IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/retrec/v55y2016icp30-39.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Sustainable urban mobility plans: Bridging climate change and equity targets?

Author

Listed:
  • Arsenio, Elisabete
  • Martens, Karel
  • Di Ciommo, Floridea

Abstract

The European Commission (EC) introduced the concept of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) as a new planning paradigm with a focus on people's needs – Planning for people. This represents a change from traditional planning approaches centred on motorized road traffic/infrastructure provision and a shift towards more sustainable transport options. SUMPs require a long-term and sustainable vision for cities and these are to pay special attention to the participation of citizens and stakeholders and to coordination of policies across sectors (transport, land use, health, energy, and so on). The EC guidelines on developing and implementing SUMPs (EC, 2013) establish the following primary objectives of this “new way of planning urban mobility”: accessibility and quality of life, as well as sustainability, economic viability, social equity, health and environment quality. Since urban areas in Europe account for 23%–25% of CO2 emissions from transport (EC, 2013b; EEA, 2014), SUMPs are expected to contribute to meet long-term climate change policy goals. However, it is less clear how SUMPs can contribute to address key societal challenges such as equity issues in accessibility. According to the EC guidelines SUMPs are still non-existing concepts in most European member states. However, several cities in Europe and beyond have already formulated and adopted SUMPs. This paper is built on a review of former voluntary SUMPs developed in Portugal. A sample of forty case studies is considered in the analysis. It aims: a) to understand how climate change goals and equity issues in accessibility have been addressed through the first generation of SUMPs; b) to reflect on the role of SUMPs as tools to answer climate change goals without putting at risk social equity issues, and c) to outline further research needs in the SUMP approach. The research results are expected to give insights into social equity needs in urban transport and climate change adaptation policies in Europe.

