On 26-30 June 2022, the World Urban Forum took place in Katowice, Poland, under the auspices of the United Nations. The World Urban Forum is a conference addressing the issues of cities and the challenges they face. We presented our approach and projects in the field of mobility at the seminar entitled “How can urban-rural partnerships support Europe’s green transformation?“.
The World Urban Forum has a twenty-year tradition and is a prestigious event attended by approximately 20,000 representatives of local, regional and national governments and urban planning experts. A large number of expert workshops, panel discussions, lectures and thematic seminars were held during this five-day event. The theme of this year’s event was the transformation of cities towards a better and more sustainable future.
Seminar “How can urban-rural partnerships support Europe’s green transformation?” was organised by Eurocities, a network of European cities. The seminar focused on the development of city-rural partnerships within metropolitan areas. During the event, three approaches of different metropolitan areas towards promoting mobility, energy and food self-sufficiency between urban and rural areas were presented. The presentation of the Brno Metropolitan Area focused on the presentation of the transport strategy and its mobility projects. We presented the conclusions of the analysis of the transport behaviour of the Brno Metropolitan Area, the objectives and measures in the field of transport in the framework of the new Integrated Strategy of BMA with emphasis on the application of an integrated approach in a total of 14 integrated solutions in the topic of mobility. At the same time, we presented the mobility projects already supported during the 2014-2020 period. In total, we supported 36 projects worth 80 million EUR (CZK 2 billion).
These include:
- The transfer terminal in Židlochovice,
- A network of cycle paths in Šlapanice;
- Extension of the tram line to the City Campus;
- Transport solutions in the area of the new Trnitá district (tram line Plotní and modernisation of the Zvonařka bus station).
The aim of all the projects is to promote mobility between Brno and the surrounding municipalities and at the same time to relieve the core (the city of Brno) by building a P+R system and transfer terminals in the hinterland. All this with the aim of ensuring maximum connectivity and strengthening a functional and sustainable transport system throughout the metropolitan area. You can download our presentation here.
Other successful examples of cities were presented during the seminar, e.g. a representative of the Oslo Metropolitan Area presented the metropolitan integrated energy system and a representative of the Lisbon Metropolitan Area presented food self-sufficiency projects. The seminar was attended by representatives of the European Commission and the European Parliament and representatives of mainly European Metropolitan Areas. The total audience was approximately 100. The meeting led to the establishment of new contacts with representatives of other metropolitan areas and the exchange of information on metropolitan cooperation solutions.
The seminar gave us the opportunity, as the only participants from the Czech Republic, to present the integrated approach in the metropolitan area and our work so far to representatives from all over the world.
