Reducing the need for daily mobility through integrated planning

The data for Slovenia show, that the length of commuter trips grows constantly and that by growing distance the share of public transportation in the modal split as well as commuters' quality of life decrease. The mobility policy focusses on active modes of mobility (cycling, walking) and provision of public transport (which represents only 14% of the passenger kilometres) and thus cures the symptoms and not the source of the problem, which is a growing demand for mobility. Consequently, the greenhouse gas emissions have not dropped and the adaptation to climate change is insufficient. The reason for the growing demand for mobility in our belief is in growing housing-job-services-recreation mismatch. Thus, we must 

1)    improve strategic planning and ensure integration of sectoral plans, 
2)    decrease the housing-job-services-recreation spatial mismatch, as well as 
3)    enhance behavioural change of inhabitants towards rationalizing their trips and making them more sustainable.

Based on the above-mentioned facts, the aim of the project is to address drivers of enhanced demand for daily mobility and by thoroughly analysing them define the way for loosening the demand and thus contribute to better quality of life and faster adaptation to climate change. We will focus on contemporary processes in Slovenia, that have aggravated the spatial mismatch of housing, jobs, services, and recreation, and caused the growing need for mobility. By in-depth examination of the settlement system, changes in demographic structure, provision of services and jobs, transportation, as well as behavioural changes of inhabitants we will:

1)    analyse the development of socio-spatial dynamics in Slovenia since 1991, with a particular focus on understanding the factors that have intensified pressures on daily mobility flows;
2)    conduct an in-depth review of strategic documents to assess the planning system and identify the reasons for the discrepancies between strategic objectives and their actual implementation and outcomes;
3)    provide guidance for relevant sectors on how to effectively address the challenges that drive increasing demand for mobility, with the aim of limiting and reducing such demand;
4)    enhance awarness and strengthen the capacities of planners and decision-makers through continuous exchange with relevant sectors and dissemination of the research findings.

The basic territorial unit for the research will be Slovenia's 212 municipalities. Municipalities represent an appropriate territorial unit because they provide access to most essential services (e.g. healthcare, primary education, social services such as kindergartens and residential care facilities for older adults), while also offering sufficient statistical data and information from various cadastral and administrative registers.

To comprehensively address the identified research gaps, we will conduct an in-depth analysis of spatial and relevant socio-economic data, examining not only spatial mimatches but also mismatches in knowledge, skills, and income. This will help us better understand the factors contributing to increasing commuting distances. To overcome the limitations of aggregated municipal-level data and gain a more detailed understanding of travel purposes (including commuting, access to services, and recreational trips), we will also analyse individual-level data collected through an in-depth survey conducted within the pilot study area.
 

The research will build on our recent studies (demographic analyses and projections, analyses of the polycentric settlement system and availability of public services, analysis of transport corridors, transport nodes, provision of public transport and daily mobility flows) and by using spatial statistics, GIS, aligning big-data sources, thorough examination of the sectoral and multi-level (state-region-municipality) planning systems, and by qualitative methods (interviews and questionnaires) contribute to new insights, necessary for a data-supported planning and decision making. The research will support the climate-change adaptation and mitigation, improve the planning system in Slovenia, and on a longer term help decreasing the spatial mismatch in locations of housing, jobs, services, and recreation, thus loosening the demand for daily mobility.