Urban Mobility Planning
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans: A comparative legal analysis of urban mobility planning in Germany and Spain
Vincent-Carlos Barduhn - University of Bremen, Prof. C. Franzius
Keywords: urban mobility planning, transport development planning, Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T), comparative law
Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) are the main planning instrument for managing sustainable mobility in urban areas. As a strategic plan, a SUMP aims to meet the mobility needs of people at the local level in order to improve their quality of life. In contrast to traditional transport planning, the focus is no longer on motorized (private) transport, increasing its capacity, and optimizing its traffic flow. Instead, the spotlight is on people: the primary objectives are to improve accessibility for and quality of life of people. In order to manage mobility development at the local level in the long run, a SUMP brings together all legal and practical measures. Health, environmental, and climate protection in the transport sector are at the forefront.
The doctoral thesis conducts a detailed comparative legal analysis and evaluation of SUMPs in Germany and Spain. In practical and legal terms, it pursues four main objectives: (1) To understand how SUMPs operate, (2) to identify their current challenges, (3) to propose corresponding solutions, and (4) to compare and evaluate the findings using comparative law for the purpose of further legal development.
The relevance of SUMPs has increased significantly since June 2024. Although both Germany, with its second-generation transport development plans ("Verkehrsentwicklungsplan der 2. Generation"), and Spain, with its sustainable urban mobility plans (“Planes de Movilidad Urbana Sostenible”), had already implemented Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans at the beginning of the 21st century, there was no EU legislation which regulated SUMPs within the European Union. The revised EU Regulation on the Trans-European Transport Network (Regulation (EU) 2024/1679 of June 13, 2024) (TEN-T Regulation) changed this status quo: According to Art. 41 I b) i) TEN-T Regulation, urban nodes are obliged to introduce a SUMP by December 31st, 2027. This essentially affects all cities in the EU with a population of at least 100,000. In Germany alone, 78 cities are affected. SUMPs have thus quickly become a key instrument of transport and urban development within the EU. This makes it all the more important to have a corresponding, sustainable legal framework which supports the introduction and implementation of SUMPs at Member State level. The experience of Member States such as Germany and Spain, which have many years of experience with SUMPs, is particularly valuable.
A German-Spanish legal comparison is particularly suitable due to its comparable baseline. In practical terms, there are geographical, economic, and ecological similarities. The majority of the German and Spanish populations reside in densely populated areas characterized by a high density of traffic. From an economic perspective, the automotive sector is bilateral of enormous significance. After all, both nations are struggling with numerous traffic-related challenges that result in considerable negative environmental impacts. In addition, there is also a comparable baseline from a legal perspective: both member states are subject to European Union law, have a decentralized form of government, and share significant similarities in constitutional and administrative law.