Daily mobility patterns vary across regions but share key similarities, shaped by spatial, social, economic, and cultural factors. Mobility can be seen as a โcultureโ in itself, and in Europe, this culture is currently undergoing significant evolution. The Horizon 2020 project REBALANCE, involving six participants from six European countries until 2022, sought to explore the values and culture...
To influence the formation of alternative trajectories for socially and environmentally just futures, transport and urban planners must challenge the status quo. To achieve this, they must actively facilitate a โcultural reformโ by bringing in new insights, knowledges, new narratives and new discourses with a commanding presence. However, the currently dominant ontologies, epistemologies,...
Planetary crises of climate change, environmental degradation, and socio-economic inequalities are being accelerated by urbanisation patterns prioritising economic growth over ecological sustainability and social justice. A prominent example of such a phenomenon in the Czech Republic (and the whole Central Europe region) is suburbanisation, a long-ignored problem attributed to the idea of...
The global crises of climate change, resource scarcity, and public health have profoundly reshaped the operational logic of urban spaces and the spatiotemporal patterns of transportation networks. Urban mobility systems must not only adhere to sustainability goals but also enhance resilience to uncertainty. In China, severe mismatches in the supply and demand of public transportation persist,...
The COVID-19 pandemic has been a critical juncture for the fields of urban planning, urban design, and transportation studies. There has been an increase in active modes of travel such as walking and cycling, especially amongst people who previously relied on private vehicles and public transportation (Rice, 2020). A renewed dialogue has begun about what post-pandemic cities should look like....
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) have emerged as a key framework for addressing the transportation challenges of urban areas by emphasizing sustainability, inclusivity, and environmental responsibility. Developed within the European Commissionโs policy landscape, SUMPs aim to integrate public transport, active modes like walking and cycling, and land-use planning into a cohesive...
The critical role of cities in addressing the global climate crisis is increasingly acknowledged. The European Union (EU), one of the most urbanized regions globally, has placed urban issues at the core of its political agenda, in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as evidenced by numerous measures aimed at fostering sustainable development, such as the Leipzig charter...
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are strategic planning tools designed to satisfy mobility needs in cities and their surroundings for a better quality of life. According to the European Commission, โA SUMP offers a comprehensive, vision-led, flexible and resilient approach by serving as a long-term mobility plan that includes packages of measures addressing short-term objectives and...
This study explores the exposure to vehicular emissions in relation to social vulnerability. It takes a disaggregate, activity-based modelling approach to estimate tailpipe emissions at the road network level. The vulnerability index was derived based on socioeconomic information from census tabulations. It is necessary to investigate the exposure of harmful emissions on vulnerable populations...
Cities worldwide are embracing ambitious mobility transformation policies aimed at reshaping built environments to prioritize walkability, cyclability, and overall livability. These initiatives are part of a broader urban planning paradigm shift that seeks to reclaim space from cars and return it to pedestrians and cyclists. Policies such as 15-minute cities (Papadopoulos et al., 2023),...
In recent years, cities around the world have launched ambitious urban transformation programs aimed at enhancing pedestrian mobility and improving public spaces. These initiatives often reflect a broader movement towards creating more livable and sustainable urban environments. Barcelona, with her internationally acclaimed Superblock flagship program, is a great example of that....
Car-restrictive policy measures such as low-traffic zones and car-free streets are increasingly implemented as cities seek to address challenges related to congestion, air pollution and climate change (Da Schio et al. 2023). While these measures aim to create more sustainable and livable urban environments, their implementation often sparks intense public and political debate. Transport stands...
The global transition towards sustainable transportation systems is essential for mitigating the environmental and societal impacts of climate change. As a cornerstone of efforts to decarbonize the transport sector, electric vehicles (EVs) hold substantial potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve urban air quality, addressing critical global challenges. However, achieving...
In recent years, the transition towards sustainable and inclusive urban mobility models has emerged as a crucial challenge, especially in territories where car use is deeply rooted to the point of evolving into a dependency. Urban agendas and policy have long sought to rethink the role of private vehicular mobility in daily commutes against such dependency, moving beyond an approach solely...
Car dependence, a prevalent barrier to sustainable and inclusive mobility, emerges from complex interactions between spatial and individual determinants โ(Mattioli et al., 2016)โ. While the process that relates both has always been challenging, reducing car pervasive impacts is a key aim for achieving a smarter, safer and fairer transport system. This makes the assessment of car dependence a...
The role of the car in a post car society
According to Ivan Illich in his book โTools for Convivialityโ (Illich 1973) each technical invention has its liberating effects, however, if not carefully managed, turns men into slaves of the same invention. The car is one of his favourite examples.
