Category: Urban mobility and public transport

Urban mobility

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In many developing cities, connectivity is undermined by limited infrastructure and weak public transport systems. If people and goods are unable to move easily across a city, firms get locked into small-scale unproductive activities, and people cannot access basic goods and services.

Policymakers face difficult trade-offs in improving systems of mobility, both in addressing growing demands for private transport, and in investing in public transport links in a city. Learning from the experiences of cities across the world facing these challenges offers some key lessons for effective infrastructure investment and smart regulation to meet growing demands for transport.

We have the power to move the world

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The leaders of 14 of the world’s most ambitious and successful sustainable transport cities explain why they are taking action, what they are implementing, the approaches they are taking, and their advice for other cities. Their intension is to inspire and support more cities to show the same leadership. The actions showcased range from expansion and electrification of mass transit, to restrictions on polluting vehicles and improved conditions for pedestrians and cyclists. All the cities featured are signatories to the C40 Green and Healthy (Fossil Fuel Free) Streets declaration.

Global Roadmap of Action

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The report draws attention to the trend of isolated technologies – such as electric vehicles, for example – being over-promoted. The obvious idea is to cut greenhouse-gas emissions, but that will only happen if the electric power used is generated by renewable means, which often is not the case. Moreover, the authors warn that it is not healthy to reduce the diversity in the means of transport. While appreciating the progress made in some areas, the SuM4All report insists that the need for a fundamental, systemic transformation is not being met.

The report proposes a list of the most relevant policies for making transport systems sustainable. It offers no blueprint, because each country must take action according to its specific situation. However, SuM4All presents various instruments in four toolboxes:

  • Regulatory and institutional instruments include rules on safety, vehicle use, emissions, transport services, cross-border traffic and data management.
  • The technology toolbox covers the planning, provision and maintenance of transport infrastructure and services. In this context, the coordination of different means of transport is particularly important and deserves attention at every stage. Safety regulations must be observed as well.
  • The economic and financial toolbox includes concerning taxation, subsidies, loans, pricing et cetera. Close coordination of the public sector, which bears responsibility for infrastructure, with profit-driven companies is essential. Private individuals and companies use the system, and the latter provide innovative technologies, products, services and business models.
  • The communication toolbox helps to run awareness raising geared to changing behaviour, identifying transport alternatives and managing knowledge.

15 Pathways to localise the Sustainable Development Goals

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This publication illustrates how the 15 pathways of the Basque Declaration can be used by towns and cities to localise the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In this publication, the 15 pathways of the Basque Declaration are illustrated with stories taken from the Transformative Action database of the Sustainable Cities Platform. Each of these stories are former applications to the Transformative Action Award 2017-2019 and have been reviewed by a jury of experts, which includes representatives from the European Committee of the Regions, the European Investment Bank, UNESCO Etxea, the City of Aalborg (Denmark) and ICLEI Europe.

The purpose of these stories is to provide local governments and other local stakeholders with inspiration for action, rather than the formulation of yet another action plan. The examples also give insight into how to implement the goals using an integrated approach across sectors and departments. For each story, the most relevant pathway and SDGs are indicated, based on an independent assessment by ICLEI Europe. They show the diversity of approaches across topics, geographical locations and local cultures.

Cities leading the way

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Cities are already leading the way with ambitious plans to accelerate action on climate change. With more political will, community support and collaboration, cities can make an even greater contribution to securing a climate safe future.
The seven cities showcased here report that the planning process is an opportunity to engage internal and external stakeholders on the level of ambition needed and the roles different players can take. Co-creating the vision for the city and collaborating on the development of solutions ensures stakeholders have ownership of the process, support the long-term vision and take action themselves.
While each city has taken a different approach to the style and structure of their climate action plan/s, all of them demonstrate ambition and accelerated delivery as core objectives. The approaches highlighted in this report are intended to inspire other cities across the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and beyond to follow suit and play their part in delivering the objectives of the Paris Agreement.
Rather than attempt to summarise each city’s plan, the case studies presented in this report highlight a particular aspect that could be of interest to other cities.

Resilient Cities, Resilient Lives

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“The world is more densely populated and more interconnected than ever before. From extreme weather to refugee crises, from disease pandemics to cyberattacks, today’s state of play requires new models of governance to mitigate risk and respond to challenges. Business-as-usual models of reactive planning and siloed decision-making will not generate the fundamental strength and flexibility essential for us to thrive in the face of the shocks and stresses of the 21st century. […] The launch of 100 Resilient Cities program (100RC) by the Rockefeller Foundation acknowledged that the escalating trends of urbanization, globaliza- tion, and climate change pose tremendous risks, but also offer a tremendous opportunity. This report shares 100RC’s knowledge about what it takes to catalyze an urban resilience movement.”

Lifelines

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From serving our most basic needs to enabling our most ambitious ventures in trade and technology, infrastructure services are essential for raising and maintaining people’s quality of life. Yet millions of people, especially in low- and middle-income countries, are facing the consequences of unreliable electricity grids, inadequate water and sanitation systems, and overstrained transport networks. Natural hazards magnify the challenges faced by these fragile systems. Building on a wide range of case studies, global empirical analyses, and modeling exercises, Lifelines lays out a framework for understanding infrastructure resilience — the ability of infrastructure systems to function and meet users’ needs during and after a natural shock — and it makes an economic case for building more resilient infrastructure.
It examines four essential infrastructure systems: power, water and sanitation, transport, and telecommunications. The focus is on spending better. Investing in regulations and planning, in the early stages of project design, and in maintenance can significantly outweigh the costs of repairs or reconstruction.

Lifelines concludes by identifying five obstacles to resilient infrastructure and offering concrete recommendations and specific actions that can be taken by governments, stakeholders, and the international community to improve the quality and resilience of these essential services, and thereby contribute to more resilient and prosperous societies.

Sustainable Development Report 2019

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"The Sustainable Development Report 2019 presents an updated SDG Index and Dashboards with a refined assessment of countries’ distance to SDG targets. New indicators have been included, primarily to refine the indicator selection on agriculture, diets, gender equality and freedom of speech. Once again, Nordic countries top the SDG Index. Yet, even these countries face major challenges in implementing one or several SDGs. No country is on track for achieving all 17 goals with major performance gaps even in the top countries on SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 13 (Climate Action), SDG 14 (Life Below Water) and SDG 15 (Life on Land). Income and wealth inequalities, as well as gaps in health and education outcomes by population groups also remain important policy challenges in developing and developed countries alike."

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.

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.