Green City © Markus Monsberger/stdb, TU Graz

The research project Urban MoVe investigates the extent to which private-law provisions (e.g. mobility contracts, mobility funds, urban development contracts) qualify as municipal planning and management tools for mobility in residential areas. To this end, the project analyzed and evaluated the first practical examples in Graz, comparing it with the Wiener Mobilitätsfond, an international urban development contract. In addition to the focus on energy-efficient buildings with regard to sustainable urban housing and climate protection, the topic of post-fossil mobility in residential areas was an essential component of the project. Buildings are not isolated nor autonomous, but must be integrated into a larger network in order to unfold their significant CO2 and energy reduction potential and to achieve the ambitious (transport political) goals, which include improving mobility without owning a private car, among other things. Thus, it is essential to consider and plan for a wide range of mobility concerns and innovative solutions already at an early planning stage. General access to mobility is key: connection and accessibility by bicycle, public transport, and sharing proposals. At the same time, however, qualitative criteria must also be taken into account in the course of planning and new development of residential housing––starting with traffic-saving spatial planning––“City of Short Distances” is the motto here! Over the past years, attempts have already been made to implement many new ideas and measures for controlling these mobility concepts through private-law agreements in new buildings. For example, mobility contracts that are negotiated during the course of development planning allow deviations from the prescribed number of car parking spaces––but in return regulate the investment of the money saved in a sustainable mobility proposal for the residential building. The project demonstrates that measures such as contractual regulations between cities or municipalities and construction project applicants as well as routine and further developments can steer the mobility turnaround at residential locations towards multimodal mobility proposals and an activating, qualitative residential environment.

Project duration:
2018 – 2021

Funding:
The Austrian Research Promotion Agency (Stadt der Zukunft | City of Tomorrow)

Project team:
Institute of Urbanism: Aglaée Degros (project leader), Markus Monsberger, Michael Malderle

Project partners:
yverkehrsplanung GmbH
Vienna University of Technology/Research Area Land Policy and Land Management
Grazer Energieagentur GesmbH
UIV Urban Innovation Vienna GmbH