Adopting Tactical Urbanism in Cities

The second part of the Tactical urbanism: What, Why and How? took place on 08th of March 2020. This second part was also organised by the Wuppertal Institute in partnership with the World Resources Institute – India, and presented as a part of the Urban Pathways project, which is funded by the German Federal Environment […]

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Air Quality Sensing Powered by Citizen Science – Webinar Series

AirQuality Sensing Powered by Citizen Science Webinar Series Air pollution affects all regions of the world. However, populations in low-income cities are the most impacted. According to the latest air quality database, 97% of cities in low- and middle- income countries with more than 100,000 inhabitants do not meet WHO air quality guidelines. However, in […]

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Fundamentals of Tactical Urbanism

Tactical Urbanism is the process of transforming cities and reviving unused or underused spaces in a city. The transformed spaces cater for the needs of people rather than providing more space for automobiles.  The first part of the two part Tactical Urbanism webinar held on 18 Feb. 2020 was jointly presented by the World Resources […]

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Transforming Waste into Wealth: Global Challenge, Local Solutions

The Webinar is one of the activities that will be carried out under the initiative “EnvironMENTALISE“ – Co-creating safe, friendly and green neighbourhoods”, launched by Urban Pathways to promote the implementation of actions that contribute to raise awareness about the environmental, health, social and economic benefits of non-motorised transport, as well as of waste reduction. In order to have a greater impact, as well as to generate synergies and learning on a larger scale, this initiative will be carried out in collaboration with regional and global awareness campaigns such as the Mobility Week, which includes the International Car Free Day, the World Habitat Day, the Waste Wise Cities Campaign, the SDGs summit and the Walk and Cycle to School Day. All of them are happening between September and October.

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E-Scooters, Challenges and Opportunities of New Mobility Modes

New mobility modes, such as e-scooters, have expanded very fast in cities in developed and developing countries. These new mobility modes pose both opportunities and challenges for sustainable urban mobility that need to be addressed in a way that supports innovative approaches, provides flexibility and adapts quickly to the changing environments and industries. At the same time, the regulations need to ensure that their use compromises neither safety nor public space. 

In this context, the Urban Pathways Project put together a webinar, intended for city-level officials and technical staff, where representatives from European and Latin American municipalities, e-scooters operators, as well as from research institutions shared their views and experience on how to regulate these new modes in an effective manner. The webinar counted on the inputs of:

  • Alvin Mejía (@cityemissions), Research Fellow at the Mobility and International Cooperation Unit of the Wuppertal Institute
  • Stephen Perkins (@ITF_Forum), Head of the International Transport Forum (ITF) Research Centre
  • Diego Assunção (@OficialBHTRANS), Project Management Analyst at the Transport Company of Belo Horizonte (BHTRANS) 
  • Emma Silver (@emmaboon), Government Partnerships at BIRD
  • Matthias Van Wijnendaele (@mvwn), Cycling policy advisor to the Mobility Minister of the Brussels Region 

One of the main concerns about e-scooters is that they might compete with active mobility alternatives, i.e. walking and cycling. However, the data presented in the webinar showed that despite some modal shift in that direction, there are a considerable number of trips (about 30% in selected US cities) done by e-scooters that have replaced car or taxi trips. Regarding the safety and public space concerns, the speakers agreed on the need of a licensing system with clear rules for the operators (e.g. parking zones, speed limit, insurance, etc.), but most of all on the need of reallocating public space to alternative and low-carbon mobility modes.

See all the presentations here.