The Urban Mobility Days 2023 conference was held in Seville, Spain, organised by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Mobility & Transport (DG MOVE), and the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU. The conference drew in over 800 participants from across Europe and beyond, both on-site and remotely, and it provided an opportunity for exchange, insights and new discoveries in the field of sustainable urban mobility. Michal Koníček, SPARCS Project coordinator at Kladno attended the conference and gained valuable insights, inspiration and also had great networking experience. 

Kladno, a city grappling with heavy traffic due to daily commuters to nearby Prague and local mobility challenges, is determined to transform its urban transport landscape. The city aims to implement two projects from the Implementation Plan, with a particular focus on the “E-mobility public/private & charging system,” an essential component of their comprehensive E-Mobility study published in 2022. Kladno offers a solid public transport, which consists primarily of a network of bus lines and a bike sharing service – Next bike. Even though you could consider Kladno as a city of short distances, a safe infrastructure for cyclists is still missing. 

The Spanish city of Seville, with its impressive 120 km of cycling networks built from the ground up in just five years starting in 2005, became one of the flagships for Kladno. In Seville, cycling’s modal share grew from a meager 0.5% to an impressive 6% between 2007 and 2011, demonstrating the potential for transformative change (see the picture of Seville cycling network below).

What resonated throughout the event and was the subject of discussion was the call for change, given the unsustainable number of cars that take up space in cities, add the fact of the trendiness of SUVs, which are even bigger, which the streets of some cities are not built for given their historical development. It was also suggested that the last few decades have been planned, built, and adapted to cars and it is time to change that mindset and give space back to residents.

The event was also a perfect opportunity to meet with members of the of the CIVITAS initiative and the Czech CIVINET members in person – Kladno will become a member of both from November.

The Urban Mobility Days 2023 conference in Seville has proven to be a catalyst for cities like Kladno, inspiring them to adopt innovative, sustainable, and inclusive urban mobility solutions as they navigate the challenges of the 21st century.