Smart mobility - Challenges for mobility policies and spatial planning

Abstract

Smart mobility - Connected, Autonomous, Shared, Electric (CASE) mobility – it is shown to become a complex landscape of new transport technologies, infrastructures, services and systems based on Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Smart mobility will be generated, will serve and will be contained by smart urban systems, and this mechanism of mutual influences have to be well managed both through smart spatial planning and through specific smart mobility policies, in order to maintain the balance between accessibility and quality of urban life requirements. In the context of intense concerns regarding the evolution of smart mobility and its holistic effects, the paper proposes a synopsis of the potential social, economic, environmental, spatial impacts of emerging Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), based on which two objectives are met: 1. drawingguidelines for smart mobility policies design, and 2. identifying the main categories of foreseeable spatial impacts of smart mobility. The study builds on the conclusions of the author's documentation and research, individually and in national and international projects. There is aforward-looking approach, starting from a synthesis of current knowledge on smart mobility, based on information selected by the triangulation method. The paper concludes on the features of ITS-oriented mobility supply, on the related mobility behaviors, and on both positive potential impacts, which should be developed and encouraged by ITS policies and negative potential impacts, which should be strongly limited by these future policies. There are also identified the main categories of envisageables spatial - functional urban effects and transformations generated by ITS - at the level of the road network, street morphology, architectural-urban programs, urban structure - whose further analyze and understanding is mandatory for preparing cities to properly respond to the challenges and demands of smart mobility, while maintaining and even enhancing the quality of urbanliving.