Contents
Working Group 4: Between here and there – Sustainable peri-urban mobility
Group lead
Ellen Fetzer (LNI/HfWU), Elke Mertens (LNI, HS Neubrandenburg), Michael Venturelli (UniBO) and local team (tba),
Our design challenge
How might we envision a sustainable daily mobility in Vác?
Like any metropolitan area, daily mobility, in particular commuting patterns, has a strong impact on both: people’s quality of life and the quality of the landscape. Encouraging the transition to more sustainable forms of mobility, in particular active mobility on foot or by bike, is crucial for achieving more sustainability. Vác shares the faith of many other similar towns: mobility is focussing on individual cars which again has a negative impact on the safety and comfort of people moving by bus, train, bike or on foot. The vicious circle closes when people stop active mobility because the environment is perceived as too dangerous. This is in particular challenging for children, as they are prevented from exploring and experiencing their environment independently. This thematic working group will explore how we might transform daily commutes in Vác into opportunities for safe and meaningful experiences, enhancing landscape perception and fostering stronger connections to the environment for both children and adults.
Local opportunities:
- Daily mobility and landscape experience: The everyday movement of residents – whether commuting to work, school, or recreational activities – offers a unique opportunity to incorporate landscape experiences into routine life. This includes walking routes, cycling paths, and public transport corridors that traverse or highlight natural areas.
- Sustainable public transport: Investigating how eco-friendly transport systems, such as trains and buses, can integrate landscape elements into the travel experience. This could include views of green spaces, routes that pass through natural areas, or stops that provide direct access to parks and trails, or create linkages to the living landscape biography
- Mobility solutions for families and individuals: Exploring safe and accessible options for families, such as child-friendly bike paths or walking routes with shaded areas and interactive nature elements. These pathways can make journeys more enjoyable and enriching for children while serving functional needs for adults.
- Recreational routes for daily use: Trails and bike paths that connect neighborhoods to schools, workplaces, and recreational areas can become multifunctional spaces where people experience nature as part of their daily routines.
Objectives:
- Transform Daily Travel into Nature Experiences: Design transportation and walking routes that provide opportunities to observe and interact with nature, such as incorporating green corridors, tree-lined streets, and spaces for spontaneous nature play along the way.
- Create Child-Friendly Nature Paths: Ensure that routes to schools and playgrounds include elements that engage children with their environment, such as interactive signage about local plants and animals or small natural play areas along the journey.
- Promote Active and Sustainable Commuting: Encourage walking, cycling, or using public transport as part of daily life by ensuring these modes of travel are connected to vibrant natural spaces, reducing environmental impact while enriching landscape perception.
- Strengthen Community Connections Through Shared Nature Experiences: Develop communal spaces along transportation routes where residents can interact with nature and each other, such as rest areas, mini-parks, or viewing platforms highlighting Vác’s natural beauty.
Expected outcomes:
- A strategic framework for developing a sustainable mobility approach for the peripheral landscape of Vác
- Some design ideas (place making) demonstrating how existing mobility infrastructure can be transformed to promote active and sustainable commuting and landscape experience
- Linking Vác to good practice cases and transfer of knowledge to the local community
- Some local interventions to exemplify and test the design ideas with prototypes in cooperation with cross-cutting group 6 on democratic landscape transformation