Reimagining urban spaces: Prioritising people and sustainability in modern cities
In part one of our mobility series, we explored the growing inefficiency of car-centric cities and the urgent need to rethink mobility. In part two, turn your focus to the transformative potential of urban design and examine how cities can evolve by prioritising people over cars.
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Nantes, a different kind of smart city
A few years ago, I visited Nantes in the Western part of France – a city similar in size to Copenhagen. Once dominated by car-centric infrastructure, Nantes has boldly reimagined itself into a vibrant, sustainable space where public art and urban planning coexist. The integration of art and history into everyday life left a lasting impression on me.
One of the most striking features is a giant mechanical elephant that moves through the city centre, inspired by a steampunk aesthetic and paying homage to the city's industrial heritage and its famous citizen, Jules Verne, the pioneering science fiction author. In addition to the interactive installations and striking murals, the city feels like an open-air museum.
But perhaps the real magic lies in how Nantes has reclaimed its urban spaces. By reducing car dependency through an extensive tramway system, expanding pedestrian zones, and increasing bike lanes, the city has transformed from a space choked with traffic into a vibrant city that offers novel experiences.
Nantes shows us what’s possible when a city puts its residents first, blending culture, sustainability, and liveability into a unique urban experience. It’s a powerful reminder that with vision and creativity, our cities can become places of connection, recreation, and reflection.
Challenges and opportunities for the mobility sector
As cities worldwide grow more crowded and polluted, the mobility sector faces several complex challenges. Urbanisation, sustainability goals, and the rise of alternative micromobility options are forcing us to deeply rethink the future of transportation.
While the pressure to meet 2030 emissions targets is undeniable, there’s another more direct, commercial challenge: the decline of private car ownership. Most observers of the automotive industry agree that car ownership will steadily decline in the coming decades, driven by a variety of factors, including space constraints and changing societal preferences.
Urban areas are simply running out of space – and people are running out of time.
In global megacities, traffic congestion has become one of the most significant frustrations, and it’s a serious detriment to quality of life. According to the 2023 Global Traffic Scorecard by INRIX, London is among the most congested cities in the world, and drivers in London lose around 100 hours per year sitting in traffic. This results in an estimated economic loss of nearly £4 billion, factoring in lost productivity, increased fuel consumption, and higher costs of goods and services due to transportation delays.
But the impact of congestion goes far beyond economic losses. It exacerbates pollution levels, contributes to higher accident rates, and eats away at precious time people could spend with loved ones or on leisurely activities. For many urban residents, especially those in megacities where infrastructure struggles to keep pace with the increasing number of vehicles on the road, the cumulative effect is a decline in overall well-being.
In short, private car ownership and big cities are no longer compatible. The infrastructure required to sustain cars – roads, parking spaces, and maintenance facilities – consumes valuable space that could otherwise be used for parks, public spaces, green areas, or more efficient transportation systems.
It’s clear that the costs are starting to outweigh the benefits.
A new era for mobility
Mobility has always been a defining feature of human civilisation. From the earliest migrations on foot to the invention of the wheel in ancient Mesopotamia, advancements in mobility have continually shaped the way we live, trade, and interact.
The wheel, arguably one of the most significant inventions in history, revolutionised transportation, enabling goods and people to travel over longer distances. This leap in mobility laid the foundation for the development of early civilisations, with roads becoming the central nervous system that connected empires, enabling trade, communication, and cultural exchange.
In the 19th century, the automobile marked another transformative shift. The car became a symbol of freedom and reshaped not only transportation but entire cities. Roads expanded, suburbs grew, and car ownership became a marker of personal success. The private car had a critical contribution to creating and sustaining the economics of scale that have given cities their rightful place in a modern, globalised economy. While this era of mobility created unprecedented levels of economic and personal freedom, it also sowed the seeds of today’s mobility challenges.
Looking back, it’s clear that each major leap in mobility emerged from the need to overcome the limitations of the previous era. I suppose that’s a defining feature of how we think about progress.
Now, we find ourselves at a similar crossroads. The choices we make today will determine whether our cities evolve into vibrant, human-centred spaces or remain trapped in an ever-growing traffic jam.
What the future holds for urban transportation
The future of mobility is poised for radical change, driven by technological advancements, shifting societal values, and environmental imperatives. The decline of private car ownership is just one facet of this change.
The rise of shared mobility platforms, electric vehicles, autonomous driving technology, and micromobility options such as e-bikes, e-scooters, and innovative sharing schemes suggest a shift towards more flexible, efficient, and sustainable forms of transportation. The market for micromobility is poised to grow by 100 percent towards 2030 and reach a combined value of a whopping $360 billion.
Though not a viable option yet, autonomous vehicles (AVs) hold the promise of reducing traffic congestion and accidents by eliminating human error. Coupled with electric powertrains, AVs could dramatically lower the carbon footprint of transportation.
Meanwhile, the expansion of public transport and the gradual development of smart city technologies – once considered a pipe dream – could help ease urban congestion by enabling infrastructure to communicate with vehicles and optimise traffic flow.
However, this evolution will not be without its challenges, and obviously there is no such thing as a quick fix. The transition to electric and autonomous vehicles requires substantial investment in infrastructure, from charging stations to smart grids, and new business models.
Additionally, the rise of shared and autonomous vehicles could disrupt industries, displace jobs, and is already perplexing us with a host of new ethical and regulatory dilemmas. The question is not just how we will move, but how we will navigate the broader societal changes that follow in the wake of these new technologies
In reflecting on the past and speculating about the future, one thing becomes clear: The way we think about mobility needs to change.
To create cities that are truly smart and sustainable, we need to start prioritising people and places over vehicles. Hence, mobility needs to become less about the individual journey and more about a collective experience, less about getting from A to B, and more about making A and B better places to live.
The mobility sector must embrace this shift by innovating not just in the vehicles it produces, but in the very infrastructure that supports our daily lives. This will require bold thinking, meaningful investment, and a willingness to challenge long-held assumptions. So, in the spirit of design and foresight, here are some questions to consider:
- What if the future of mobility means moving less – but living more?
- With the decline in private car ownership, what new business models could the mobility sector explore to maintain and grow customer engagement?
- As consumer preferences shift towards sustainability, what opportunities exist for creating value in novel ways?
- How might design contribute to creating a commuting experience that people actually look forward to?
- How might we design cities and environments that make us want to walk, linger, and connect, rather than rush from one place to another?
- What role should technology play in making transportation more sustainable and equitable?
- What ethical boundaries must we set as we begin to lean into AI systems and autonomous technologies? How can we trust these invisible systems that we cannot see?
- How do we balance the need for innovation with the potential disruptions it may cause to jobs and industries?
The answers to these questions won’t come easily, but they are likely to shape the cities of tomorrow. One thing we know for sure is that it will require collaboration, creativity, and a commitment to rethinking the way we connect and move through the world.
Do you want to explore your next mobility design project? We'd love to help – let’s chat.
