Smart-City-Atlas

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

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.

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

"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."

Guadalajara: Revisiting Public Space Interventions through the Via RecreActiva

"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."

Remarkable Women in Transport

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.

Reclaiming the Streets of Fortaleza, Brazil

The Institute for Transportation and Development Policy works around the world to design and implement high- quality transport systems and policy solutions that make cities more livable, equitable, and sustainable.
Content of this issue:
The Effects of Transportation on Early Childhood Development
Fortaleza’s Progress Shows that Change is Still Possible in Brazil
Bucheon City Goes from a Car-Centric City to a People-Friendly Vision
In Cairo, ITDP Works to Improve Transport Access for Women
America, The Netherlands, and Oil Crisis: 50 Years Later
Frequency Is Freedom
Scooters, E-bikes, Rideshares, and More: Learning from Dockless Bikeshar
On Mexico City’s Buses, a Little Technology Goes a Long Way
MOBILIZE Dar es Salaam
In Jakarta’s Urban Villages Women Are Moving Mobility Forward
“Women-only” Transport: A "Solution" To What End?
As Cities in the US and Europe Explore Electrification, China Is Taking the Lead
Transforming Streets in São Pauo
From the Narrow Lanes of Agra to the BRT Lanes of Pune: 20 Years of the ITDP India Program
New Resources from ITDP

Gender-inclusive climate action in cities

"In recent years, a small number of extraordinary women have emerged as key leaders on global action to tackle climate change. However, more generally, women are grossly under-represented in high-level climate negotiations; tend to be disproportionately vulnerable to climate impacts; and climate solutions tend to ignore gender-specific issues, perpetuating a general bias of infrastructure and services designed predominantly for men. This report sets out proposals for how to correct these imbalances and, through focusing on an inclusive climate action approach, to ensure that investment to cut emissions and improve resilience will benefit the full diversity of urban citizens, rich and poor, men and women."

Upward and Outward Growth

„New analysis of the upward and outward growth of 499 cities over time confirms that the challenges of rapid outward expansion are greatest in lower-income cities that have weak planning and land governance and less mature financial markets. Unmanaged urban expansion increases the costs of service provision, deepens spatial inequities, and imposes heavy economic and environmental burdens. This paper highlights three key equity challenges linked to rapid outward expansion in cities of the global South: distorted land markets, deficient services in growing areas, and disjointed informal expansion. […]“