Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans: Benefits and Challenges

The interactive relationship between transportation and sustainability is the subject of sustainable urban mobility, a concept that addresses the sufficiency of transport systems according to the principles of sustainable development . Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) is a tactical plan proposed by the European Commission (EC) which are local level transportation plans that should contain a long-term and sustainable vision for cities. It should be produced based on extensive processes of participation of citizens and stakeholders, and should serve as a vehicle for the coordination of policies across sectors, in order to respond effectively to the mobility needs of people.

The study of case studies regarding SUMP implementation in cities like Curitiba, Greek Cities (Elefsina, Karditsa, Larissa and Thessaloniki) and European cities (France, Germany, Belgium, Italy, UK and Spain) helped to conclude its benefits as improvement in quality of life, less carbon emissions and greenhouse gas effect, lesser use of non-renewable energy sources and economic growth with massive use of public transportation systems. Having taken all aspects into consideration, it can be concluded that the SUMP can have multiple benefits in aesthetic, functionality, social and economic terms. Also, numbers of open issues were identified to be tackled by the next generation of SUMPs like in the absence of specific guidance; climate change targets are not quantified and are translated into general reductions in private car use. Further challenges remain on how to translate climate change targets and social equity issues into the most adequate monitoring indicators for measuring policy progress in SUMPs implementation.