Talking about mobility in the cities of the future is an ever-inspiring act of creativity. Let us imagine cutting-edge technological transport systems, organised sharing networks, electrically-powered “flying” vehicles, multi-level suspended roads, completely different from the streets we are used to today. All this could be become reality in a short space of time… or not.
According to the urban and futuristic architect from Berlin, Ludwig Engel, who spoke recently in Porto, not everything we come to presuppose about the cities of tomorrow is to be taken seriously, although we should trust the people with whom we are going to build the future.
Moreover, this expert in long-term strategies for sustainable cities, and who has been working on urban utopias, declares that we don´t know how society is going to evolve over the next ten years, and, as such, we can´t even forecast when our dependence on fossil fuels is going to end, for example. “I hope it will be as soon as possible”, he says.
“This interest in alternative means of mobility lies in the possibility of sharing, being close to people, and not necessarily covering great distances”
In terms of alternative means of transport, the major European capitals are among the best-equipped in the world and many of them are already promoting advanced types of locomotion. This is happening in Amsterdam, Copenhagen and Berlin, among others.
With regard to Lisbon, and taking into account that he is not an expert on Portuguese cities, Engel is of the opinion that public transport is lacking and that the Portuguese are too dependent on the individual automobile. These two issues need to be improved and should be on the respective public policy agenda. And he emphasises: “The main challenge facing cities is the guarantee that people can keep on living in them together. This interest in alternative means of mobility lies in the possibility of sharing, being close to people, and not necessarily covering great distances. I believe that digitization will provide us with a means of understanding our mobility systems, how we use them and what needs to be changed for the better.”