Suggested Citation

  • Arsenio, Elisabete & Martens, Karel & Di Ciommo, Floridea, 2016. "Sustainable urban mobility plans: Bridging climate change and equity targets?," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 30-39.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:55:y:2016:i:c:p:30-39
    DOI: 10.1016/j.retrec.2016.04.008
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0739885916300397
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.retrec.2016.04.008?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anand, Sudhir & Sen, Amartya, 2000. "Human Development and Economic Sustainability," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 28(12), pages 2029-2049, December.
    2. Manaugh, Kevin & Badami, Madhav G. & El-Geneidy, Ahmed M., 2015. "Integrating social equity into urban transportation planning: A critical evaluation of equity objectives and measures in transportation plans in North America," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 167-176.
    3. Owens, Susan, 1995. "From 'predict and provide' to 'predict and prevent'?: Pricing and planning in transport policy," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 43-49, January.
    4. Martens, Karel & Golub, Aaron & Robinson, Glenn, 2012. "A justice-theoretic approach to the distribution of transportation benefits: Implications for transportation planning practice in the United States," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 46(4), pages 684-695.
    5. Kverndokk, Snorre & Nævdal, Eric & Nøstbakken, Linda, 2014. "The trade-off between intra- and intergenerational equity in climate policy," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 40-58.
    6. Julian Hine & Fiona Mitchell, 2001. "Better for Everyone? Travel Experiences and Transport Exclusion," Urban Studies, Urban Studies Journal Limited, vol. 38(2), pages 319-332, February.
    7. Hickman, Robin & Hall, Peter & Banister, David, 2013. "Planning more for sustainable mobility," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 210-219.
    8. Santos, Georgina & Behrendt, Hannah & Maconi, Laura & Shirvani, Tara & Teytelboym, Alexander, 2010. "Part I: Externalities and economic policies in road transport," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 2-45.
    9. Lucas, Karen, 2012. "Transport and social exclusion: Where are we now?," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(C), pages 105-113.
    10. Kramers, Anna & Wangel, Josefin & Johansson, Stefan & Höjer, Mattias & Finnveden, Göran & Brandt, Nils, 2013. "Towards a comprehensive system of methodological considerations for cities' climate targets," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 1276-1287.
    11. Margaret Grieco, 2015. "Social sustainability and urban mobility: shifting to a socially responsible pro-poor perspective," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 11(1), pages 82-97, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kębłowski, Wojciech & Dobruszkes, Frédéric & Boussauw, Kobe, 2022. "Moving past sustainable transport studies: Towards a critical perspective on urban transport," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 159(C), pages 74-83.
    2. Karen Lucas & Bert Wee & Kees Maat, 2016. "A method to evaluate equitable accessibility: combining ethical theories and accessibility-based approaches," Transportation, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 473-490, May.
    3. Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2019. "Sizing up transport poverty: A national scale accounting of low-income households suffering from inaccessibility in Canada, and what to do about it," SocArXiv ua2gj, Center for Open Science.
    4. Ben-Elia, Eran & Benenson, Itzhak, 2019. "A spatially-explicit method for analyzing the equity of transit commuters' accessibility," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 31-42.
    5. Cui, Boer & Boisjoly, Geneviève & El-Geneidy, Ahmed & Levinson, David, 2019. "Accessibility and the journey to work through the lens of equity," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 269-277.
    6. Nazari Adli, Saeid & Donovan, Stuart, 2018. "Right to the city: Applying justice tests to public transport investments," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 56-65.
    7. Wojciech Keblowski & Frédéric Dobruszkes & Kobe Boussauw, 2022. "Moving past sustainable transport studies: Towards a critical perspective on urban transport," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/341191, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    8. Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2019. "Sizing up transport poverty: A national scale accounting of low-income households suffering from inaccessibility in Canada, and what to do about it," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 214-223.
    9. Boisjoly, Geneviève & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2016. "Daily fluctuations in transit and job availability: A comparative assessment of time-sensitive accessibility measures," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 73-81.
    10. Frimpong Boamah, Emmanuel & Miller, Maya & Diamond, Joshua & Grooms, Wes & Hess, Daniel Baldwin, 2024. "The long journey to equity: A comparative policy analysis of US electric micromobility programs," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    11. Boisjoly, Geneviève & Serra, Bernardo & Oliveira, Gabriel T. & El-Geneidy, Ahmed, 2020. "Accessibility measurements in São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Curitiba and Recife, Brazil," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 82(C).
    12. José Renato Barandier & Milena Bodmer & Izabella Lentino, 2017. "Evidence of the impacts of the national housing programme on the accessibility of the low‐income population in Rio de Janeiro," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 41(2), pages 105-118, May.
    13. Braun, Lindsay M. & Rodriguez, Daniel A. & Gordon-Larsen, Penny, 2019. "Social (in)equity in access to cycling infrastructure: Cross-sectional associations between bike lanes and area-level sociodemographic characteristics in 22 large U.S. cities," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    14. Krapp, Agustina & Barajas, Jesus & Wennink, Audrey, 2021. "Equity-oriented Criteria for Project Prioritization in Regional Transportation Planning," SocArXiv xcbhy, Center for Open Science.
    15. Legrain, Alexander & Buliung, Ron & El-Geneidy, Ahmed M., 2016. "Travelling fair: Targeting equitable transit by understanding job location, sectorial concentration, and transit use among low-wage workers," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 1-11.
    16. Freiberg, Germán & Giannotti, Mariana & Bittencourt, Taina A., 2024. "Are mass transit projects and public transport planning overlooking uneven distributional effects? Empirical evidence from Sao Paulo, Brazil," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 116(C).
    17. Hallgrimsdottir, Berglind & Wennberg, Hanna & Svensson, Helena & Ståhl, Agneta, 2016. "Implementation of accessibility policy in municipal transport planning – Progression and regression in Sweden between 2004 and 2014," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 196-205.
    18. Martens, Karel, 2018. "Ageing, impairments and travel: Priority setting for an inclusive transport system," Transport Policy, Elsevier, vol. 63(C), pages 122-130.
    19. Sukaryavichute, Elina & Prytherch, David L., 2018. "Transit planning, access, and justice: Evolving visions of bus rapid transit and the Chicago street," Journal of Transport Geography, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 58-72.
    20. Allen, Jeff & Farber, Steven, 2020. "Planning transport for social inclusion: An accessibility-activity participation approach," SocArXiv ap7wh, Center for Open Science.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Climate change; Sustainable urban mobility plans; Equity in transport; Urban transport policy;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • R42 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government and Private Investment Analysis; Road Maintenance; Transportation Planning
    • R48 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Government Pricing and Policy
    • R49 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Other
    • Q01 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - General - - - Sustainable Development
    • Q50 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:retrec:v:55:y:2016:i:c:p:30-39. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/620614/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.