Autor: erik

Unsere gemeinsame digitale Zukunft

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Der Bericht macht deutlich, dass Nachhaltigkeitsstrategien und -konzepte im Zeitalter der Digitalisierung grundlegend weiterentwickelt werden müssen. Nur wenn der digitale Wandel und die Transformation zur Nachhaltigkeit synchronisiert werden kann es gelingen, Klima- und Erdsystemschutz sowie soziale Fortschritte menschlicher Entwicklung voranzubringen. Ohne aktive politische Gestaltung wird der digitale Wandel den Ressourcen- und Energieverbrauch sowie die Schädigung von Umwelt und Klima weiter beschleunigen. Daher ist es eine vordringliche politische Aufgabe Bedingungen dafür zu schaffen, die Digitalisierung in den Dienst nachhaltiger Entwicklung zu stellen.

Neben der Zusammenfassung sind auchForschungsempfehlungen als pdf-Download verfügbar.
Hinweis: Das Gutachten im Volltext wird in den nächsten Monaten veröffentlicht.

Urban Transitions Alliance Roadmaps

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Industrial legacy cities face unique challenges, as they transition towards vibrant, sustainable and equitable urban centers. Cities around the world can learn lessons from where these cities have been, and how they are moving forward. The new report, "Urban Transitions Alliance Roadmaps: Sustainability Transition Pathways from Industrial Legacy Cities" details four transition pathways that eleven post-industrial cities have undertaken, with implementation ideas and best practices for each. These cities are all a part of the Urban Transitions Alliance, which was built on the premise that by connecting industrial legacy cities from the US, Germany, Poland and China through their transition stories and visions of sustainable urban development, common challenges and transition pathways would emerge.
Reflecting the thematic priorities of the Alliance members, the chapters subsequently focus on challenges and solutions in the fields of Infrastructure, Energy, Mobility, and Social Transition. Each topic is explored in terms of background, barriers and opportunities related to the industrial legacy context. Transition priorities and innovative approaches from the different regions are outlined in key pathways and exemplified in case studies from the Alliance cities and districts. Some of the conditions described might apply in various degrees to cities beyond the industrial legacy context – that is why transition experiences and pathways from the Urban Transitions Alliance can be of value to cities around the globe.

Including Urban Metabolism Principles in Decision-Making

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Circular economy and urban metabolism concepts have recently received great attention both in the political and academic arenas, starting a roll-over process of the “take, make, and dispose” dominant economic model that is leading to an ongoing increase of resource consumption and waste generation. However, there is a relative lack of guidelines for introducing such concepts in a decision-making process able to support the design of appropriate policies and strategies and the definition of specific actions to cope with such challenges. This paper attempts to contribute to the recent efforts at incorporating these concepts in policy and decision-making processes by providing a methodology for the development of strategic plans for waste prevention and resource management. The proposed methodology, developed within the Urban_WINS project, combines different quantitative–analytical and qualitative methods and tools, together with a participatory process. The methodology was tested in eight EU cities and allowed to formulate several measures and actions aimed at addressing the challenges posed by the current consumption patterns. Moreover, the participatory approach led to the legitimization of the strategic plans, as well as to raise awareness among stakeholders. Although it might require specific tailor-made adjustments, this methodology is suitable to be replicated in other contexts.

Addressing Urban and Human Settlement Issues in National Adaptation Plans

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"The Addressing Urban and Human Settlement Issues in National Adaptation Plans Supplementary Guide aims to comprehensively address urban and human settlement issues in National Adaptation Plans (NAPs) at the formulation and implementation stage.
The guide primarily targets decision-makers at the national level working on NAPs, both within and outside UNFCCC focal point ministries, while it also targets a broader set of stakeholders at the national and sub-national levels who are interested in NAPs or who may be involved in their implementation."

Smart-City-Atlas

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Die Entwicklung intelligent vernetzter Städte und Regionen – Smart Cities und Smart Regions – ist seit einigen Jahren prägendes Leitbild weltweiter Stadt- und Regionalentwicklungsprozesse. In Deutschland entwickelten zunächst die Metropolen themenübergreifende Smart-City-Initiativen. Seit 2017 setzen zunehmend auch mittelgroße Städte mit der kommunalen digitalen Transformation auseinander. Hierbei steht der Begriff Smart City für die Vision digital vernetzter Städte und Regionen, welche sozial, ökologisch und ökonomisch nachhaltige Ziele verfolgt.
So etwa eine verbesserte Ressourceneffizienz, eine erhöhte Lebensqualität, die Förderung der lokalen Wirtschaft, die Schaffung von Innovationsräumen, mehr gesellschaftliche Teilhabe sowie eine erhöhte Zugänglichkeit und Effizienz öffentlicher Dienstleistungen. Handlungsfelder sind insbesondere die Bereiche Verwaltung, Mobilität, Energie & Umwelt, Gesundheit, Bildung, Handel, Gesellschaft, Sicherheit, IT-Infrastruktur und Datenplattform.
Der Bitkom-Smart-City-Atlas ermöglicht nun erstmals eine umfassende Übersicht der zahlreichen sich entwickelnden Smart-City-Initiativen in Deutschland. Hierbei wurden sowohl Digitale Agenda, Organisationsstrukturen als auch lokale Partnernetzwerke in den Städten betrachtet. Darüber hinaus zeigt der Atlas bedeutende Projekte und Schwerpunktthemen in den jeweiligen Städten auf.

