Environmental impacts of everyday mobility in Andalusia (Spain): towards a sustainable scenario?

Sustainable development, urban planning, mobility, and transport planning, integrated within the context of sustainable urban mobility, have been central themes in both scientific and applied spheres over the past few decades. In port cities, it becomes particularly essential to tackle sustainability issues given the pollution and noise emanating from ships and other port-related activities. To meet mobility and transportation sustainability needs in the port area, a port should implement measures aligned with a sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP) approach. However, many ports have thus far achieved limited results in this direction due to the absence of an approach to defining sustainable mobility solutions based on the SUMP approach for an urban area associated with the given port. The overall aim of this paper is to support the development of territorial SUMP for port areas by proposing a methodology that identifies and prioritizes sustainable mobility solutions tailored to a specific port area. The proposed methodology is applied in the Port of Bar (Montenegro) through an appropriate case study. In this case study, the methodological steps are systematically followed, resulting in the practical implementation of the selected mobility solution: the use of a hybrid bus for internal employee transportation within the port area. The undertaken case study underscores the simplicity, practical applicability, and adaptability of the proposed methodology.

Sustainable urban mobility endeavours to balance the mobility demand with reasonable and efficient supply to minimise negative impacts of transport. Within the European Union, the related strategic approach adheres to Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), which cope with the issues mentioned and look for congruence among objectives in transport, land use and the environment to keep a valuable quality of life in cities. In Czechia, one of the Central European countries, the first generation of SUMPs has been just developed. SUMPs are a product of social consensus. Some types of stakeholders, such as national and local politicians, planners, experts and public transport service providers, have the highest potential to influence urban mobility strategy. Our research studies visions and standpoints of 41 of these stakeholders regarding strategic sustainable mobility planning. A range of opinions are examined related to transport and urban development within SUMPs. A mixed statistical technique known as Q method is used, combining qualitative and quantitative (factor) analysis. Three opinion groups are developed: (1) ‘Fewer cars, more alternatives’; (2) ‘Additional transport infrastructure solves (almost) everything’; and (3) ‘Support public transport and new technologies’. The shared opinions rely mostly on motivations rather than restrictions, partly on transport infrastructure provision. All the opinion groups think that car ownership is dispensable. We can expect that these opinions will guide urban mobility planning in the near future in Czechia.

PurposeUrban mobility can have detrimental impacts on health and quality of life, but can also be an opportunity for health promotion, e.g. through walking and cycling. While health impacts of transport are well known, the extent to which health is considered in mobility plans is less obvious. European cities are strongly encouraged to develop Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs).MethodsWe assess the extent to which health is reflected in SUMPs in cities, with regards to: i) key health and health equity terminology, ii) how explicit transport pathways to health are made, and iii) whether health is operationalised into targets and key performance indicators (KPIs) and iv) how well elaborated the health-rationale of various actions and measures is . We analysed the latest SUMPs in the Eltis City database of urban mobility plans with a quantitative text analysis, supported by the development of a health dictionary and a policy analysis checklist. We carried out a qualitative analysis of a purposive sub-sample to verify the validity of the quantitative approach and provide further nuance to the assessment.Results230 SUMPS (2006-2023) from 31 countries were usable for quantitative analysis, from which 13 were included into qualitative analysis, reflecting a range of city sizes, countries, and focus on health. The findings show that while health is often touched upon, and its prominence seems to be increasing, SUMPs miss out on the opportunity to embrace mobility as a driver of health promotion. The link between transport and equity and social and mental wellbeing is not frequently discussed. Detailed targets and KPIs for several health pathways are scarce or missing, as are the health rationale and outcomes for proposed measures. Health aspirations are concerned with minimising detrimental impacts of transport on health, primarily from traffic injuries and to a lesser extent from air pollution. Concepts such as accessibility and active travel feature prominently but are not explicitly identified as an opportunity to enhance health.ConclusionsUrban mobility planning across Europe miss an opportunity to embrace health as a means to engage across sectors and society to help promote transformative urban sustainability policies.

