Productive, Smart & Connected

Shared Mobility: An Important Part of Urban Mobility Strategies and Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan

In Europe, the European Union strongly promotes sustainable mobility, digital innovation, and climate resilience. The European Green Deal, in its ambitious attempt to achieve climate neutrality by 2050, emphasises the importance of repurposing urban areas for both communities and nature,reinforcing the shift towards climate-neutral and more adaptable cities. Consequently, the EU Urban Mobility Framework encourages cities to implement Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans.

The IURC-China initiative achieved success in enhancing partnerships and facilitating the exchange of knowledge among European and Chinese cities and regions. It developed 9 city and regional cooperation partners in 3 thematic networks, bridging over 40 cities and regions across China and Europe. During 2021-2023, participants engaged in 78 thematic events, resulting in the creation and dissemination of more than 50 knowledge products.

Kanpur city faces the urgent need for an efficient parking management system due to increasing reliance on personal vehicles and a shortage of designated parking spaces.

This case study proposes implementation measures to transform Kanpur’s parking landscape, promoting sustainable urban mobility, reducing pollution, and creating vibrant, walkable neighborhoods that prioritize the needs of the community. A holistic and collaborative effort is essential to address Kanpur’s parking challenges and move towards a more sustainable and accessible urban environment.

Cycling infrastructure design is an important subject with the aim of creating quality infrastructure in every street and for every type of user. This report discusses key design principles that must be respected when designing new cycle paths. It also introduced practical recommendations and key resources with regards to designing cycle paths.

Taicang (Suzhou) and the Stuttgart Urban Region are collaborating to address their urban development challenges balancing economic growth with ecological transition. Their joint efforts on Transit-Oriented Development (TOD) and low-carbon urban districts involve government dialogues, knowledge exchange, joint projects, and technical support, aiming to establish green, productive, and eco-friendly urban areas. They are implementing the TOD model and Low Carbon City principles, with three pilot projects in Taicang.

Over three years, European cities and regions have had the opportunity to cooperate with colleagues across the world in order to develop their capacity in ecological transition and the Green Deal; urban & regional renewal and social cohesion; and innovative sustainable & carbon neutral ecosystems and strategic sectors. These are the takeaways of the programme’s final event 2023.

IURC Annual Event 2021 visual takeaways

A selection of thematic posters from the IURC 2022 annual event.

Dublin and Seoul have jointly released a policy publication on Digital Transition in Sustainable Mobility, marking a significant milestone in their pilot project aimed at advancing urban mobility and digital transition within the framework of IURC Asia and Australasia.

The policy publication on Digital Transition in Sustainable Mobility is a result of their collaborative efforts following their participation in a study visit in 26 – 30 August 2023, as part of their competitive awardread, read more https://relaunch.iurc.eu/2023/09/08/dublin-delegation-visits-seoul-on-the-topic-of-urban-mobility-and-digital-transition/ 

Dublin City Council is working with Seoul Metropolitan Government to build data analytics capacity in both cities to improve sustainable mobility including public transportation (PT), walking and cycling, and to support their respective targets for active travel.

The City of Rotterdam is working with Busan Metropolitan City from the Republic of Korea to conduct a joint policy study on urban mobility. This pilot project is expected to help policy makers in both cities to create greener urban mobility ecosystems.

The Canalejas Mobility Hub is a driver of sustainable urban mobility in Madrid, and the city of San Diego is eager to replicate it. By transforming underutilized parking structures into mobility hubs, both are becoming sustainable, accessible, and healthier cities.

Our final Sustainable Urban Mobility and Transport online session featured an interactive exercise for participating cities to start thinking about the challenges and solutions to increasing bike ridership, such as infrastructure, incentives, and campaigns.

