Urban mobility is an integral element in shaping the urban form – the physical imprint defined by roads, transport systems, spaces and buildings – of cities. Urban movements include personal travel for leisure purposes as well as distribution of goods and services (including home delivery from online retailers) or freight transportation for industrial purposes.

Current transport technologies contribute significantly to climate emissions and air pollution, and road safety remains a significant concern. To combat these problems, cities require innovative strategies centered on sustainable urban mobility concepts.

Cleaner transport

As cities strive to reduce carbon emissions, merging sustainability with urban mobility has many advantages. Sustainable transport options tend to be more efficient, healthier, and often cheaper than their conventional counterparts.

Electric public transportation – buses, trams and trains – reduces air pollution, noise levels and congestion while improving accessibility for vulnerable residents.

Greener transportation initiatives include increasing walking and cycling, smart delivery to reduce air demand, and using cleaner fuels like renewable natural gas (BioNGV), green hydrogen or synthetic aviation fuels based on CO2 or nitrogen.

MaaS is an emerging trend that uses one digital gateway to combine and pay for bus or metro rides, ridesharing services, bicycle/e-bikes/scooters/cars as well as personal vehicle ownership. This approach shifts people away from owning private vehicles towards shared options with more flexibility and personalization – especially beneficial in low-income neighborhoods where accessing climate-smart transportation options might otherwise be challenging.

Transit-oriented development

Transit-oriented development (TOD) is an essential element of urban mobility. TOD involves the construction of compact, walkable developments surrounding train stations that enable people to work, shop, run errands and meet other needs without the use of cars.

Cities need to transition hundreds of millions of trips away from private cars onto public transport in order to reduce congestion, air pollution and road traffic accidents that kill over 3,287 people every day – however this task will not be an easy one.

Urban mobility planning in each city demands an in-depth and tailored understanding of its urban mobility issues, from diagnosing problems and outlining desired future states that address them to developing multimodal approaches that integrate all modes of urban transportation so they operate efficiently, reliably, and safely – such as metro trains, light rail, bus rapid transit lines, bicycle lanes and pedestrian pathways – as well as intelligent traffic management based on real time data communication between all elements of a transportation system.

Accessibility

Urban mobility provides citizens with various methods for reaching destinations that fulfill functional endpoints. A standard response to mobility challenges has been to expand infrastructure primarily involving cars; this only leads to more travel, congestion and air pollution – while transport-related emissions continue to grow.

To break this cycle, it is imperative that urban mobility planning shift its emphasis away from optimizing movement towards guaranteeing accessibility. To do so, land-use and transport planning must shift towards compact cities with mixed land use that support mobility modes that do not generate high carbon and noise emissions.

Accessibility measures can be created using data-driven tools, like ITDP’s NExt proXimity Index (NEXI), to identify and evaluate critical areas within a city where services are not easily accessible, then plan tailored interventions that will increase accessibility. It is also crucial that real-time measurements be taken of these interventions’ effects.

Mobility for all

Urban mobility is a critical service that shapes urban form – including roads, transport networks and spaces – while creating access to opportunities, jobs and services for all residents of an urban region. By 2050, total passenger travel demand could quadruple from 2000 levels and freight movement more than quadruple; further emphasizing the urgency for people-centred urban mobility solutions.

Success in changing a city’s mobility ecosystem demands an in-depth knowledge of its needs, as well as an innovative plan to implement long-term transportation initiatives. Furthermore, successful transformation requires carefully sequencing interventions so as to offset any reduction in private mobility with shifts towards public or active modes of transport.

Building on our vast library of precedents, we are working on projects to make traffic safer, transport more efficient and digitally networked, and rethink connectivity; all in order to enhance quality of life for urban residents.