The Park and Ride (P&R) System is part of a set of parking policies provided by Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) that have been used in developing efficient, safe and environmentally friendly solutions to reduce the undesirable effects of private vehicles in Central Business District (CBD). In fact, the P&Rs are allocated near public transportation stations to ease transfer from a private vehicle to a public transportation mode. Therefore, the P&R system is considered as an alternative transport mode in which the location and potential demand of each facility are fundamental components to be evaluated within sustainable urban planning. The paper proposes an integrated model of P&R facilities based on estimate the potential demand through a mathematical model of the seven park-and-ride (P&R) facilities (designated A to G) in Cuenca city, Ecuador. The developed integrated model includes two cost functions: one is the P&R mode, and the second is the private car mode. Additionally, a SUMP is integrated into the model as a data collection source in order to find the required parameters for the cost functions and origin–destination (O-D) matrix of private vehicles. The results showed that three out of the seven P&R facilities (P&R C, P&R G, and P&R A) had the highest demand (70% of the overall demand). Consequently, these three P&R facilities were studied separately using the same developed model, and the demand proved to be the highest for P&R facility “C” (39% out of 70%). In conclusion, SUMPs, as a methodology for data collection and a mathematical model, proved to be an effective integrated method for evaluating the most attractive P&R location based on the potential demand.

Most micromobility research is conducted among users (their attitudes, behavior or travel trajectories). The findings are of significant value and utility in the creation of mobility patterns, shared micromobility offers, operating conditions, and the use of micromobility big data. The significance and efficacy of micromobility within Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans is often underestimated. Undoubtedly, the incorporation of micromobility into urban planning can lead to tangible environmental benefits, including a reduction in traffic congestion, greenhouse gas emissions, and improved air quality. Consequently, Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans and micromobility represent a significant research topic, given their importance for practitioners. This article aims to examine and identify the levels of possible integration pertaining to micromobility within Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans in the context of greening transport systems in cities. The following were identified with regard to levels of integration and future research directions: role of micromobility and Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans in climate change; types of micromobility in a sustainable environment; availability of data and information in the context of planning and promoting green mobility patterns (for researchers and practitioners); formal and legal requirements indicating the need to secure users (road safety of people and their personal data); integration of micromobility and public transportation as a good practice for a sustainable city trips. The initial examination of the literature revealed that this is a relatively narrow research area. Information about the integration between Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans and micromobility may be found in expert reports from various organizations, research funding institutions and city websites. The sources of information are outlined in the paper, as well as future research possibilities. Moreover, the outlined five levels of integration serve as a reminder of the necessity for an interdisciplinary approach to the successful implementation of micromobility as a key factor in Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans.

A literature review indicates that there is an increasing number of Land Use/Transport Interaction (LUTI) models being used in policy analysis and support of urban land use, transport and environmental planning. In this context, LUTI models are considered to be useful for the development of scenarios during the preparatory stage of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). A SUMP can be defined as a strategic planning framework, proposed by the European Commission, for planning and design of an urban multimodal transport system, which combines multi-disciplinary policy analysis and decision making. The objective of a SUMP is to achieve sustainable urban mobility, i.e. accessibility for all, safety and security, reduction in emissions and energy consumption, efficient and cost-effective transport and an improvement in the urban environment. Based on the overall conceptual and methodological framework of LUTI models (Geurs and van Wee 2004), the scope of the proposed research is to fully integrate a LUTI model into a contemporary transport planning framework and, more specifically, into the SUMP structure. This paper focuses on the configuration of the integration pattern, according to which a LUTI model may evolve and interact with the planning process throughout the eleven elements of the SUMP, as well as the evaluation of the benefits and drawbacks from the implementation of the proposed pattern for the enhancement of SUMP and overall promotion of sustainable urban planning.

The main purpose of this article is to identify and classify smart and sustainable urban mobility solutions in the context of three narratives for sustainable mobility: electromobility, collective transport 2.0 and low-mobility societies. The research process of this study included the following methods: review of the literature, namely, strategic European documents, sustainable urban mobility plans in chosen cities and scientific publications addressing smart and sustainable mobility, case studies of selected cities in Europe and technology mapping to visualize the study results. The main result of this study is the review of various smart and sustainable urban solutions (SSUM) and their classification within the three narratives of electromobility, collective transport 2.0 and low-mobility societies. This article expands the concept of the three narratives for sustainable mobility with the aspect of smart mobility enriched with the variety of example solutions, case studies and good practices within mobility strategies in European cities. The study results can be useful for different stakeholders engaged in developing and introducing the sustainable mobility strategies in cities. Based on the catalogue of SSUM solutions, presented case studies and good practices, they may gain the necessary knowledge, consider the possible initiatives towards green transformation in cities and finally adjust them to the citizens’ need.