The original purpose of cars was (1) Leisure trips to the countryside for wealthy urbanites, and...
Car-oriented planning has not only shaped the built environment but has also profoundly influenced societal norms, normalising driving as the default mode of transportation. This pervasive narrative has led to well-documented consequences: sprawling effect, landscape fragmentation caused by urban infrastructure and transport network expansions, social isolation, limited public...
Over the past decades, rural areas have experienced significant transformations driven by changing consumption patterns and lifestyles. These shifts have led to new urbanization forms, rendering the traditional urban-rural distinction less relevant. Among other dynamics, scholars in geography and urban studies pointed out the evolution of peri-urban spaces as "operational landscapes" (Brenner...
Remaining independent, active, healthy, and mobile is essential for older adultsโ quality of life (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2010). However, older peopleโs ability to maintain their well-being as they age relies on a range of material and social factors (Hooyman & Kiyak, 2010). Research and practice have long focused on developing and implementing quality of life indicators with the goal of centering...
Planning liveable cities involves acknowledging that experiences in the public space are shaped by oppressions and privileges, such as those associated with gender and sexuality. By adopting a feminist and queer perspective, we investigate how sexual diversity affects mobility and, consequently, the access to the city and the well-being of LGBTIQ+ people. Central to this work is the...
Driven mainly by the international decline in walking rates and the recognised health benefits of social and physical activity, research into children's active commuting to and from school has expanded rapidly in recent years. However, the role of parents' backgrounds, socioeconomic conditions, and perceptions of the neighbourhood environment in determining children's active commuting to and...
There is evidence that those aged younger than 35 within Europe are gaining their driver's licences at a later age and are less likely to own or use a car regularly than the generations preceding them. Accordingly, these individuals make greater use of public transportation, active travel and newer modes of mobility such as micro-mobility hire (Chatterjee et al., 2018).
In principle, if...
Sustainable mobility is intrinsically linked to the concept of spatial justice, which refers to the equitable distribution of resources, services, and access, often considered a fundamental human right (Soja 2010). Transport justice is vital to spatial justice, focusing on designing and developing equitable transport systems (Martens 2017). To attain sustainable mobility and transport justice,...
In the context of multiple and overlapping crises at a global level (e.g., ecological and climate change, socioeconomic crises, pandemics, wars), urban space has emerged as a place for experimentation with processes of transformation of city models, of how to live in and move through the city. Many cities have undertaken mobility-related experiments to promote a transition that, by limiting...
I am a third-year PhD student at the Centre for Sustainable Planning and Environments, University of the West of England (UWE), currently in the writing-up phase of my research.
This analysis sits at the intersection of mobility justice (Sheller, 2018)- which interrogates who gains or loses mobility privileges- and urban social justice (Marcuse et al., 2009), exposing the processes that...
As evidenced by the popularity of proposals to implement city-wide traffic speed limits (typically 30 km/h or 20 mph), lowering urban speed limits is increasingly acknowledged as a key measure to foster inclusive streets, improve liveability and reduce the environmental impacts of motorised traffic (Yannis and Michelaraki 2024). By diminishing the โradical monopolyโ of motorised traffic on...
Measuring inequalities in accessibility is a common subject in transport research. Yet, the question of how the choice of destinations affects the results is seldom asked. The paper addresses this issue by providing an overview of existing literature and comparing accessibility to five categories of destinations typically considered in such analyses: education, jobs, healthcare, retail, and...
Road violence is a global issue, with its devastating impacts felt at the individual, community and national levels. Around the world, road crashes claim over 1.3 million lives annually, causing injuries to millions more with widespread social disruption and massive public health costs. There is a marked inequity in the prevalence of road violence across modes, cohorts and places,...
Modern public transport networks (PTNs) are not simply physical conduits for movement; they are vital infrastructures that shape socio-economic opportunities and influence the quality of urban life. Despite this significance, notable service gaps still exist between urban centers and peripheral or rural regions, which in turn intensify socio-economic inequalities, limit access to essential...
Urban streets are critical spaces for addressing the intertwined challenges of mobility, equity, and sustainability. Far from being mere conduits for movement, streets are dynamic public spaces (Bertolini, 2020) where diverse mobilities and needs intersect, and where issues of justice and equity are contested. Drawing on Mimi Shellerโs (2018) foundational theories of mobility justice, this...
Active travel, including walking and cycling for transport, supports healthy, sustainable, and equitable societies. With growing populations, climate crises, and health concerns, active travel aligns with four United Nations Sustainable Development Goals: climate change, health, sustainable cities, and sustainable transport. In car-centric nations, authorities are investing in active transport...
