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

Abstract

Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning is on Europe's top agenda for tackling urban transport challenges in cities. European Union policies call for a coordinated approach in increasing the effectiveness of urban mobility planning to achieve climate protection goals. National and local authorities require common guidance on developing and implementing such plans – with broad involvement of public authorities, transport professionals and research. Cities in Central and Eastern Europe have a long planning culture with strong focus on public transport. However, the unprecedented increase of private motorisations calls for innovative strategies to offer sustainable transport solutions to people. Two exemplary cities from the region demonstrate how sustainable transport can be maintained and even expanded. Gdynia (Poland) with its developing economy and relatively young population makes considerable efforts to reduce motor traffic demand in the area. The City's transport policy and strategy is focused on solving relevant transport problems of the city in a sustainable way. This covers the increase of bicycle use, an intelligent mix of different transport options and improving the quality of PT services by means of state of the art information and communication technologies and public participation mechanisms. Koprivnica (Croatia) stands exemplary for numerous medium-sized cities in the region with similar transport challenges. Decision makers work towards a participatory strategy for zero CO2 emission planning and management of housing estates and urban transport. With the vision of developing a regional competence centre for sustainable urban mobility planning the city will attract researchers, students and professionals in this field. Long-term vision of both cities and their dedication to actively share their experiences with other cities has the potential for up-take of sustainable urban mobility planning in the region.