In recent years, the City of Venice has been enhancing its sustainable mobility infrastructure and services. However, these efforts have not yet resulted in a proportional increase in the number of residents and visitors choosing more sustainable modes of transportation. The primary challenge faced by the City is to overcome operational, social, and cultural barriers to promote behavior change toward more sustainable mobility choices, with a particular emphasis on cycling, while reducing reliance on private cars. This shift aims to reduce land consumption, lower greenhouse gas emissions, decrease air pollution, and improve the overall quality of life for the local community.
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are normally prepared for the whole city (e.g., EU cities with a population above 50,000) (European Commission, 2025), yet, they do not address the realities of smaller, high-growth areas such as new districts, campuses, or waterfront redevelopments. These are exactly the places where people make most of their daily trips — living, studying, working, and spending leisure time.
Hundipea is Tallinn’s largest upcoming residential and mixed-use waterfront development. Thousands of residents and workplaces will move here in the coming years. If its mobility system is designed well from the start, people will naturally choose walking, cycling, shared mobility, and public transport. In other words, it will be a destination point and easily accessible place.
Istanbul is a city of two continents where millions of people depend daily on buses, metro, trams, and ferries. Transfer hubs are vital for connecting these modes, but many of them remain purely functional spaces with long walking distances, limited accessibility for elderly and disabled citizens, and little cultural or social value. These conditions reduce the attractiveness of public transport compared to private cars. The challenge is to transform transfer hubs into vibrant, accessible, and inclusive micro urban spaces that not only support efficient mobility but also enrich citizens’ daily lives through comfort, safety, and cultural engagement.
Bursa’s primary urban challenge is the lack of digital wayfinding and independent mobility within the city, particularly for elderly people, persons with disabilities, and citizens with limited mobility. The issue is not limited to physical access; it also directly affects fundamental social objectives such as participation and digital inclusion. For this reason, the challenge is addressed under the “Happy Cities” category and represents a serious barrier to achieving a dignified and accessible urban life. According to the Bursa Transportation Master Plan 2035, approximately 12% of the city’s population—around 130,000 people—experience structural and systemic problems related to independent mobility. This figure clearly demonstrates the scope and strategic importance of the issue. Similar accessibility challenges are not unique to Bursa. In Türkiye, major metropolitan areas such as Istanbul and Ankara also face such gaps, influenced by dynamics like rapid urbanization and an aging population. In Europe, pioneering cities in digitalization such as Helsinki and Tallinn have launched various pilot initiatives in accessibility (for example, NaviLens and WCAG-compliant digital services). However, these solutions are often deployed only in limited areas and are rarely scaled citywide. Research shows that accessible digital wayfinding systems are still not being addressed with a holistic approach in many cities.