For the last decades, the planning of our cities has been heavily centered around automobility. This focus has fostered a widespread reliance on private cars, resulting in numerous adverse consequences at both local and global scales. These include compromised safety, lowered physical and mental health, environmental damage, multi-leveled injustice, and the excessive use of space, time, and...
Rapid urbanization has posed numerous challenges for major cities around the world, with a critical issue being the shortage of adequate parking spaces. As reliance on private vehicles has increased, the availability of parking spots has not kept pace. Consequently, drivers often spend significant time searching for parking, which leads to higher carbon emissions. To address this problem, the...
The rapid evolution of urban built environments has significantly enhanced the mobility of people, goods, and information. The integration of social and technological systems in urban transportation has created a complex urban framework, presenting substantial challenges to mobility planning and policymaking. Among various transportation modes, buses are particularly significant due to their...
Social area analysis has been applied to analyze how urban space is spatially arranged. Related studies have divided urban residents into different groups whose socioeconomic status are similar. However, few studies have attempted to explore the mobility of these social groups, especially for developing countries where census data with travel information are not readily available. This study...
Public transportation promotion policies are vital for reducing carbon emissions, improving public health, and fostering sustainable urban development. However, assessing their effectiveness is challenging due to inconsistent research findings and methodologies stemming from varied classification criteria (Hrelja et al., 2020). Additionally, although meta-analysis has been established as an...
Improving public transit to attract new riders and retain existing ones has been seen as a major priority for many cities worldwide. This is to foster their abilities to move towards sustainable development by meeting their CO2 emissions reduction goals, while achieving a wide array of social, equity, and economic objectives. Cities strive to understand how users perceive different challenges,...
Sustainable transport is an elementary part of all climate change mitigation strategies. As one of the most prominent examples of climate-neutral efforts, the Green Deal of the European Commission explicitly strives for efficient, safe and environmentally friendly transport and mobility systems, in order to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement 2015.
In that context, a research cooperation...
The importance of lifestyle in predicting individual and groups of individualsโ behaviours has been widely recognized across various fields, including transport studies, urban planning, and public health. Research on mobility lifestyles aims to inform interventions and policies that promote sustainable and health-conscious transportation choices in cities. Lifestyles shape mobility and...
(1)Background: In the context of global entry into the post-growth era, climate change and resource constraints pose unprecedented challenges, necessitating a reevaluation of conventional growth-driven development. The rapid industrial suburbanization in metropolises has led to the expansion of residential, employment and public service functions, with Shanghai being a typical case....
Large-scale housing estates (LHEs) present a unique setting for the sustainable mobility transition we are trying to bring about. Largely built between the 1960s and 1990s, they were typically developed on the outskirts of cities at inexpensive locations following specific spatial configurations and urban design principles, such as the provision of open green space between apartment blocks and...
Currently, there are many articles on the impact of inclement weather on subway passenger flow, but very few of them deal with the impact on the degree of fluctuation of subway passenger flow, and it is crucial to explore the intrinsic causes of the degree of fluctuation for the operation and organization of urban transportation. Based on this, this study analyzes the differences in the...
Electric vehicles (EVs) are recognized as a feasible solution for improving the environment, and environmental factors may also affect the adoption of EVs.
However, there is a limited body of literature exploring the impact of environmental factors on the actual sales of EVs based on real-world air quality data. Previous research, primarily conducted through surveys, indicates that...
Sustainable urban mobility is essential for modern cities, and cycling, as a sustainable urban transport mode, plays a crucial role. Bike-sharing systems are one of the most prominent tools to support cycling policies. This proceeding aims to explore the development and evolution of bike-sharing systems in a developing country context, using Konya as a case study.
In 2014, field research was...
Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP) is a comprehensive, data-driven approach aimed at improving urban transport systems through stakeholder engagement, evidence-based decision-making, and strategic scenario development. In Tรผrkiye, SUMP projects initiated in cities of ฤฐzmir, Ankara, Kocaeli, and ฤฐstanbul, which not only included new modeling approaches, but also a thorough legislative...
Autonomous vehicles are poised to disrupt mobility patterns perhaps more than any other burgeoning innovation today (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration 2017). New innovations in transportation history, such as trains and cars, have changed how humans live, and cities are planned and organized (Taylor 1951). These changes have brought improvements and challenges to various...
Advances in information and communication technology (ICT) are transforming urban mobility through intelligent systems that enhance mobility, independence, and social integration for all age groups while improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions (Circella, 2017; Chatti and Majeed, 2022). However, older adults often face barriers to adopting these technologies due to societal...
