New guide supports planning for more resilient and robust urban mobility

16 March 2021

As cities and regions respond to the COVID-19 pandemic with new and innovative transport solutions, what are the lessons for long-term sustainable mobility planning?

Sustainable urban mobility planning (SUMP) is a strategic and integrated approach to dealing with the complexity of urban transport. Across Europe, local authorities and their private operating partners are striving to create sustainable solutions for passenger transport and freight that foster accessible, safe and affordable mobility, while aligning with European Green Deal emissions reduction objectives.

The climate crisis and other major change processes have been disrupting and continue to disrupt the status quo in cities, and the necessity to handle these uncertainties and impacts will only increase in the years to come.

Twitter_SUMP_Promotion-01-min-647x364As part of the CIVITAS SATELLITE Coordination and Support Action, and supported by projects from the CIVITAS InitiativePOLIS Network and Rupprecht Consult have compiled a new SUMP Topic Guide, Planning for More Resilient and Robust Urban Mobility. Drawing on lessons learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, it outlines possible avenues for accelerating the transition towards more resilient and sustainable urban mobility systems and increasing preparedness for any future crises that arise.

Urban transport systems must be able to endure and respond to crisis situations, from pandemics to climate change. An immediate crisis can cause further long-term changes and increase the impact of other major trends, such as climate change. Managing such fundamental change processes is a key challenge for urban mobility practitioners to integrate into their plans.

Building resilience

Transitioning toward more sustainable and resilient solutions requires comprehensive changes in transport systems, including expanding active travel, public and shared transport and electromobility infrastructure. Cities’ and regions’ responses to COVID-19 show that change is possible. From pop-up cycle lanes to parklets, transport options have been transformed and extended to build resilient and robust mobility services which are embedded in SUMP agendas.

The first section of the Resilience Topic Guide introduces the concept of resilience in urban mobility and presents the importance of integrating it into the SUMP process. The second section addresses specific resilience-related thematic fields such as car-independent lifestyles, electromobility, collective passenger transport, demand management strategies, road safety, transport telematics and urban freight.

The document includes a range of case studies from different cities such as Dublin, Madrid, Rotterdam and Helsinki, examining how pioneering CIVITAS projects such as ReVealHandshakeSPROUT and Park4SUMP are working in different fields towards increasing the resilience of cities. It explores the challenges faced, goals achieved and lessons learnt along the way.

The COVID-19 crisis gives cities a window of opportunity to learn from the current pandemic and to build back better by making our mobility systems more resilient and responsive to crises. By introducing these concepts in their planning, cities will future-proof their mobility systems and become stronger and ready to address climate change, air pollution, road fatalities and other future crises that may arise.