Citation

Battarra R, Mazzeo G. Transp. Res. Proc. 2022; 60: 92-99.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2022, Elsevier Publications)

DOI

10.1016/j.trpro.2021.12.013

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

The interaction between society and the environment is everchanging, in turn leading to changes in both environmental and social systems. Population growth, namely, is far from homogeneous: there has been a shift in the centre of gravity of the population's living places, with almost half of the world's population living near coasts. This it leads to significant changes in both land use and landscape characteristics. Among the sensitive areas of the planet, the Mediterranean is one of the most critical because of the high environmental load generated by the settlement weight of urban and metropolitan systems, by infrastructures, and by industries along on its coasts. If we consider the state of this basin, we can say that it is currently under pressures because of growing urbanization, growing population, productive activities, and tourism. Among the problems, the strong disparities between North and South of countries leads to an impending risk, namely that the use of advanced technologies and of smart governance methods could be limited to the North of Mediterranean Sea with the slightest chance of reducing the pressures on the whole basin. Mobility represents a primary sector in the evolution processes of man-made systems, and the implementation of new mobility systems is a challenge in the direction of the efficiency of urban and metropolitan structures, and of ever-increasing sustainability of transport services. Territorial load, environmental condition, and climate change are closely related. Hence control and innovative management of the functional parts of the metropolitan systems (mobility, dwellings, production, tourism, and so on) are a necessity, and a technical and organizational challenge that the countries of the northern and southern coasts will have to tackle with great determination and attention. The paper explores the issue of the metropolitan mobility within the Mediterranean territorial system, analysing its current situation and its potential evolution. Quantitative data are correlated with the contribution of the European cooperation policies. The first part is a recognition of the state of metropolitan mobility in the main cities of Mediterranean basin. The paper continues deepening the concept of smart city and the main Euro-Mediterranean policies directed at public mobility. The lesson from the paper is that a better use of public mobility can improve the state of Mediterranean cities and it can help the achieving of more sustainable environmental conditions.

Language: en

Keywords

Mediterranean area; Metropolitan cities; Smart city; Smart mobility