‘cohesion’. This literature review explores the concept of community severance for the rural poor in Sub-Saharan Africa, with an emphasis on women and vulnerable people.

Citation

Bradbury, A. Understanding Community Severance and its Impact on Women’s Access and Mobility in African Countries & Literature Review. Crown Agents, (2014) 24 pp.

Understanding Community Severance and its Impact on Women’s Access and Mobility in African Countries – Literature Review

Published 1 January 2014