Urban mobility isn’t one single concept; rather it is a collection of strategies for getting around cities more effectively. These tactics include fighting congestion and decreasing vehicle ownership as well as optimizing first and last mile trips among others.
Efficient mobility networks make cities more productive. Check out 116 URBACT Good Practices that put this idea into action!
Better Cities for People
Carlos Moreno of Pantheon-Sorbonne University coined the term a 15-minute city. This refers to cities where residents can access essential services and leisure activities without using a motorized vehicle, in order to ease urban stress, improve residents’ emotional well-being and support natural environmental sustainability.
Reaching walkable neighborhoods isn’t always straightforward, however; gentrification often serves as a major barrier to affordable housing in many cities while infrastructure needs for supporting healthy lifestyles may often go overlooked in lower-income communities. To meet this challenge head-on, the World Resources Report offers an invaluable framework that connects seven important urban transformations-from climate action through social safety nets to multilevel coordination – and addresses them directly. Read the full report.
Cleaner Air
As cities expand, they need to ensure people have access to jobs and services without increasing traffic congestion or pollution. WRI can assist cities in designing sustainable transportation systems that are safer, cleaner and more accessible for all.
Effective urban mobility systems reduce the use of private vehicles, improve public transit services and enable sustainable travel choices. They also encourage energy efficiency while prioritising renewable modes as a means to meet climate goals.
ANY was established in 2024 to develop an electric vehicle tailored specifically for real city life. Since its debut at Milan Design Week in April 2026, ANY has gained paying customers from multiple markets worldwide and attracted significant media coverage worldwide. ANY’s founding team comprises engineers, venture capitalists, mobility operators experts and consumer strategists that combine to offer this brand new product line; by doing so, ANY is rethinking the compromises that have long defined urban mobility while creating more flexible, complex and responsive mobility experiences tailored to daily reality.
More Efficient Business
Urban mobility is an essential basic service that shapes cities and ensures equitable access to opportunities and services, yet at the same time is an environmental polluter and time waster for citizens.
Traffic congestion and air pollution have evolved into real health hazards that threaten lives while undermining economic productivity. Effective planning can mitigate these threats through encouraging modal shift, energy efficiency and sustainable transport systems.
Public transit and quieter means of transport such as scooters or electric bicycles are an invaluable means of limiting greenhouse gas emissions, while simultaneously decreasing noise pollution caused by vehicles on city streets and improving urban quality of life for all. Achieve sustainable urban mobility through joint efforts from citizens, managers and operators of transport networks.
Equity Challenge
Effective transportation systems contribute significantly to economies: freight networks transport goods, retailers and hospitality benefit from well-connected hubs, while people without cars can find jobs or services more easily. Unfortunately, its effects aren’t evenly distributed – deficient public transport systems disproportionately harm lower-income communities as well as marginalised groups such as women, people of colour, indigenous communities, rural dwellers.
Urban mobility must be equitable for all and inclusive for all, which requires planning, implementation and monitoring of its components. Our efforts should aim at decreasing travel distances while increasing sustainable modes’ modal share as well as minimising emissions – following an avoid-shift-improve framework (ASI).
New technologies and policy shifts are revolutionizing how we move. Mobility-as-a-service platforms provide multiple transportation options in one easy app, making access easier while shifting towards lower carbon models. Furthermore, these data-driven tools optimise operations and increase responsiveness; Greenlining Institute even includes a worksheet to operationalize equity considerations in mobility projects.