Mexico City: The role of public transport in tackling air pollution and accessibility

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Over the last two decades, Mexico City has implemented many successful mobility projects to partly relieve its saturated public transport system and diminish air pollution generated by vehicles, while also providing more transportation options for people in peripheral locations or vulnerable situations. 
The City’s decision to diversify its public transport offer and to invest in new mobility options such as BRTs and bike-sharing systems proved successful and allowed to partially relieve the pressure put on the saturated metro system. The government has also learned from its previous errors, such as the Tren Suburbano’s lack of accessibility. This project showed the importance of taking into account user accessibility and the involvement of stakeholders in a transportation project, instead of focusing mainly on feasibility and infrastructure.

Guadalajara: Revisiting Public Space Interventions through the Via RecreActiva

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"Every Sunday, Guadalajara closes more than 60 kilometers of streets to car traffic, opening them up for public use by pedestrians, cyclists and performers. Since starting the "Via RecreActiva," Guadalajara has more open space for recreation, a new collective image of public space and a revitalized movement for transit equity.
The Via RecreActiva has had a clear “before” and “after” effect on the surrounding community. It marks the consolidation of both political and economic power around the importance of and investment in public space. The momentum created by civil society groups that advocated for the Via RecreActiva shifted demand for basic public infrastructure leading to new political commitments. This has increased transparency, created new roles for public space activists in municipal institutions, and institutionalized participatory processes."

Sustainable Urban Transport: Avoid-Shift-Improve (A-S-I)

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"Cities today are challenged with meeting steadily increasing mobility demands. Providing additional road space has not helped to solve the pressing problems of unacceptable levels of congestion, air quality deterioration and increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in cities. In return, cities have not become more livable, and mobility remains far away from being human-centered.
What is required, therefore, is a fundamental rethinking of the paradigm by which mobility and city planning is guided. Inspired by the principles of sustainability, an alternative approach focuses on the mobility needs of people instead of car infrastructure. The approach, known as A-S-I (from Avoid/ Reduce, Shift/Maintain, Improve), seeks to achieve significant GHG emission reductions, reduced energy consumption, less congestion, with the final objective to create more livable cities."

CO2-arme Mobilität in Chiang Mai

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In Anküpfung an den lokalen Projektworkshop "Low Carbon Mobility Planning" im Juli 2017, reisten vom 9. bis 11. Januar 2019 zwei deutsche kommunale Experten aus Bremen und Mannheim in die zweitgrößte Stadt Thailands, um im Rahmen eines Workshops lokale Praktikerinnen und Praktiker und örtliche Interessensgruppen bei der Entwicklung und Formulierung konkreter Aktionsprogramme zu unterstützen.
Im Mittelpunkt der Mission stand die Idee, das historische Zentrum von Chiang Mai durch die Reduzierung des Autoverkehrs in ein verkehrsberuhigtes Stadtquartier zu verwandeln und damit die Attraktivität für Besucherinnen und Besucher zu erhöhen. Hierzu setzen die Planerinnen und Planer auf eine Vielzahl praktischer Ansätze wie Zugangsbeschränkungsprogramme, strategische Radwegentwicklung und die Förderung der Elektromobilität.

Remarkable Women in Transport

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Transport systems can only become truly inclusive and gender-responsive if the voices, perspectives and experiences of women are reflected at all levels in the transport sector. Thus, as it is still a largely male-dominated field, it is imperative to focus on increasing the number of women working on transport.
TUMI endeavours to support this transformational change by empowering women experts and stimulate behavioural change in the transport sector and in cities all around the world. As visibility is key to change mind-sets, this first round of TUMI’s Remarkable Women in Transport series introduces more than 60 highly qualified women transport experts, and highlights their contribution to sustainable mobility solutions on the ground – by women, for the entire society.
This publication is meant to showcase the diversity of female change makers in transport.