Public Participation GIS for sustainable urban mobility planning: methods, applications and challenges

Sustainable mobility planning is a new approach to planning, and as such it requires new methods of public participation, data collection and data aggregation. In the article we present an overview of Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) methods with potential use in sustainable urban mobility planning. We present the methods using examples from two recent case studies conducted in Polish cities of Poznań and Łodź. Sustainable urban mobility planning is a cyclical process, and each stage has different data and participatory requirements. Consequently, we situate the PPGIS methods in appropriate stages of planning, based on potential benefits they may bring into the planning process. We discuss key issues related to participant recruitment and provide guidelines for planners interested in implementing methods presented in the paper. The article outlines future research directions stressing the need for systematic case study evaluation

Sustainable urban mobility for smart cities

This article presents the goals, methodologies, results and conclusions of a researchproject recently developed in the Territorial Planning and Environmental division of theFaculty of Engineering of Porto University (Portugal). It consists in the settlement of asystem of indicators on sustainable urban mobility. It is designed, as a case study, forPorto city (Portugal). These indicators, together with a set of strategies, tools andmeasures, support the implementation of the "smart cities" concept, thus improvingcommunitiesŽ sustainability and quality of life

Sustainable urban mobility in European cities

To conceive the performance of the sustainability level in relation to transport infrastructure and systems, the economic, social and environmental composite indicators (CIs) were created. Each one was composed by 3 sub-indicators. To do that, data of 16 European cities were analyzed for the year 2015. With the creation of these indicators it is possible to discern which characteristics stand out in terms of sustainability in the transport system. The whole sample play a key role in these procedures, once the analysis of each dimensions in each city depends of the sample dimension. The perception of the forces and weaknesses at the transport level was performed through the CIs, and the cluster analysis. Additionally, the Pearson’s correlations were performed to compare some city’s specifications with the created indicators. The main findings prove that, cities that are small and denser show better results in terms of sustainability. Furthermore, richer cities tend to have a better performance in sustainability. This way, it is intended to better understand the flaws and to create more specific and efficient policies for the improvement of urban mobility.Para conceber o desempenho do nível de sustentabilidade em relação às infraestruturas e sistemas de transporte, foram criados indicadores compostos (ICs), a saber: económico, social e ambiental. Cada um deles foi composto por três sub-indicadores. Para fazer isso, dados de 16 cidades europeias foram analisadas relativamente ao ano de 2015. Com a criação desses indicadores, é possível discernir quais as características se destacam em termos de sustentabilidade no sistema de transporte. Toda a amostra desempenha um papel fundamental neste procedimento, uma vez que a análise de cada dimensão em cada cidade depende da dimensão da amostra. A perceção das forças e fraquezas no nível de transporte foi realizada por meio dos ICs e da análise de cluster. Além disso, a correlação de Pearson foi realizada para comparar algumas especificações das cidades com os indicadores criados. Os principais resultados provam que cidades pequenas e mais densas apresentam melhores resultados em termos de sustentabilidade. Também, cidades mais ricas tendem a ter um melhor desempenho em sustentabilidade. Desta forma, pretende-se compreender melhor as falhas e criar políticas mais específicas e eficientes para o melhoramento da mobilidade urbana

Key research themes on travel behavior, lifestyle, and sustainable urban mobility

The concept of lifestyle adds a behavioral component to travel models that used to be dominated by engineering and econometric traditions. This article presents an overview of how lifestyle is defined and measured in transport studies, and how travel behavior is influenced by lifestyles. Lifestyles are often used pragmatically rather than theoretically in the behavior studies. Nevertheless, some important theoretical contributions have been made, especially in sociology by scholars such as Weber, Bourdieu, Ganzeboom, and Schulze who agree on the communicative character of lifestyles: individuals express their social position through specific patterns of behavior, consumption, and leisure. These behavioral patterns are shaped by underlying opinions and orientations, including beliefs, interests, and attitudes. Thus, travel behavior is not simply determined by price, speed, and comfort but is also related to attitudes, status, and preferences. Because lifestyle has many different dimensions, a variety of measurement approaches exists. Nevertheless, most studies suggest that travel behavior is conditioned by specific lifestyles. How lifestyles themselves can be modified to promote more sustainable patterns of transport has not received much attention to date. This article argues that lifestyles need to be considered as dynamic rather than as static and given, and that future research could delve more deeply into this area

Local sustainable mobility management. Are Portuguese municipalities aware?

