REALLOCATE – rethinking how we move

Through the Horizon Europe REALLOCATE project, Gothenburg will collectively re-imagine our city to redesign how we move from one place to another. It is one of the concrete actions taken to deliver on our promise within the EU Mission 100 climate-neutral and smart cities: to be climate neutral by 2030.

Sustainable mobility is essential in reducing urban emissions and to reach climate neutrality. Gothenburg’s transport system produces a third of our emissions. It is a complex system involving multiple societal stakeholders - that is why co-creation with researchers, mobility experts, urban planners, and local citizens is at the heart of the REALLOCATE project. Throughout the project, all 10 partner cities involved will be supported by thematic experts, to develop our know-how of the implementation of zero-emission, inclusive, active, and citizen-centred mobility interventions.

Safe & Sustainable Mobility Labs

To do this, each partner city will setup their own Safe & Sustainable Mobility Lab: urban areas dedicated to piloting mobility solutions.These labs will serve as learning and testing environments for integrated approaches to foster knowledge transfers and collaborative learning during the project. By the end of the project, the results will be publicly available for other cities to learn or draw inspiration from.

As one of five lead cities within the project (with Tampere/Finland as our dedicated twin city), Gothenburg will spearhead two such labs.

LAB 1 - Safe System Approach for children’s active travel

In the peri-urban neighbourhood of Bergum Gunnilse many residents rely on cars due to poor lighting and a lack of both pedestrian and cycling infrastructure. As such, this lab explores how to transition towards more sustainable modes of transport and enable children to safely travel to school, participate in hobbies and actively move around their community. By creating safe routes, we encourage active mobility and reduce the carbon emissions associated with transportation.

Key actions involve creating the following:

  • a ‘Virtual mobility hub’ with for example a database of car-pooling schedules, combined with infrastructure measures, such as improved lighting, decreased speed limits, co-creating safety solutions and new ways of understanding safety.
  • A Safety System Approach (considering vulnerable road users, road infrastructure and vehicles) to transition towards a more sustainable commute, and towards the “15-min village” concept, replicable to other peri-urban areas.

LAB 2 - Seamless travel at a complex junction

Korsvägen is a multi-modal, complex and busy junction defined by a high mix of transport modes and constant flow of people. The junction is perceived by users as unsafe and face the additional obstacle of long-term construction at the site (Västlänken).

Through this lab, we aim to improve roadwork management, promote sustainable transportation, and enhance accessibility, predictability, and safety of Korsvägen through digital tools. Simultaneously, we will attempt to reduce the attractiveness of traditional transportation options, and for a transition to seamless travel through the reallocation of public space using behavioural nudging. Using these digitalisation tools and nudging strategies, we will promote sustainable travel habits and thereby reduce climate impacts from transportation.

Key actions involve the following:

  • Enhance digital twin capabilities for temporary traffic arrangements, integrate georeferenced projects with 3D visualisation, quantify surface reallocation, and simulate traffic flow using game engines;
  • Provide mobility solutions and services to visitors of the Arena area, such as “kiss and ride” or demand-responsive transport;
  • Use the 3D visualisation as a tool for citizen engagement, co-creation and improved communication to boost behavioural change;
  • Utilise Gothenburg's digital twin to communicate area's future design and transportation with key stakeholders.

Timeline

1 MAY 2023 – 31 APRIL 2027

Learn more about the project here.

Delivering towards ambitions

REALLOCATE supports the city of Gothenburg’s Road Safety Plan, complements our cycling program, and contributes to our targets of decreasing motorised road traffic by 25% by 2030 compared to 2020, and to achieve a 90% reduction in climate impacts from transportation by 2030 compared to 2010.

Contact

Karin JONSON (Project Leader) karin.jonson@stadsmiljo.goteborg.se  Stadsbyggnadsförvaltningen