Dear Martin, you took part in our Practitioners' Workshop as the Representative of the City of Hannover. Hannover is a major centre of Northern Germany, with a population of 518,000 inhabitants.
The event addressed the issue of sustainable urban mobility. What is your biggest mobility challenge and how are you trying to face it?

From my point of view, we are facing two main challenges. First to change the mobility system away from the private automobile in order to create an even more livable city. Second to fight climate change and the waste of natural resources by getting away from the use of fossil fuels. The latter means that we have to decarbonize the system within the next decades by switching completely to renewable energies. Both challenges mean that we have to carry on what we call the three V strategy: “Vermeiden” (avoid as much motorized traffic as possible). “Verlagern” (shift from private car towards more efficient and sustainable modes, especially Public Transport) and “Verbessern” (enhance the system through technical and organizational measures like traffic calming, ITS and clean vehicles).

Could you briefly mention a success story on sustainable urban mobility in your city and the 2 key factors that made it succeed?

I think that the development of a comprehensive modern rail network – which is forming the backbone of the public transport system in Hannover - is our greatest success story. Today Hannover has one of the largest and best light rail network in the world, carrying more than 400,000 passengers every day. Starting in 1965 it was developed out of the old tram system and has been a model for many other cities since. It covers almost all parts of the city and the main surrounding towns. Three out of four Hanoverians are living less than 500m from the next light rail stop. People consider the system as a fast, comfortable and reliable means of transport. It is part of Hannover´s identity and it attracts a lot of “choice riders” that otherwise would have use the car. The light rail is complemented by a 400km regional rapid rail system that doubled its ridership within the last 20 years. But the success of rail would not have been possible without a land use planning that emphasizes compact structures focused on the rail stations since the 1960s. Compared to most other cities Hannover did much better in fighting urban sprawl.

Which challenge faced by other municipal participants got your attention and why?

I was touched to see how several cities are suffering from totally insufficient and unsustainable transport systems. This is mainly due to the lack of planning, the lack of funding and the lack of clearly targeted transport and land use policies. But to make this even more challenging almost all cities are facing a rapid growth in population. Thus it is obvious that within the next decade the transport systems will severely harm their economic, social and environmental development.

While I think that German transport policy could be substantially improved, looking at these countries it seems that we Germans live in “transport-heaven”. But also it is clear that our European perspective and solutions are just one of many. There is a desperate need for action and for solutions that take into account the special situations in these countries.

Do you see the possibility for Hannover to support any of the participating cities and how?

I would love to have the opportunity to help finding appropriate and sustainable solutions for these cities. Here in Hannover we do have a lot of experience on rail planning, the connection of land use and transport planning and the integration of different transport modes. Thus we can share a lot of “do´s” and “don’t´s” for sustainable transport. So I think it could be very helpful e.g. for a city like Cebu to have us with them to set up a long term plan for public transport or for the development of the metropolitan area. Or we could review plans and ideas that come from consultants or private companies – that sometimes may follow their own interests more than what is best for the city.

How do you see such a networking event contributing to your daily job?

To me it is always enlightening to meet people from different backgrounds and to share their views. I am getting new ideas and gaining new perspectives. But maybe the best take away is the feeling that there are so many people around the globe committed to change the world in terms of sustainable development, livable cities and less car traffic. To be part of this “global family” of committed people always encourages me to keep up my daily work. And it also helps me to be a little more relaxed with the comparatively small problems and obstacles in Hannover.