The way to sustainable mobility. A comparative analysis of sustainable mobility plans in Spain

National policies and municipal practices: A comparative study of Czech and Portuguese urban mobility plans

Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning in Central Eastern Europe: Case Examples from Poland and Croatia

The Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) is a concept of the European Union. The non-binding guidelines formulated within this framework aim to help municipalities and cities to strategically define a local and long term transport and mobility plan. From the European Union's point of view, citizen participation plays a pivotal role during all phases – from the development of the plan until its implementation. This intends to achieve greater support and acceptance from the community for the plan, and to facilitate its implementation. This paper investigates whether the planning and political SUMP approach guarantees successful participatory processes, and what conclusions can be drawn to amend the SUMP process and general transport planning practice. It discusses how citizen participation is defined in the SUMP guidelines and how these elements are reflected in the SUMP guidelines of 2013 and 2019. In a second step, this paper shows how successful citizen participation is defined in an academic context and to what extent the SUMP reflects these findings. The findings derived from the academic context are then applied to the case studies of Ghent and Limburg in order to evaluate how successfully participation procedures were implemented in these SUMP processes. Finally, the question - what conclusions can be drawn from this to improve the SUMP process and general transport planning practice - is assessed.

Citizen and Stakeholder Involvement: A Precondition for Sustainable Urban Mobility

Motivation: Sustainable urban development is the current global priority; however, most cities lack the capacity and resources to ensure that the city develops in a sustainable manner. Mobility is one of the most difficult topics to face in metropolitan large areas. It involves both environmental and economic aspects, and needs both high technologies and virtuous people behaviours. Dynamical urban development and inhabitants lifestyle changes, especially in the heavy congested port agglomerations, result in a continuous increase of their transport needs. As transport behaviours change, the number of vehicles on streets grows resulting in congestion, an increased number of accidents, exhaust and noise emissions and, consequently, a lowered quality of life. Thus a sustainable approach to urban mobility and transport planning is becoming increasingly common in all EU countries. The study is based on the literature sources analysis and survey research results obtained with a questionnaire for stakeholders to assess particular areas and activities related to mobility issues. Aim: The aim of the paper is to present the urban sustainable development challenges, taking as a case study the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) elaboration process selected issues in the city of Gdynia within the CIVITAS DYN@MO being a European project implemented under the CIVITAS II PLUS initiative (funded from the 7th Framework Programme of the European Commission). Results: It is quite a challenge to ensure a sustainable urban mobility pattern which requires a high level of stakeholders’ participation and establishing a detailed complex planning process. Key stakeholders of Gdynia, representing the public administration sector, the transport market and university researchers (including the author), included in the planning process earlier, invited to the assessment gave the highest priority to the tariff and ticket integration in the Metropolitan Area, parking issues, the inclusion of pedestrian traffic in project planning and public spaces. The promotion among inhabitants and students or city bicycle system were given a medium priority and the lowest was given to carpooling, environmental-friendly vehicules and such mobility management tools as Mobility centre or the Officer for Mobility.

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans are developed in Europe rapidly. The future initiative is expected will change the image of European cities and will make transport systems efficacious, thus reducing congestion, decreasing air pollution, and offering alternative options for travelling. The impact of the measures being implemented needs to be monitored regularly to evaluate the effect of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans, and progress in accomplishing the objectives and specific aims of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans are assessed. Infrastructure measures often require considerable investment, and therefore, their rational use expected to create immense benefit to the public. This article analyses various European models for monitoring and evaluating Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. The models are structured, proposing an assessment methodology for Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. Assistance provided by the experts and the use of evaluation models for the analytic hierarchy process assists in identifying the significance of the monitoring indicators that allow assessing the priority orders and the importance of implementing mobility measures.

Sustainable urban mobility: One definition, different stakeholders’ opinions