Planning Sustainable Mobility in Polycentric Regions: Testing a Participatory Approach in Six Regions of Europe

Abstract

This paper first discusses polycentric regions, their features and how they can be detected by means of indicators of regional structure and mobility patterns, and why polycentric regions will be increasingly relevant to the future of mobility planning in the EU landscape. The paper discusses then the experience of six polycentric regions - Marche (IT), Central Alentejo (PT), Central Macedonia (GR), Rhine Alp (AT), Heart of Slovenia (SI) and Parkstad Limburg (NL) - that applied a Future Search (www.futuresearch.net) based methodology to urban mobility planning. It provides a critical analysis of the regions’ experience using the methodology and their plans to capitalise on its outcomes. This experience is used to develop and propose a Poly-SUMP participatory planning approach, with this new acronym being used for a new planning concept, i.e. Polycentric Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans. The paper discusses the pros and cons of the Poly-SUMP approach applied to the cities of polycentric regions, as opposed to the conventional methods used to elaborate Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans at the level of individual cities.