Sustainable mobility – Combining future-proof mobility forms

In a world increasingly affected by climate change and resource scarcity, a corresponding transport revolution is becoming increasingly important. The goal is to reduce emissions and energy consumption while improving quality of life for users, by combining various forms of sustainable mobility. These include electric vehicles, car sharing, bicycles, public transport and walking. Digital technologies can play a key role in ensuring this transition to sustainable mobility is user-friendly, socially balanced and economically efficient.

Although this approach may seem plausible and simple, it is difficult to implement in practice. There is no one-size-fits-all solution to sustainable mobility. Measures must be tailored to the specific needs of citizens, as well as to the existing buildings, infrastructure, and topography of a municipality. Rural communities and districts naturally have different requirements to cities with millions of inhabitants. In Germany, in particular, questions arise regarding intercommunal transport connections, as well as strategies for tourism and regional development. Rapid urbanisation poses additional challenges for many cities in the Global South. Furthermore, municipal budgets are often tight and data is insufficient in both the Global North and South.

38 experts from 20 municipalities in 11 countries accepted Connective Cities‘ invitation to Bonn, where they discussed their innovative project approaches with colleagues and collaborated on new implementation ideas. Represented were small municipalities such as Lahntal with around 7,200 inhabitants, rural districts, and metropolises with millions of inhabitants, such as Rio de Janeiro and Munich. The innovative approaches were equally diverse. The international exchange of experiences provides motivation at a time when sustainability issues are under increasing political pressure. The challenges are surprisingly similar, and solutions are often transferable.

The documentation briefly outlines the different approaches and summarises the challenges and possible solutions.