Urban mobility: the challenges of the future

Abstract

The decades following the Second World War were characterized by the predominant presence of the automobile in urban mobility, both in terms of its increasing importance in the modal split, and also regarding the definition of public policies and strategies of accessibility. With the first oil crisis in the 1970s and the subsequent environmental awareness of the negative impacts of the transport sector, new policies began to be designed, guided by concepts such as intermodality and social cohesion, as well as more concerned about reducing the environmental impacts of urban mobility. In a period where the new emerging countries present a strong economic growth and a consequent increase in the motorization rate of their population, it is useful to analyze the evolution of such mobility policies and share some conclusions about the paths to follow, highlighting the specificities of those countries, and also the lessons of the recent past.