With the rapid development of rail transit, land resources in the areas around rail transit stations have become scarce and their value has skyrocketed. Many of the station area spaces of rail transit stations located in historical blocks in urban central areas do not match the goal of high-intensity development of station area spaces due to the restrictions of historical protection planning...
Pedestrian-friendly cities are crucial for sustainable urban development, as they prioritise walkability through safe, accessible, and appealing environments that promote healthier lifestyles and reduce reliance on motorised transport. These cities enhance social cohesion, economic activity, and public health by fostering active transportation modes and creating more liveable neighbourhoods....
Electrification of vehicles is considered a promising strategy to mitigate the increasing environmental and energy challenges caused by the growing demand for vehicular travel. As these benefits of EVs are closely linked to their market size, comprehending the determinants of EV adoption is crucial.
Built environment (BE) characteristics, known to profoundly impact motor vehicle adoption, may...
Istanbul, a city where sea transportation has historically played a significant role, currently faces a decline in the share of this mode in the overall public transport system to less than 3%. This decrease, despite the cityโs geographic advantages, is attributed to multifaceted factors such as the integration of sea transportation, accessibility challenges, and user habits. On the other...
The application of street experiments is not new, with early examples in Europe dating back to the 1960s. However, their large-scale implementation as a tool for supporting rapid urban transformations is a more recent phenomenon. Various experimental techniques have been employed in public spaces, including urban acupuncture (Lerner, 2006), tactical urbanism (Lydon and Garcia, 2015), and...
Urbanization is a global trend, with an increasing percentage of the population residing in cities. By 2050, it is estimated that 68% of the global population will live in urban areas, while in Tรผrkiye this proportion is expected to reach 85.3%. The rapid growth of the urban population has put enormous pressure on public services, particularly access to health services. The expansion of urban...
Multimodality is increasingly recognized as a vital component of sustainable urban mobility, offering multiple means of transport to reduce car dependence while enhancing travel resilience against mobility disruptions. It also promotes seamless multimodal options that motivate individuals to diversify their travel behavior. However, most existing measures of multimodality are limited by two...
Urban street redesign initiatives are increasingly popular as cities aim to foster environmental sustainability and reduce car reliance by promoting active mobility. However, the acceptance of specific transformations often faces challenges due to public concerns, including NIMBYism and loss aversion regarding existing amenities. This study investigates public preferences for urban street...
Shifting away from car dependency has become a major challenge of the 21st century due to concerns about climate change, COโ emissions, noise pollution, traffic congestion, and road safety. While there have been efforts to encourage behavior change towards active travel modes such as walking and cycling, progress has been slow. This highlights the need for a clearer understanding of policies...
Introduction
Street experiments are intentional and temporary changes of street regulations or forms, aimed at instigating people-centric street transitions. During the Covid-19 pandemic, over 300 cities worldwide implemented such interventions โ mainly sidewalk expansions, kerb space reallocations, and street closures โ to support active mobility and outdoor activities. While these...
Indonesia's Jabodetabek, a major metropolitan area that contains five cities (Jakarta, Bogor, Depok, Tangerang, Bekasi), boasts an extensive and densely utilized rail public transportation system. The Commuter Line, commonly referred to as KRL (an acronym for "Kereta Rel Listrik", meaning electric train), connects at least five cities across three provinces on Java Island. The route from...
Molotch's Access Node Theory, proposed in 1976, states that a limited number of transit nodes contributes to rapid urbanization instead of alleviating vehicular congestion. Through an analysis of post-processed satellite images from the year 2000, where no transit node yet is servicing the esteemed university belt district in Manila, which hosts over twenty institutions for higher education,...
This research focuses on the urban freight sector, a critical component of city planning and operations. Despite the sector's significance, it typically receives less strategic attention compared to passenger transport. With an annual growth rate of 1.7% for light goods vehicles and 10% for e-commerce, the freight sector's complexity is underscored by diverse stakeholder goals that prioritize...
The 15-minute city concept, which advocates for urban neighbourhoods where essential services are accessible within a 15-minute walk or cycle, has garnered significant attention as a model for promoting sustainable and equitable urban environments. However, despite its promise of fostering just and inclusive cities, concerns have been raised about its potential to perpetuate unjust outcomes...
This paper explores the potential of behavioral interventions to drive a modal shift from unsustainable transportation modes to active mobilityโwalking, cycling, and wheelingโ particularly with a focus on people in vulnerable situations, such as the elderly, women, children, people with disabilities, low-income groups, and their intersectionality. The research is conducted within the framework...
