Cities are like living organisms, undergoing dynamic changes in response to various social, political, and environmental megatrends, and technological innovations. New, potentially disruptive mobility solutions and business models are emerging and significantly influencing the urban landscape.  

Transitions are profound changes in systems. They are co-developments of technological, economic, and social innovations on the one hand and anticipatory policies on the other hand. Transformative policies combine support for the diffusion innovations on the one hand with exnovation elements on the other hand. The latter comprises measures to actively restrict the use of outdated technologies, products, business models, and behavioural patterns and overcome path dependencies (Graaf et al. 2021).  

While transitions are not centrally steered, urban planners and policymakers should be aware of ongoing changes which are beyond their immediate control and find appropriate policy responses to promote urban mobility innovations while addressing the potential negative impacts of these trends. 

An eco-system-based approach toward understanding urban mobility ecosystems offers the ability to connect data, applications, relationships, and expertise. Thus, adopting such an approach enables bridging of the gap between all the stakeholders, processes, and systems involved in every move to more easily and efficiently connect, with greater transparency and better management reporting (Equus Software, 2018; Rockström et al. 2009). 

The following sections discuss the steps toward understanding mobility innovations in the context of urban mobility ecosystems: 

• Identifying the main urban mobility ecosystem elements
• Assessing the innovation readiness of the city
• Assessing the liveability aspects relevant to urban mobility ecosystems

• Identifying the main urban mobility elements
• Assessing the innovation readiness of a city
• Assessing the liveability of a city

This section builds on SPROUT Deliverable D5.2 Urban policy system dynamics model, authored by E. Xenou, D. T. Touloumidis, and G. Ayfantopoulou (CERTH).

Presentation by Stefan Werland: ‘What is the urban mobility transition?’  

Graaf, Lisa, Stefan Werland, Oliver Lah, Emilie Martin, Alvin Mejia, María Rosa Muñoz Barriga, Hien Thi Thu Nguyen, Edmund Teko, und Shritu Shrestha. 2021. The Other Side of the (Policy) Coin: Analyzing Exnovation Policies for the Urban Mobility Transition in Eight Cities around the Globe. Sustainability 13(16):9045. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su13169045.