The next 30 years: planning cities beyond mobility?

The negative environmental, social and economic side-effects of the individual motorized transport-centred urban mobility planning paradigm have been repeatedly denounced. This criticism inspired an alternative, sustainable mobility-centred urban mobility planning paradigm, which has been attempting to shift to a different pathway for the past 30 years. While the outcome of this struggle is still undecided, an even more fundamental shift seems to be taking place on the ground. An urban mobility planning paradigm altogether beyond mobility seems to be emerging, centred not on facilitating or even managing mobility but rather on cultivating a broad set of highly diverse urban qualities. This discussion, forward-looking paper explores this apparent development, its potentials and its challenges. It first reviews the multiple, diverse reasons for shifting away from mobility-centred urban mobility planning. Second, it highlights what might be the emerging components of an urban mobility planning paradigm beyond mobility. Third, it contends that an experimental, narrative-driven approach is essential to build on potentials and cope with challenges.