Sustainable Cities: Analytical Methods for Studying Urban Mobility and Travel Behavior

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change is considered as one of the most pressing challenges of modern times. Since the late 1980s, the United Nations has instigated several mitigation mechanisms, such as the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol, and, more recently, the 2016 Paris Agreement, all of which consolidated the need for immediate action to curb carbon emissions (e.g., IPCC 2014, IPCC 2018). Besides its significance from a climate viewpoint, carbon neutrality may also provide wider social, environmental, and economic co-benefits, such as improvements in air quality, creation of new jobs, and the promotion of healthier lifestyles. The role the built environment plays in creating sustainable, low carbon cities, specifically through its impact on shaping people’s daily travel behavior, is widely acknowledged (Martos et al., 2016). In response, alternative models to urban mobility, such as the compact city (Jenks et al., 1996) and, more recently, the 15-minute and 20-minute city (Moreno et al., 2021; Capasso Da Silva et al., 2020), are proposed with the aim of reducing CO2 emissions. With the transport sector representing 25% of CO2 emissions (IEA, 2012), designing healthy, sustainable, and active mobility infrastructure that enables reduced carbon emissions will continue to be critical in creating a sustainable future, not only for industrialized nations but also for developing countries (Opschoor 2011).

Despite the currently relevant and promising prospects in the field of carbon neutrality in cities, local and national policy makers currently lack solid evidence-based and detailed analyses promoting a modal shift towards climate-neutral travel. This is partly due to the complexity of data in transport models, which calls for place-based analyses and approaches. Hence, we need analytical and multi-level research that provides robust principles and tools to assess the impact of urban mobility infrastructure design (environmental and socio-economic elements that influence cities) with the broader aim of guiding cities to reduce their CO₂ emissions.

This Special Issue places emphasis on recent developments in analytical methods for studying urban mobility and travel behavior in cities. The aim is to engage planners and scholars from other spatial disciplines to critically explore strategies and approaches aimed at creating more carbon neutral, liveable, healthier, and sustainable cities and neighborhoods for the future. Taking into consideration current challenges (e.g., climate change, pandemics, socio-demographic changes) as key drivers of urban development, we invite authors to submit articles showcasing innovative ideas, approaches, and experiments for analyzing, evaluating, and designing sustainable urban mobility and travel patterns to better support public and active mobility.

The scope of this Special Issue includes (but is not limited to) the following areas:

• Healthy urban design concepts (e.g., compact cities, the 15-minute neighborhood, walkable urbanism, urban retrofitting);
• Urban design and planning theories;
• Prediction and simulation of human mobility and mode of travel;
• Spatial analysis in urban travel patterns;
• Land use–urban form–human mobility link;
• Innovative examples from practice (e.g., local and/or global design interventions as pathways to sustainable urban mobility);
• Visualization and simulation techniques including agent-based modeling;
• Policy implications and governance;
• Smart city and smart mobility;
• Travel behavior-health and wellbeing link.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

References:

1. IPCC 2014 Summary for policymakers In: Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. Part A: Global and Sectoral Aspects. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (Cambridge Cambridge, United Kingdom and New York, NY, USA) ed C B Field et al. (Cambridge University Press) pp 1–32.
2. IPCC, 2018: Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the impacts of global warming of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels and related global greenhouse gas emission pathways, in the context of strengthening the global response to the threat of climate change, sustainable development, and efforts to eradicate poverty [Masson-Delmotte, V., P. Zhai, H.-O. Pörtner, D. Roberts, J. Skea, P.R. Shukla, A. Pirani, W. Moufouma-Okia, C. Péan, R. Pidcock, S. Connors, J.B.R. Matthews, Y. Chen, X. Zhou, M.I. Gomis, E. Lonnoy, T. Maycock, M. Tignor, and T. Waterfield (eds.)]. In Press.
3. Martos, A., Pacheco-Torres, R., Ordóñez, J., & Jadraque-Gago, E. (2016). Towards successful environmental performance of sustainable cities: Intervening sectors. A review. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 57, 479-495.
4. Jenks, M., Burton, E. and Wiliams, K.(eds) (1996). The Compact City: A Sustainable Urban Form?, E & FN Spon, London.
5. Moreno, C., Allam, Z., Chabaud, D., Gall, C., & Pratlong, F. (2021). Introducing the “15-Minute City”: Sustainability, resilience and place identity in future post-pandemic cities. Smart Cities, 4(1), 93-111.
6. Capasso Da Silva, D., King, D. A., & Lemar, S. (2020). Accessibility in practice: 20-minute city as a sustainability planning goal. Sustainability, 12(1), 129.
7. EA. (2012). World energy outlook. Paris: International Energy Agency.
8. Opschoor, H. (2011). Local sustainable development and carbon neutrality in cities in developing and emerging countries. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 18(3), 190-200.

Dr. Ayşe Özbil
Dr. Alice Vialard
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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• urban mobility analysis
• travel behavior
• analytical approaches
• spatial analyses
• carbon neutral cities
• sustainable urban mobility
• design policy and governance
• health outcomes