What life in the cities?

“It’s indispensable to define a new concept of urban mobility in Europe”. But the Green Paper with the title “Towards a new culture of urban mobility”, presented by the European Commission on 25 September, is not limited to an analysis of the facts or to making some proposals. It embraces all the issues linked to urban mobility and urban transport. And it explains: “Citizens and those who make political decisions must begin to think in terms of the modification of conduct”. DIFFERENT CITIES, SIMILAR PROBLEMS. Over 60% of the European population live in cities; 85% of the gross domestic product of the EU originates in urban contexts. “Cities now constitute the framework of reference for the majority of our citizens, to whom a better quality of life needs to be given. That’s why a common reflection on the question of mobility is needed today”. “Cities – says the Green Paper – have to tackle similar challenges and are seeking shared solutions”. The document drawn up by the Executive is intended “to open a debate on the major themes of mobility”: namely, “smoothly flowing traffic, cleaner cities, intelligent mobility, accessible and safe public transport for all inhabitants”. “Each city has its own characteristics, but together they share the same problems: congestion, climate change, pollution, insecurity – explained Jacques Barrot, Commissioner for Transport -. The Green Paper would like to draw attention to the urban dimension of transport policy and to highlight the innovative measures taken by some pioneering municipalities in various parts” of the continent. TOWARDS A EUROPEAN PLAN. The document (25 pages, available in English and French on the website http://ec.europa.eu/transport/clean/index_en.htm) was prepared over the past year with various seminars, conferences and on-line consultations. “The contributions we have received have been useful to us to help us understand the reality of European cities and the aspirations of citizens and politicians”, explains the French Commissioner. The document will now be submitted to the attention of the EU institutions, member states, local and regional authorities, research centres, and individual citizens. “Those interested are invited to express their opinions before 15 March 2008 (tren-urbantransport@ec.europa.eu)”. “A plan of action on urban mobility will then be drawn up next autumn, while ensuring respect for specific competences and the principle of subsidiarity”. LESS TRAFFIC, LESS SMOG. The working document presents various political options, accompanied by 25 questions for their realization. The questions posed include, for example, how to improve the quality of public transport, how to provide incentives for the use of cleaner technologies, or how to promote pedestrian or cycle travel. There are five main chapters in the document, devoted respectively to: “less congested cities”, “less polluted cities”, “clean urban transport”, “accessible transport”, and “safe and reliable urban transport”. The experts of the Commission who drew up the text point out that the growth of circulation in urbanized areas “leads to permanent congestion, whose repercussions are of an economic, social and environmental order”, with added costs for the public authorities calculated as 1% of the GDP of the Union. That’s why it is vital to proceed to “a system of fluid transport, such as to permit commuters and goods to reach their destinations in time”. A specific note in the document makes the point that “equal solutions for all cases” do not exist; account needs to be taken of geographic, environmental, meteorological and social factors, economic needs, infrastructures (especially roads and railways) and people’s habits. Sufficient provision of parking lots situated in the immediate environs of the built-up area or the introduction of congestion charges for access to city centres (cited more than once in the Green Paper) could be effective solutions.EDUCATION AND CHANGE IN MENTALITIES. But the document of the Commission also tackles such questions as the circulation of less polluting vehicles and means of transport; restrictions on road circulation; and the necessary investments to improve such services as buses and metro systems. A separate chapter is devoted to changes in “culture” relating to mobility: “We need to change mentalities – says the Green Paper – if we want our cities to remain agreeable spaces, either to live in or to visit, and if we want them to continue to be motors of the European economy”. Hence the role of education, training and awareness-raising aimed at all EU citizens. Commissioner Barrot lastly urged as many citizens, politicians and experts in the sector as possible to read the text and enrich the debate in the months ahead.