The growing population of older adults in North America faces numerous challenges in meeting their everyday transportation needs. In Canada, the oldest and most rapidly aging cities are mid-sized cities with populations between 100,000 to 1 million (Government of Canada, 2024). Compared to large metropolitan areas, mid-sized cities tend to rely more heavily on personal automobile-based...
This paper highlights a critical challenge: although metro projects are rationalised to enhance accessibilityโa fundamental public goodโthe benefits of new metros are often captured by gated communities in China. As of 2022, 53 cities have metro lines with a total network length of 9,584 km. Metro infrastructure is a vital component of the "land-infrastructure-leverage" strategyโa response to...
Since the 1980s, many cities in Europe, including the Euromรฉtropole de Strasbourg, have implemented policies to reduce transportation and mobility related negative impacts, especially those caused by individual cars. In the Euromรฉtropole de Strasbourg, measures have been introduced to limit car use while promoting sustainable transport. This includes developing public transportation, enhancing...
China's overall public transportation passenger volume shows a fluctuating downward trend from 2020-2023, and the national commuting high-peak traffic congestion index rises year by year during the same period, which puts the development of public transportation at an urgent stage. Against this backdrop, many cities in China have attempted to develop innovative public transportation services...
This paper examines urban mobility as an embodied experience, where movement is shaped not only by physical displacement but also by social, political, and cultural dimensions. Drawing on Tim Cresswellโs distinction between movement and mobility, it argues that mobility involves the meanings and power dynamics embedded in movement. In the city, mobility is shaped by obligations, identities,...
Previously localised in Global North countries, population ageing is rapidly involving also the Global South. For older people, the possibility of getting out of the house and walking in one's neighbourhood to access basic opportunities is crucial for maintaining autonomy and quality of life, as well as for ageing healthily. However, in Latin American cities, the incidence of crime and the...
What does it mean to have โenoughโ accessibility in transport? The concept of sufficiency has been central to debates in transport justice, often framing justice as the provision of a baseline level of access necessary for individuals to reach key destinations (Geurs & Van Wee 2004, Martens 2017). However, the meaning of โenoughโ remains underexplored, and current sufficiency-based approaches...
With the continuous advancement of rail transit construction, the number of rail transit stations in the central areas of China's megacities has gradually increased, forming TOD station clusters with overlapping influence ranges, which enhances the competition and collaboration effects among stations. However, current TOD research primarily focuses on spatial development patterns from a...
As the country with the largest elderly population in the world, Chinaโs aging issue arises from its unique historical, cultural, and social context, making it both distinctive and complex. The hutong bungalow community is a traditional residential form in Beijing, home to a significant number of elderly residents. In contrast to modern communities, these older neighborhoods were constructed...
With the intensification of global climate change and energy crises, green and low-carbon development has become a core objective of urban planning. As a critical component of urban green transportation systems, slow traffic networks can not only reduce carbon emissions but also enhance residents' quality of life and travel experience.
The spatial structure of all landscapes is composed of...
Urban mobility significantly shapes accessibility, equity, and social interaction in cities. While commuting patterns have been extensively studied, non-commuting mobilityโsuch as travel for leisure, shopping, and social visitsโremains underexplored despite its critical role in urban vibrancy and socioeconomic well-being. Socioeconomic status, including income, age, and gender, influences how...
Industrial diversification is widely acknowledged for its capacity to sustain long-term economic growth by compensating for the decline of traditional industries (Frenken & Boschma, 2007). While existing research in evolutionary economic geography primarily highlights the positive impacts of industrial diversificationโsuch as economic growth, enhanced employment opportunities, and...
High-speed rail (HSR) has been identified as a crucial catalyst for urban development; however, its impact varies across cities. HSR new towns planned in proximity to the HSR stations may offer an opportunity for stimulating compact land development around the stations, although the extent to which this will occur remains uncertain. This study developed three indicators for evaluating...
The Low Traffic Neighbourhood (LTN) is a recent traffic management approach to removing motorised through-traffic from residential streets in the UK by strategically blocking roads using bollards and planters while allowing passage of walkers and cyclists and other micromobilities including electric scooters. Automatic Number Plate Recognition (ANPR) cameras are also used to facilitate the...
Accessibility and inclusivity are essential components of contemporary urban planning, yet urban transportation systems often fall short in addressing the specific needs of pregnant women. This study explores how urban accessibility, focusing on walkability and public transportation, influences the mobility, health, and well-being of expectant mothers, contributing to evidence-based urban...
Walking has gained importance as a travel mode. Several public authorities are trying to improve walkability conditions of their territories, by improving the pedestrian network and public space overall. However, often the problems to be solved surmount the available budget, and a strategy is required that prioritize certain areas and/or types of interventions. In this paper, we present the...
