Eco-Responsible Cities and the Global Ocean by Voula P. Mega

Author:Voula P. Mega
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783319936802
Publisher: Springer International Publishing

4.4.2 Sustainable Urban Mobility: Walking, Cycling, and Cleaner Public Transport

The concept of sustainable urban mobility plans promoted by the European Commission in 2013 suggests that the ultimate aim is improving accessibility of urban areas and providing sustainable mobility services to, through, and within the city. It considers the ‘functioning city’ and its hinterland rather than a municipal administrative area. The plan has to be an organic part of a long-term strategy for the future development of the city and its transport and mobility infrastructure and services and contribute to economic, social, and environmental urban sustainability . Typically, a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan is being developed in close consultation with citizens and stakeholders and features open workshops, surveys , and public awareness campaigns (EC 2013).

Noble pedestrian streets and districts expanded throughout the world and became the hallmarks of many cities. Is the “car -free city” a utopia or a reality? A research by the European Commission at the beginning of the 1990s suggested that the city could be reconceived and redesigned to give priority to pedestrians. A car-free city would be a polycentric one, made up of small islands on a human scale that would be connected by high-speed means of transport. It seems that the car-free city would benefit not only the environment but also to the economy, as it appeared to be two to five times less expensive, dependent on density . Amsterdam , which had gone through a recent referendum on the restriction of the private car, in the early 1990s, organised an emblematic conference “Car-Free Cities?” The question mark is not negligible, but many negative perceptions and reserves have long been overcome (Mega 2005, 2013).

The transformation of European urban hearts into pedestrian areas with cycling paths and human-centred infrastructure celebrated more than five decades of astonishing results. Italian cities were among the first in excluding private cars from their splendid historic centres and introducing “park-and-ride ” systems. Some urban mobility plans made an ode to pedestrian areas and streets as shared dignified public space . Despite difficult beginnings, caused by strong opposition from commercial lobbies, car-free schemes gained many cities in the world. Copenhagen was a pioneer city in recognising the sustainable value of pedestrian streets. The creation of central car -free precincts evolved in parallel with the public transport and the bicycle network and with the parking policy and the elimination of 2–3% of the parking spaces per year in the city heart. Gradually and steadily, urban space was freed from traffic and gained by citizens, initiating a tide of return from anonymous peripheries to the historic hub. The pedestrian Stroget area attracted civic architecture , sculptures , fountains, and musical and cultural events, and became the backbone of an archetypal pedestrian precinct (Arcadis 2017, ITF 2011).

Pedestrian vitality of main streets gained also US coastal cities such as New York , Boston , and San Francisco with increasingly safe and inviting streets for pedestrians (NYC 2015a, b). The litmus test of pedestrian-friendly areas include the high

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