Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
In this new scenario, freedom of moving in cities goes necessarily through a
radical change of habits in cities. The motivations underlying the massive use of
private cars, often resides in missing or not efficient public transportation services.
Besides, in most cases, especially in Italy, the first problem to be faced is that
the recently urbanized settlements, both concentrated and diffused, have been built
precisely because individuals own private means of transportation.
The second problem arising is one of the main factors conditioning the envi-
ronmental pollution and namely the Internal Combustion Engines technology for
cars.
The third problem is that the new settlements (far from the centre, with a large
extension and at low density) are designed and realized (at least in Italy) despite
the existence of a shared transportation system (tram, metro).
Those who have invested indeed, have only aimed at the gain deriving from the
change of destination of the soil with no refrain from the public administrators and
the technicians.
The fourth problem is that the current life style implies an increasing frequency
of trips in the cities also increasing the mobility of people and goods.
Smart mobility in a city is thus:
• the ability to guarantee a good availability of public, innovative and sustainable
transportation services;
• the support of low environmental impact transportation means such as bikes or
pedestrian routes;
• ruling the access to historical centres.
Smart mobility also means the adoption of advanced solutions for the mobility
management through info-mobility, managing the mobility of individuals within
the city and towards the neighbouring areas.
Smart mobility is thus intermodal, optimized and efficient and allows minors to
move independently at no risk not demonising the use of private cars.
In some cases, traffic limitations have been imposed through pedestrianisation
and urban tolls. These actions have produced valuable and interesting results, but
according to some observers the risk is to create a mosaic of islanded urban areas.
Some local administrations, as an example, limit the access to the city centres
based on the norm Euro classification, by which the technical requirements for the
homologation of the vehicles of motor concerning the emissions have been settled
down, to avoid that they defer from a Member State of European Union to another
one.
Other administrations use different criteria. Many actors desire orientations and
harmonized norms at European level for ''clean urban areas'' (pedestrian islands,
limited access, speed limits, urban tolls etc.), so as to support the spread of such
measures all around Europe in and uniform way, allowing an harmonized devel-
opment of cities. Moreover the harmonization and inter-operability of enabling
technologies will allow the costs reduction.