The online Capacity Building on Regenerative Design by ACCIONA, organised by the IURC Central Coordination Services in coordination with the Geographical Areas in two sessions (morning for Asia & Australasia and China; afternoon for Latin America and North America) aimed to support worldwide pairings and clusters to path the way of their ongoing projects during the last year of the programme. The training was conducted on March 7th 2023 and welcomed more than 75 participants from all around the globe.

5 case studies:

Case study 1 – Climate & Food (Umeå) 

Case study 2 – Over-tourism and sustainable promotion of territories (Metropolitan City of Venice) 

Case study 3 – Citizen-led sustainable urban development (Kamakura) 

Case study 4 – Station of Being (Umeå) 

Case study 5 – Over-tourism (Kamakura) 

For each of the case studies, there is an executive summary, special features, results and impact, key figures and lessons learned.

 

During our second Sustainable Urban Mobility and Transport session, you will learn from Jacob Mason from ITDP what low-emission zones (LEZ) are and what can make them more successful. Hear directly from Jordi Jové from the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona, Spain, how they were able to implement their expansive LEZ and considerably reduced private vehicles and greenhouse gas emissions, and gain insights from Lidia Henderson from WRI on how to address the challenges to implement a LEZ in your city....

On February 2023, Miguel Ángel Ania’s presentation provided an overview of the evolution of Zaragoza’s public transport strategy to reduce emissions significantly. He spoke about the economic feasibility of the tram and the city’s move towards electric and hydrogen-fueled buses.The keynote presentation was followed by short interventions by representative from Madrid, Metropolis GZM, Ottawa, San Diego, Santa Monica, and Umea who talked about challenges, successes, and strategies related to public transport and low emission delivery zones.

The fourth IURC-NA Thematic Networking event, Sustainable Urban Mobility & Transport (SUMT), took place in Zaragoza on the 10th – 11th of November 2022, in coordination with the host city of Zaragoza, Spain. Participating cities created professional connections and networks while sharing knowledge to advance public transport for zero emissions, shared & micro-mobility strategies, and reducing the use of single occupancy private vehicles. The following insights were shared by a cohort of 13 cities from Europe, Canada, and the US.

The "Mobility Behaviour Change: Promoting Sustainable Travel Choices in Cities" webinar sought to highlight the importance of mobility behaviour change for a transition towards greener transportation patterns. Reviewing different strategies and case studies can inspire urban practitioners to develop and adopt nudging strategies and to involve local communities in their green transition.  Space The full agenda of the event is available here Space Download the presentations here Space Read the highlights from the event here

This webinar was the second part of the “Financing Green Infrastructure for Sustainable Cities” webinar series, on the role of development banks and private financing. The event discussed the role of development banks and private financing in reducing the infrastructure gap in cities while promoting low-carbon investments. space The full agenda of the event is available here Space Download the presentations here Space Download the takeaways here Space Read the highlights from the event here

Trans Semarang is a bus transit system in Semarang City and Semarang Regency, Central Java, Indonesia. The service aims to break down congestion in Semarang and to accommodate commuters to the city center and tourist destinations in the city.

Hear from Pittsburgh’s experience planning and implementing Move PGH, the first MaaS system in the US. Through the creation of the Pittsburgh Mobility Collective (PMC), the city brought together a wide range of stakeholders that, instead of competing, are now working together to bring Pittsburgh a greater variety of transportation options. The change makes it easy for residents to locate mobility hubs, find transportation and mobility options and pay for services seamlessly through one app. As a result, there is...

  BACKGROUND   Around 57% of the global population lives in urban areas, which contribute 80% of the global GDP. Cities play important role in enabling innovation. Meanwhile, urban growth presents enormous social, economic and environmental challenges, which necessitate a new way of planning and design. Urban and transport planning practices are about to change from urban infrastructure design to participatory approach using new and emerging technologies.   The EU implement the urban development strategy through an integrated, partnership, and...

This webinar focused on the ways to reinstate public systems and non-motorized means as better means of city transport in the context of the covid19-induced reduced ridership.

