Page 10 - Economy_Local Development

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Chapter 2 Urban Mobility Planning

2.1 The ecological impact of cities

Over 70% of the EU population lives in cities and this growth will continue in the coming years. Many of
the social, economic and environmental issues facing Europe have an urban dimension and are very likely
to have a greater impact in cities. On the other hand, cities are where the potential for innovation to solve
these problems lies. Although the urban policy is not an explicit competence of the European Union, the
last thirty years have seen efforts to give an urban dimension to EU policy. Economic, social and
territorial cohesion cannot have a real impact without urban authorities, and in the EU over half of total
public investment is made by sub-national authorities such as cities.

Source: Unsplash: Norali Nayla https://unsplash.com/s/photos/bikes?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medi-
um=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText

Cities need to do more with less, respond to growing challenges, but with lower budgets; they need to
imagine innovative solutions to be smarter, but also greener.

Households consume 29% of global energy, contributing 21% of CO2 emissions, and mobility (transport) is
responsible for a quarter of the EU’s greenhouse gas emissions and their impact is growing. Achieving
climate neutrality requires a 90% reduction in transport emissions by 2050 and will require the
contribution of road, rail, air and waterborne transport. Achieving sustainability in transport means
putting users first and providing them with cheaper, accessible, healthy and clean alternatives to their
current mobility habits. In 2020, the Commission will adopt a strategy for smart and sustainable mobility
that will address this challenge, without neglecting any emission sources.