The past 80 years, we’ve witnessed the rise of the automobile. Streets once dominated by people are now filled with vehicles, either moving or parked. As we look forward to 2100, 80 years from now, we must imagine a new landscape; one that is filled with people again, interacting with each other and with nature. However, most solutions fall short. Expanding public transport infrastructure is expensive, cycling and walking will never tackle regional mobility, and switching to electric or self-driving vehicles won’t solve anything at all. Shared mobility, instead, is one of the most promising answers. Especially when we share the vehicles we already have, and we organize them and their shared parking spots into collective mobility hubs. These have the potential to strengthen our communities, and to save extensive amounts of space, which we could then give back to people and nature.
Unlocking the full potential of mobility hubs
Mobility hubs are, at their core, nodes in the transport network where it's possible to switch from one modality to another, and where at least one of these modalities is shared or public. However, these hubs can be designed to offer a diverse mix of functions and a variety of public spaces, similar to how train stations have been redeveloped into multifunctional spaces with shops, meeting areas, offices, and housing. Embracing this broader perspective, we see hubs as vital city interventions whose impact reaches beyond just mobility.
But how can we fully unlock and optimize their potential and how should we design these broader hubs?
Designing “hubs beyond mobility” is a more complex ambition than only designing parking for shared vehicles. It requires a comprehensive planning approach. In collaboration with the municipality of Amsterdam, we have been working towards a Spatial Strategy for Mobility Hubs, which outlines 7 key principles to guide this transition.
At its core, hub design should follow the local context in order to maximize its potential and to successfully integrate with its urban environment.
Below, we present four examples of hub designs tailored to their specific contexts.
Lincolnpark is a new residential development in Hoofddorp, Haarlemmermeer. Here,
streets are designed for pedestrians and cyclists , offering residents green spaces to meet, play and relax . This is enabled by the presence of collective parking hubs for both private and shared vehicles, all within a short 5-minute walk.
Post-war neighbourhoods were designed during a time of strong car dominance. This made these areas less vibrant, less safe and with extensive space dedicated to infrastructure. The implementation of mobility hubs here should be linked with broader transformation and intensification strategies . Such strategies can introduce new housing and workplaces, active green and social functions, revitalizing these neighbourhoods.
At campuses like TU Delft Campus Zuid , parking is organized into hubs for employees and visitors. These hubs are strategically positioned within a 2-minute walk from most businesses. There is a clear separation between logistical and pedestrian routes , creating a calm and green 'heart'. The main pedestrian exit for each hub is thoughtfully situated within this zone. This area, enhanced with water features, nature-friendly shores, and vegetation, also serves as an ecological hotspot .
“We need a paradigm shift in the narrative, moving away from an individualistic approach to a holistic perspective encompassing walking, cycling, public transport, and shared mobility.”
JOERI VAN DEN ENDE
How can we seamlessly weave together the private, shared, and collective into a cohesive urban network within our cities? And how can neighbourhood mobility hubs be a useful tool for this mobility transition? In a recent conversation with Rotterdam's mobility advisor, Joeri van den Ende, and our urban designer, Stefano Agliati, we delved into the complexities of shared mobility and urban planning, unveiling the challenges faced by municipalities and offering insights into what is needed for a successful urban (shared) mobility transition.
Rotterdam is on the verge of publishing an integrated policy document that merges various transportation elements—car sharing, bikes, mopeds—into a cohesive strategy. This approach aims to establish a strong foundation for the development and implementation of neighbourhood hubs, fostering a smooth transition for residents. Joeri van den Ende emphasizes that he would like "to shift the narrative from individual vehicles to a broader perspective that embraces diverse and collective modes of transportation." Together with the municipality of Rotterdam, Amsterdam, The Hague, Utrecht, and Eindhoven, the so-called G5 municipalities, we at PosadMaxwan conducted research focused on how mobility hubs can land in existing neighbourhoods. Now, a few years later, we reflect on this study and look ahead to what is still needed.
HubLocator: Instant location exploration
An easy-to-use tool that tells you instantly what the ideal locations are for a hub network in your city… wouldn’t that be nice?
Our digital cities team developed a digital tool to automate the creation of a mobility hub network in any city in the Netherlands.
The mobility hub tool is automated and connected to our spatial database. This allows our urban designers and clients to play with different parameters to find the best locations for their mobility hubs.
In collaboration with the client, the municipality of Amsterdam, we assigned different hub strategies to diverse urban environments by modifying a few parameters. This ensures that every part of the city has the hub typology and network that best fits within its context.
The tool operates in four steps :
It makes an inventory of all suitable locations for mobility hubs within the existing urban environment. It scores all these potential hub locations based on different indicators such as the proximity to amenities, to public transport stops or the population density. It selects the best location , calculates its coverage area, and places the hub in the final network. It then selects the next best location from the remaining potential hubs and repeats the process until the entire area is served. In the end, the tool provides you with a data-supported network of ideal hub locations based on the things you find important for your municipality and even for each area specifically.
In recent years, we've made significant progress in comprehending the functioning and design integration of hub networks within urban landscapes. Despite this progress, there's still much work ahead. Our current focus revolves around the implementation and governance of hubs, aiming to provide governments, shared mobility providers and the broader population with a unified approach to the realization and utilization of these hubs.
In expanding our perspective, we're keen to extend the benefits of hubs beyond large cities and into smaller urban areas, even villages. Our initial approach involves bridging the gap between existing mobility and parking policies, and hubs emerge as an ideal avenue for this integration. Other research directions we are pursuing involve the exploration of the business model for neighbourhood hubs, the integration with logistic functions, and their usefulness in relieving the electricity grid.
Do you have questions, suggestions or would you like to be involved with us? Don't hesitate to contact us!
