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Special Issue Editor

Prof. Dr. Fotini Kehagia

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Guest Editor

Highway Laboratory of Civil Engineering Department, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece
Interests: road design, road safety, low-carbon mobility

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The net result of the dominance of economic growth based on efficient transport has been high levels of mobility that lead to high carbon mobility. The total dependency of motorized transport on oil creates significant implications for emissions and in particular CO₂. Transport accounts for about 24 per cent of global CO₂ emissions, and over than 61 per cent of oil consumption. Car-based mobility is dominant, creating a specific sociotechnical context.

Cities are facing long-term challenges in the domains of mobility and its links to urban form revolving around the issues of congestion, accessibility, and sustainability. The basic concept of solutions is based on the framework of avoid–shift–improve directions.

However, new concepts in mobility and transport services as well as emerging technologies and digital enabled solutions have created transformations in the domains of transport systems.

Although new opportunities for low-carbon and smart mobility are identified, specific factors may exert strong incentives for avoiding the fundamental changes that are required. Depending on specific circumstances, different barriers and lock-ins may occur on different pathways towards sustainable mobility.

The present Special Issue aims to gather a series of manuscripts relating to the transition to a low-carbon and smart mobility; in which way these new mobility patterns and technologies facilitate transitions from disruptive innovations into the operational mainstream; how new mobility patterns and solutions can be integrated in modelling tools used for decision-making and planning; and how rethinking concepts can help to utilize the potential of new developments to achieve sustainable accessibility and connectivity.

Prof. Dr. Fotini Kehagia
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

smart mobility
low-carbon mobility
connectivity
safety
social-technical system

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Editorial

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3 pages, 155 KiB

Open AccessEditorial

The Transition to a Low-Carbon Smart Mobility in a Sociotechnical Context

by Fotini Kehagia

Sustainability 2021, 13(11), 6222; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13116222 - 01 Jun 2021

Viewed by 1829

Abstract

Mobility is the lifeblood of society, critical to economic and human development [...] Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Transition to a Low-Carbon, Smart Mobility in a Sociotechnical Context)

Research

Jump to: Editorial

17 pages, 260 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Impact of COVID-19 on Urban Everyday Life in Greece. Perceptions, Experiences and Practices of the Active Population

by Fereniki Vatavali, Zoi Gareiou, Fotini Kehagia and Efthimios Zervas

Sustainability 2020, 12(22), 9410; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12229410 - 12 Nov 2020

Cited by 45 | Viewed by 5069

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic that erupted in early 2020 has affected the everyday life, the practices, and the perceptions of the global population significantly. The aim of this paper is to investigate the perceptions, experiences, and practices of the active population regarding everyday urban life (working conditions, mobility, urban space, etc.) in the context of the first wave of the pandemic, by focusing on people who live and work in Greek cities. The data were collected using a structured questionnaire addressed to an active population. The majority of respondents declared that their personal and family lives were affected by the lockdown, with significant effects on their professional life and economic activities. Stress and fear were two feelings that increased. As far as mobility was concerned, the majority of respondents were unwilling to change their commuting practices. Although most of our findings presented a homogenous distribution in our sample, some changes in perceptions, experiences, and practices were correlated with the gender, age, and family status of the respondents. The results of the analysis provide useful information to policy makers and show that it is necessary to radically rethink aspects of urban space and urban mobility, in relation to the multiple problems and dynamics of the active population. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Transition to a Low-Carbon, Smart Mobility in a Sociotechnical Context)

13 pages, 792 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Digital Transformation Supporting Transport Decarbonisation: Technological Developments in EU-Funded Research and Innovation

by Anastasios Tsakalidis, Konstantinos Gkoumas and Ferenc Pekár

Sustainability 2020, 12(9), 3762; https://doi.org/10.3390/su12093762 - 06 May 2020

Cited by 28 | Viewed by 5370

Abstract

The European Commission’s Communication on a European Green Deal sets out the objective of achieving climate neutrality by 2050, which will require a reduction in transport emissions. To this aim, digital technologies, together with connectivity and automation, are transforming traditional concepts of mobility, with a potential impact towards transport decarbonisation. New business models are emerging and giving rise to innovative mobility services including new online platforms for car-pooling, car or bicycle sharing services, freight operations, or smartphone applications offering real-time travel information and other analytics. This study provides an overview of the European Union (EU) funded research and innovation (R&I) and related technologies that are influencing the uptake of digital transformation in transport and identifies issues and challenges from a European perspective. To that end, it follows a two-tier approach that examines policy and legislative initiatives from the European Commission, highlighting possible challenges and enablers. Moreover, it analyses transport technology developments in Europe, focusing on the technology maturity from EU R&I framework programmes, using the European Commission’s Transport Research and Innovation Monitoring and Information System (TRIMIS). The technology analysis provides insights that aid policy decisions related to funding allocation in future R&I framework programmes. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Transition to a Low-Carbon, Smart Mobility in a Sociotechnical Context)

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