The question for cities is shifting from How many cars can we fit in and around the city? to How do we build cities which support functioning transport systems, reduce the reliance on the private car and create livable and healthy spaces for the citizens?
As part of the Nordic Edge Smart Cities Expo in Stavanger Norway, EIT Urban Mobility together with Bloxhub Urban Partnership hosted a full day workshop on values based urban mobility.
The participants
Participants were a mixture of Nordic universities and municipalities, researchers and professionals working in the urban mobility field. A good cross section of those researching the issues and those implementing plans to combat the issues that cities are facing!
The case studies
Pia Fischer from Nordic Edge presenting the case of Stavanger West
We heard from three presenters who addressed the question How do we build cities which support both functioning transport systems, reduce the reliance on the private car and create livable and healthy spaces for the citizens?
Robert Martin from JAJA Architects presented an example from Copenhagen of how we can rethink parking houses. Both how we build them and how we use them. They should be more than just a place to house cars.
We then heard from Pia Fischer, COO of Nordic Edge about the case of newly developing district of Stavanger Vest and challenges the development faces in terms of mobility. Helene Olsen Beck from K2 Bolig, a housing developer in the same district, explained how through one housing project they play a role in shaping urban mobility.
Key learnings
In the final discussion there were a number of key learnings that emerged for the group.
- Understanding and supporting diverse mobility needs of individuals
- Balancing our focus between technical and nudging/low tech solutions (e.g. mobility coins vs car free zones)
- Finding ways to bridge friction points between various stakeholder groups that shape the mobility landscape (e.g. citizens demands via planning around development vs housing that sells successfully)
- Combatting the issue of limited resources for bike infrastructure, by thinking on a strategic level (e.g. broader economic impacts of increased active transport) and looking to PPP as a potential solution to the resource gap.
- Trondheim, Norway – Car sharing as a kind of public transport
- Bogota, Colombia – food insecurity was linked to the buildings and mobility options
- Stockholm, Sweden – successful case of implementing congestion pricing.
