Abstract: A rapid increase in population and demand for private vehicles in Phnom Penh have worsened traffic flow and led to more accidents. Due to unreliable public transport and unsafe road conditions in the city, people prefer driving private vehicles to walking or cycling, leading to daily traffic congestion. What is the best model to resolve this issue? There is no simple or direct answer to this question as traffic conditions anywhere involve many factors. Each factor needs to be considered individually. In this lecture, the author investigates street networks (SNs) – a backbone of the urban transport structures that organize human dynamics and traffic flow in a city. The lecture aims to answer three simple questions: (1) What are the morphological features of SNs in Phnom Penh? (2) Are they vehicular-oriented SNs? and (3) What, if any, are the implications for plans to retrofit SNs to address traffic issues? An analysis of SNs in Phnom Penh will be provided and policy options to retrofit SNs will be discussed.

Bio: Yen Yat is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Peking University’s College of Urban and Environmental Sciences and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Khmer Studies. Dr. Yat holds two PhD degrees: one in public administration from the University of Science and Technology of China and another in land resource management from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). He won thesis and dissertation awards for both his Master’s and doctoral degrees. Dr. Yat is also a member of the International Engineering and Technology Institute (IETI). Over the past five years, he has published more than 10 SCI/SSCI papers in top-tier journals. He has served as a peer reviewer for a number of international journals, including publications associated with Sage, MDPI, and the Taylor & Francis Group.