The webinar took place on 23 June 2022. Space --> Watch the recording here Space --> Agenda here  Space --> More information: aamerico@iurc.eu Space Takeaways Transport is one of the Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy – Europe key sectors, representing the 14.5% of actions submitted by Covenant signatories (Covenant in figures) and the 26% of the total emissions in the BEI (JRC, Covenant of Mayors 2019 Assessment). This is why the Covenant of Mayors is working with a...

Discover the takeaways of the IURC Side Event at the Eurocities Annual Conference 2022.

Review and Prospect of Smart Cities in China (2021-11)

In this first session of our Sustainable Urban Mobility and Transport Cluster, we will address the challenge of planning and managing public transport to achieve a zero emissions target by 2030. A keynote presentation by Miguel Angel Ania from the Ministry of Public Services and Mobility of Zaragoza, Spain, will guide us on:   - Identifying the optimum technology for each city’s public transport vehicles, - The relevance of planning an integrated system - Reevaluating strategies for success   Miguel’s presentation will be followed by...

Visual Takeaways of the Urban Renewal and Regional Competitiveness parallel session at the IURC Annual Event 2021 (24 November).

Visual Takeaways of the Urban & Regional Renewal and Social Cohesion parallel session at the IURC Annual Event 2021 (23 November).

The event, about “Financing green infrastructure for sustainable cities and regions”, was the first of a series of 20 and brought together international experts from WRI, AECID, and GIZ, that introduced green finance instruments to cities and regions interested in sustainable development, while highlighting the need to shift towards better investment strategies in green infrastructure. Space The full agenda of the event is available here Space Download the presentations here Space Read the highlights from the event here

Thursday, 11 November 2021 2:00 - 3:00 pm IST / 9:30 - 10:30 CET   As part of the IURC Asia and Australasia programme, we invite you to our interactive discussion series on Post COVID-19 and Inclusive Recovery. IURC recognises the need to deliberate on the implications of COVID, by carrying out a series of regular discussion events on different urban topics (1. Mobility; 2. Health; 3. Economy; 4. Education; 5. Environment; 6. Gender). The objective is to discuss urban...

Food markets have been among the most affected vendors during the Covid-19 pandemic. These markets have social and cultural importance, as well as holding a lot of potential for sustainability and local economy and innovation. Together with the Inter-American Development Bank, our International Urban and Regional Development Programme will host a webinar on The Future of Food Markets in Latin America, including some best practices from European IURC Cities Madrid and Rotterdam. We look forward to welcoming you to the...

In the context of the IURC project, the coordinators of the selected European and Korean pilot cities are invited to join a kick-off event on Thursday, 30 September 2021, 17:00-18:00 KST (10:00-11:00 CEST). Agenda • Welcome by Patrick Polacsek, Delegation of the European Union to Korea (5 min) • Introduction by DG REGIO (10 min) • Comments by the IURC team • City Presentations (5 slides): Rotterdam, Dublin, Sofia, Busan, Seoul, Sejong (30 min) • Q&A, discussion on next steps,...

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) as a part of the C40 Cities Network in collaboration with Government of Maharashtra, WRI, Climate Voices and Waatavaran will organise the Stakeholder Consultation on Sustainable Mobility on 3 September, 15:00-16:00 India time, to seek feedback and recommendations from organisations and sector experts for the development of the Mumbai Climate Action plan (MCAP). Representing the IURC Asia & Australasia project at the meeting will be Ms Prachi Merchant, a Senior Non-Key Expert based...

What is Malaysia’s view on climate change? What are corporate perspectives for net-zero emissions? What does civil society think about climate change and biodiversity loss? This virtual conference will generate new ideas for Malaysia to foster a nature-positive and net-zero economy, with high quality and resilient ecosystem services. Make your voice heard as we prepare for the UN Climate Change Conference (COP26) and the UN Biodiversity Conference (COP15). ********** Panel 3: Promoting and Developing Sustainable Cities There is vast scope...