Urban mobility has become an international problem and several countries have joined together in different consortia, signing international agreements and developing projects with a view to establishing new standards for current mobility levels and the development of the transport systems of the future. Although such worldwide increasing effort regarding sustainable mobility issue, namely by the most proactive European cities, it is not yet clear why measures towards sustainable mobility are not implemented by the generality of local authorities. The main goal of this paper is to identify the different sustainable mobility strategies and the corresponding perceptions by local public authorities. Such local governance aspects have yet to be dealt with appropriately and in a credible way. This shortcoming is particularly acute in Portugal where sustainable urban mobility management is still highly underdeveloped and very few studies have been dedicated to the matter. We provide new evidence on the perceptions and strategies of the Portuguese local public authorities regarding sustainable urban mobility management. Through a survey to all Portuguese municipalities we provide brand new evidence on their perceptions and strategies regarding sustainable urban mobility management. Estimates based on econometric regressions indicate that the most mobility-conscious municipalities are, on average, those that are richer, more cultural and educated, possess alternative transport parks and routes, have larger and more human capital intensive mobility departments. Results show that more than simply participating in urban regeneration programs it is necessary a more committed attitude, namely that municipalities’ urban plans explicitly mention mobility issues and indicators. All the models estimated clearly evidence a higher awareness of North municipalities towards sustainable mobility issues.Zona Euro; Sustainability; mobility management; regions; human capital

Sustainable Urban Mobility with Uncompromised Rural Reach

SUMURR (Sustainable Urban Mobility with Uncompromised Rural Reach) is a private-public partnership (PPP) between the Ford Motor Company, the U.S. Department of State, the University of Michigan, George Washington University, the Indian Institute of Technology Madras (IIT Madras), and the Indian healthcare NGO Hand in Hand. The partnership objective is to launch a pilot that leverages OpenXC, a recently introduced Ford technology, to improve maternal mortality rates in rural areas outside of Chennai, India. The School of Natural Resources and Environment (SNRE) team engaged in secondary research and visited Chennai twice to carry out primary research. By the end of the second trip to Chennai, the PPP had determined that the goal of the pilot was to use the SUMURR vehicle and technology to increase the mobility of the government healthcare worker, called a Village Health Nurse (VHN), and improve her ability to enter patient information accurately into PICME, the government database that registers and tracks health data of pregnant mothers. Hand in Hand will be the local partner that works with high-risk pregnant mothers in rural villages and Ford will develop applications for maternal health in partnership with IIT Madras. The pilot’s success depends on whether Ford hires a Project Manager to ensure that the partners communicate and each partner’s milestones are achieved. It also depends on whether the rural communities and the Tamil iii Nadu State Government respond positively to the pilot. If the pilot is successful, its long-term scalability depends on whether Ford can find a way to monetize the product and sell it at a price point that is affordable.Master of ScienceNatural Resources and EnvironmentUniversity of Michiganhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90878/1/Masters Project Paper_Final.pd

Rethinking Sustainable Urban Mobility for emerging cities in Latin America : The struggle of increasing automobility in Lima and Bogotá

Due to the great need of improving sustainable urban transport and mobility in emerging cities in Latin America, development assistance in the form of Sustainable Urban Mobility planning is currently carried out by national European development agencies and partnerships. This type of assistance is commonly based on successful European experiences and approaches in the field, aiming to decrease both greenhouse gas emissions, poverty and inequality and in the same time to improve accessibility, quality of life and sustainability for the urban citizens. Whilst the model being successful for these purposes in Europe, the emerging nature and different mobility culture of cities in Latin America have experienced different outcomes of Sustainable Urban Mobility planning. The theoretical discussion of this thesis is based on a critical assessment of Modernisation theory and its manifestations in the urban transport sector. The theory would describe the European model of Sustainable Urban Mobility as the “modern”, whereas the mobility paradigm of emerging cities is “yet to be modernised”. This thesis argues that instead of applying the European mobility paradigm on emerging cities, the concept of Sustainable Urban Mobility and its planning models and guidelines need to be contextualised in order to reach the desired outcomes. Through qualitative content analysis of original data from interviews with grassroot level activists, representatives of civil society and non-governmental organisations in the cities of Bogotá and Lima, this thesis shows that the urban structures and mobility culture in the cities differ significantly from the ones in Europe, that lead to different outcomes when applying the European approaches of Sustainable Urban Mobility planning in the cities. The most critical finding is that due to different socioeconomic urban structures, a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and increase of accessibility cannot be reached simultaneously in a short-term timeframe, as the poor people in the outskirts currently cannot afford other transport modes than non-motorised “sustainable” transport. Challenges such as urbanisation and corruption are often considered the main problems for the implementation of sustainable transport measures in emerging cities. This thesis shows that instead of solely focussing on these challenges, one should criticise the non-contextualised methods in use for encountering them and suggests a preventive approach for urban development. The conclusion follows: It is not only the guidance documents in use for development assistance in the field of Sustainable Urban Mobility that needs to be contextualised, but the whole concept

Using gamification to incentivize sustainable urban mobility.

Sustainable urban mobility is an important dimension in a Smart City, and one of the key issues for city sustainability. However, innovative and often costly mobility policies and solutions introduced by cities are liable to fail, if not combined with initiatives aimed at increasing the awareness of citizens, and promoting their behavioural change. This paper explores the potential of gamification mechanisms to incentivize voluntary behavioural changes towards sustainable mobility solutions. We present a service-based gamification framework, developed within the STREETLIFE EU Project, which can be used to develop games on top of existing services and systems within a Smart City, and discuss the empirical findings of an experiment conducted in the city of Rovereto on the effectiveness of gamification to promote sustainable urban mobility