THE PUBLIC INTEREST ON THE CHALLENGING PATH TO A NEW (MOBILE) WORLD
© Berenika Oblonczyk
TEXT: Prof. Johannes Busmann, Publisher of polis Magazine & initiator of annual polis Convention
We could press ahead with the whole change and renewal process with our minds firmly focused on our goals if it were merely a case of launching a new innovation cycle. Instead, we are becoming more and more aware that the bearings we followed to successfully develop the car and hence the organisation of public space and its accompanying hierarchy are no longer serving us. Even the very question of which technologies will be viable to support tomorrow’s mobility, thereby assuming a defining role, still remains open despite the growing general inclination towards electromobility. The innovations in battery technologies show that more crucial developments are undoubtedly still to be expected in this field in the coming years. The same applies to other potential energy carriers, namely hydrogen and synthetic fuels. All these developments demonstrate that the question of what form tomorrow’s mobility will take will inevitably be decided by the energy question. Fuel cells, batteries, synthetic fuels – none of these technologies can function successfully without resolving the questions of energy generation and supply. The mobility of the future can emerge only from a cross-sector perspective on the issue of energy.
The word “mobility” has entered everyday language over the past few years, so much so that we use it quite naturally. It has become a key term in the sociopolitical debate on the future of products, systems and services and the use of the available public space. At the same time, it marks – apparently tacitly – the transition from the automobile age towards a complex understanding of locomotion. But as easy as it may be for us to use the word, the path to the new mobility is anything but simple. It is becoming increasingly evident that bidding farewell to the product-focused century of the car has not simultaneously given us a clear picture of what to expect of a new mobility in tomorrow’s world.
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OPINION
But why will we actually need to be mobile? The organisation of modern cities, based on the functionally separate development of their different spheres, is becoming less and less relevant. Where do we work? Will we still have to commute, or will the home office make this need for mobility increasingly obsolete? Will the inner city finally lose its privileged position as the commercial centre with the rise of ecommerce, or will the energy costs of logistics lead to a new appreciation of the city centre? Are the metropolises facing a crisis, while the surrounding regions can look ahead to a renaissance because hardly anyone can afford the commutes and the high housing prices? Which transport systems and mobility offerings will meet the needs of this highly differentiated and more complex reality and succeed in it? And over and above all these open questions, we face the task of making mobility sustainably climate-neutral and accessible for all members of society. Liveable cities, districts and neighbourhoods will not emerge from the new mobility; rather, they will define the requirements for what we need from diverse and efficient mobility. The social acceptance of future mobility offerings will be determined by whether they serve the public interest in a healthy environment and an open society.
