Focus On  |  Cities

Zone 30: if the new city idea has a limit

The 30 kilometre per hour speed limit is spreading rapidly in urban areas. There is no shortage of detractors, but the model is increasingly being adopted to prevent accidents, reduce environmental impact and promote a more inclusive use of public space


A world-class leader in public transit: here is the Hong Kong model

 A well planned infrastructure, joined with a unique business plan makes Hong Kong a best practice in public transports. Here 8 people out of 10 prefer railways, trams and buses rather than private cars. And the system is even profitable

The 5 key actions to change the transports in a sustainable way

Changing technology or energy sources is not the only step to transform a sector that produces 15% of global greenhouse gas emissions. Efficient mobility services, more inclusive urban planning and barrier-free infrastructure are needed

Autarkic or rational? Routine or variety? 4 ways to live the road

Who are and what do typical users of new "Mobility as a Service" want? Which integrated, smart and sustainable mobility services are best suited to their needs? A survey by MobiUs, the SDA Bocconi and Mundys laboratory, tries to reveal MaaS target market profiles and needs

Here’s how Oslo became the capital of EV cars

It’s not just about acting on vehicles: the Norwegian city took a whole plan about infrastructures, incentives, mobility and public transport, to abate its emissions and thereby encouraging the passage from fossil fueled car to EVs

“Less cars, more pedestrians”: the American story of New Urbanism

Urban development has always accompanied changes in society in the United States, in offering solutions for the city and for living. New Urbanism is a school of thought that is still vital in offering solutions that aim to protect a sense of community and limit the consumption of environmental resources, opposing the 'sprawl' of American suburbs

CityZ, with IoT parking the free spot is on the app

The idea of a start-up from Turin: ultra-thin, connected sensors that monitor the occupancy status of car parking spaces, for a service integrated with any MaaS system and navigation app that lets you know in real time where to find an available parking space

“Area B, cycling and parking: Milan needs more courage on mobility”

Enlarging the urban toll area, paid parking spaces for residents and an integrated cycle network: Milan needs a decisive policy of orientation towards sustainable mobility to overcome the contradictions of the post-Covid era. We talk about this with Edoardo Croci, promoter in 2008 of Ecopass, the first pollution charge ever applied in Lombardy's capital city

Living without cars? Here are the projects for rethinking cities

How to imagine life in the neighbourhoods and streets, abandoning the car-centred perspective? Some urban projects and initiatives around the world are trying to imagine this

The great challenges of urban mobility at the dawn of a new era

The manifold changes and unexpected turmoils which happened in recent years still require a radical rethinking of mobility, at every level. Here’s how public transit, private transportation and traffic in cities may transform over the next years according to Guillaume Thibault, who launched the Oliver Wyman Mobility Forum

“People first: changing the streets to change the world”

An end to car-centric vision: Fabrizio Prati, director of design at the Global Designing Cities Initiative, explains. Not only mobility and transport, the new idea of a multimodal and multi-use street is built around people, as an open place for greater safety and liveability

People-friendly mobility: the cities that really believe in it

Public transport, pedestrian areas, soft mobility and charging stations are just a few strategies to improve the quality of urban mobility. Let's see how the five cities at the top of the global sustainability challenge do it

"Traffic is not what it used to be". A new mentality in driving

Autonomous driving, micro-mobility, sharing, limits to vehicular traffic: a new motorist approach to mobility is needed. With the downsized role of the private motor and the car as a commodity, new paradigms emerge in traffic psychology

“Changing mobility is no more an option and the key is data”

“We need to transform traffic from scratch to reach the emissions goals set by the EU Green Deal”, says Markus Schlitt, CEO at Yunex Traffic, a global leader in Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). The task is ambitious, but it becomes feasible if you know where to start…

The work revolution in smart and electric mobility

From cybersecurity to electrical infrastructures, from software programmers to hydrogen experts: professions in the automotive and mobility sector are changing rapidly, and continuous training programmes are needed

“The crisis won’t stop the green and smart mobility right off the bat”

“The challenge is on, but long-term global factors foster eco-innovation and digitalisation”: this is what Fabrizio Zerbini, Scientific Director of MobiUS, the lab on the future mobility of Bocconi University and Atlantia, points out

Eyes on the Red Sea, a strategic passageway for the world

When a giant container ship was stuck in Suez Canal, shock waves went across the world economy. Anyway, the Red Sea is not just a corridor for logistics but also an authentic chessboard for regional and global powers

Revolutionary roads: Ecopeatge, an eco-tolling system for Valencia

The Spanish city is testing an urban road usage and pollution charge, based on satellite and cloud technology provided by Abertis Mobility Services: here's how it would work, once implemented

What it means to move in the "15-Minute City"

Mobility is a key to the hyper-local dimension of metropolises, which has come back into focus. Increased sociality, economic development in neighbourhoods, and reduced environmental impact are the results in cities experimenting with this multipolar model for greater liveability

Mobility as a social inclusion driver in cities

Infrastructures and mobility services connecting outskirts to centers provide social equity and give a chance to overcome marginalization. The transportation system can be crucial for facilitating social participation and levelling inequalities

The Italian way to Mobility as a Service

Here's what will happen in Rome, Naples and Milan the three city-laboratories identified in Italy to test the innovative "Mobility as a Service", services aimed at citizens on unified digital platforms

Disruptive. Big Tech in the auto industry

While traditional companies are still busy transitioning to electric, Big Tech companies decided to invest in the sector. These new players are developing self-driving vehicles, opening up a new area of competition

Off limits: closed airspace. The impacts

Russia is no longer considered a reliable aviation partner, and the war is likely to make the uncertainty structural after the last two years of pandemic. Aviation has always recovered after times of international crisis, but the unknown comes at a price

Cities as platforms, Mobility as a Service: stories from three capitals

Mobility as a Service is the new way to conceive transporation networks leveraging apps, data, and connected devices to provide an integrated access to public, private and shared travel modalities. Three examples from Berlin, Sidney and Denver

How to cut gas emissions from transportation by 90% in the EU

The new European Urban Mobility Framework addresses mobility issues in 424 EU cities, as one of the key updates to Trans-European Transport Network (Ten-T), approved by the EU Commission. This whole package of actions, amendments and recommendations has the potential to kick off wide improvements for mobility among the member states

Managing traffic: congestion charge as an evolving option

The urban traffic demand was affected by lockdowns worldwide, but congestion charge as a remedy was all the same maintained, reinforced and is even ready to be newly implemented among some of the biggest cities*

Investing in sustainable mobility is worth the costs

Transitioning to a more sustainable transport system in our cities will require huge investments, in new technologies and new infrastructures. But these are investments worth taking, experts argue, if we want to solve more problems at the same time

Autonomous vehicles and the future of public transport

Self-driving cars are finally here and big automakers are racing to develop fully autonomous vehicles. This mode of transportation will certainly be less polluting and environmentally friendly, but it will not solve the problem of traffic congestion. And this is where public transport will still have a role to play

The possible combinations between mobility and sustainability

Future mobility challenges do not merely concern electric motors but also urban redesign and air transport

That strange desire for car-sharing

According to a study by Doxa, four key trends will change the face of European mobility within the next 10 years. Here are the issues still on the table to facilitate a green and smart approach to the future

Supersonic and green travel

The plane is called Overture and it is the descendent of the historic Concorde. Debuting in 2030, it promises to connect London and New York in three and a half hours. The ambition is to make the journey available to all and completely emission free

Cyber security: the key to autonomous driving

The security of IT components on board is a crucial issue in order to foster both development and diffusion of self-driving cars