Urban mobility: Where cars and cities coexist
Our series on how we move around in the modern world continues by turning the lens on today’s dense urban environments. Malene Freudendal-Pedersen, Professor of Urban Planning at Aalborg University in Denmark, shares her perspective how to optimise urban travel and where cars – and leasing – fit into the mobility mix.
Let’s start with a big question: what do you think society should be aiming for when it comes to urban mobility?
“In a nutshell, the dream scenario would be a world where active green mobility is prioritised – making cities healthier and more liveable for people.”
And what’s standing in the way of that?
“On the policy side, we see two competing approaches. On the one hand, there’s the very** traditional planning system**, where car is king and the priority is to optimise speed and accessibility for cars. On the other, some cities are focused on new planning concepts like the 15-minute city, where the goal is to make urban environments better spaces for people not only to move around in, but to live in. In this new mobility landscape, cars have an important, but different, role to play. That means ensuring a fairer division of urban space – in Copenhagen, for example, 59% of common space is used for roads and parking spaces, but nowhere near 59% of people own a car. Cars have always been given a lot of room, and now they’re getting physically bigger, which makes sharing the limited space we have even more complicated.”
Do people’s behaviours also come into play? At this stage, is it even possible to change how we think about mobility?
“Behaviours are largely cognitive, so I prefer to think about change in terms of practices. Take your morning routine: you automatically move from showering to eating breakfast to reading the news and so on. You don’t think about it, it’s just how you do things. Likewise, the decision about the mode of transport people use to get to work, or pick up their kids, or take their elderly parent to the doctor isn’t a decision at all: it’s something they just do, learned through repetition. That’s why asking people to change how they travel is so difficult, because we’re actually asking them to rethink their familiar, functional way of life! So the solution is to change the materialities of the systems around us in order to influence people’s practices – and that’s where urban planning comes in. For instance, a superblock contains many of the everyday facilities you need, so if you live or working within one, the idea is that you can drive a car around it, but it’s way easier and faster to walk or bike from one point to another within that area.”
So how can fleet managers, for example, help to create the optimal conditions in urban areas?
“By sharing their knowledge! When it comes to moving around in cities, fleet managers and drivers have so much valuable experience and information that planners and policymakers can tap into. I think there’s a lack of innovation in transportation, relative to other industries, and we should be totally rethinking mobility in more sustainable and less space-intensive ways. People working in the system have crucial insights about driving in cities, in the same way that cyclists and public transport users do for bikes and buses. Planners and policymakers should be asking themselves, ‘What matters to me when I travel around?’ – and I can guarantee it won’t just be cost. Let’s make sure we understand what’s important to different users of the space we share and reshape our systems to make them work better for everyone.”
So is car leasing a good fit with your dream scenario?
“Yes: because cars absolutely have a role to play, but we need to change the default from ownership to access. There’s no need for people to own a car just so it can sit still in a parking space 90% of the time. If companies offered lease bikes for weekday commuting and lease cars that employees could borrow for the weekend, then that would be another step towards changing the way we think about and use cars in cities. That’s what it’s all about, and what many planners are working towards. Optimising urban mobility for people, not just cars, is a challenge, but it’s clear that providers and users of leasing solutions are a key piece of the puzzle.”
Curious to find out where your fleet fits into the future of urban mobility? Talk to our expert consultants about how Ayvens can help you ‘rightsize’ your fleet – for your business needs, for sustainability, and for your pocket!
