In recent decades, the world has experienced unprecedented urban growth. By 2050, nearly 7 in 10 people will live in cities. Rapid urbanization has brought enormous challenges, including many linked to the lack of safety on the roads. Better urban planning and management are needed to make roads and transport systems safe for all who use them as well as to ensure that transport is affordable, accessible and sustainable.
Urban design itself should favour and promote a modal shift away from private motor vehicles towards active forms of transport such as walking and cycling and public transit. If successfully implemented, a modal shift towards these more sustainable forms of mobility would not only lead to improvements in safety, but also impact favourably on congestion, noise and air pollution. This session addresses many Sustainable Development Goals beside Sustainable Development Goals 3 on health and 11 on making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.
Panelists
Moderator
Claudia Adriazola
Deputy Director, Urban Mobility Program | World Resources Institute
Introduction
Skye Duncan
Director, Global Designing Cities Initiative | National Association of City Transportation Officials
Panel participants
Francois Bausch
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Mobility and Public Works |Ministry of Mobility and Public Works | Luxembourg
Lilli Matson
Chief Safety, Health and Environment Officer | Transport for London |United Kingdom
Sonia Diaz de Corcuera
Director of Traffic | The Basque Government | Spain
Dinesh Mohan
Honorary Professor | Indian Institute of Technology Delhi | India
Aims of the session:
- Indicate how urban design can improve road safety and other SDGs in both new and existing cities.
- Discuss the many benefits of the shift to more active forms of transport.
- Indicate how to best protect those who are most vulnerable on the roads.
- Identify key priorities for the next decade.
