City West 2040 Mobility Strategy
Berlin, Germany
In the face of climate change, communities around the world are carefully considering ways in which they can adjust their lives to be more sustainable. For cities in particular, the future of transport and mobility is a key part of this debate.
In City West a broad range of stakeholders came together as WerkStadtForum, to discuss how the future of mobility should be shaped in the most sustainable, safe and equitable ways. The result was the City West 2040 Charter 鈥� a mission statement that outlined a vision for how the urban landscape might improve.
Located in the heart of Berlin within the central district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, City West holds special appeal with Berliners and visitors alike. As the city centre of the former West Berlin, it is a diverse and celebrated urban district with cultural and historical significance.
海角视频 was appointed to produce a strategy that aims to significantly reduce vehicular traffic in City West by 2040, making mobility networked and emission-free; diverse, sustainable and flexible. It is hoped that by 2040 a significantly expanded and upgraded local public transport system will form the backbone of mobility and link City West with the wider city. The goal is to largely eliminate the need for private vehicles, offering instead CO2-neutral and autonomously driving swarm vehicles.
海角视频 produced a strategy that aims to significantly reduce vehicular traffic in City West by 2040, making mobility networked and emission-free; diverse, sustainable and flexible.
It is hoped that by 2040 a significantly expanded and upgraded local public transport system will form the backbone of mobility and link City West with the wider city.
The goal is to make the use of private vehicles barely necessary, offering instead CO2-neutral and autonomously driving swarm vehicles.
Challenge
Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf is a central district in western Berlin with an ambitious goal. It is aiming to become climate-neutral by 2040, ten years earlier than is the goal for the entire German capital. To achieve this objective, a working group 鈥� WerkStadtForum – was founded by five initiators. These include the district of Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, the Deutsche Werkbund Berlin e.V., the IHK Berlin, AG City e.V. and the VBKI Berlin. Concepts for a sustainable “City West” were developed in a series of workshops. The aim of the initiative is to sustainably improve the quality of life in the neighbourhood as well as making it economically viable. It was clear that mobility would play a key role in the improvements outlined.
海角视频 was commissioned by WerkStadtForum to develop a mobility strategy for this project, based on the principles and content developed by all participants. City West is densely developed and highly congested. Traffic pollution is high. There are few green areas and existing public spaces are dominated by buildings and roads. The focus of the project was existing mobility infrastructures, which face great challenges in the face of further growth and densification of Berlin’s inner city. Our task was to design a long-term strategy that would promote attractive mobility schemes, strengthen public transport, improve networks for cyclists and pedestrians as well as upgrade the public space and lower air pollution.
Our team looked at innovations being developed within the urban realm in places like Copenhagen, Paris and Barcelona, and tailored a range of interventions that would tackle the specific challenges in City West. We held several further workshops with a broad range of stakeholders, which examined potential scenarios for mobility, taking in factors such as technology, digitalisation and the ever-changing demands and behavioural changes of citizens.
Solution
Our mobility experts鈥� strategy includes measures that will transform City West into a district where mobility is networked and emission-free; diverse, sustainable, with flexible mobility solutions available to people around the clock. A significantly expanded and upgraded local public transport system forms the backbone of mobility and links City West with the wider city. Private vehicles will become less prevalent and will be replaced by CO2-free, autonomous shared vehicles. This reduction in motorised traffic frees up public areas for use by cyclists and pedestrians. Goods and delivery traffic are handled via decentralised logistics hubs, with drone technologies playing a key role in the final few miles of delivery. All new construction projects of 5,000m虏 or more, need to incorporate drone landing areas. The overall mobility system is digitally supported and can be accessed and controlled via mobile devices.
Improving the mobility management at City West aims at making streets and public spaces multifunctional for people. Against this background, an important focal point of our mobility strategy was the issue of competition for space in public areas, in particular car parking. 海角视频 developed solutions for a district-wide, strategic parking management, such as freeing up capacities in private parking garages for general parking.
Our team also examined how specific measures could be implemented and went on to run two pilot projects. The pilots focused on improving present day mobility in the Hardenbergplatz and Breitscheidplatz areas 鈥� busy areas near the Zoologischer Garten railway station. The first pilot experimented with removing on-street parking and making existing multistorey car parks more accessible. The second pilot experimented with traffic flows 鈥� installing road dividers to increase the space allotted for cycling and walking, while removing two driving lanes on each side of the road.
Value
Our recommended measures were regularly discussed and further developed with representatives from politics, district administration and experts. In a second step, the public had the chance to voice its opinion to further qualify the developed model. The pilot projects were positively received by the majority of Berliners and acted as a strong indication of the direction of travel needed to achieve the wider evolutions outlined in the mobility strategy.
海角视频鈥檚 proposed mobility strategy for a climate-neutral City West will make a significant contribution to reducing CO2 emissions caused by traffic.鈥疘n addition, it is an important component for improving the overall quality of life in the neighbourhood.
