Jan 24, 2021

Low-Carbon Transport, Individual Wellbeing & Planetary Health in the Era of Smart Cities & New Mobilities

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Carbon emission is one of the key factors contributing to global warming and transport accounts for a higher percentage of carbon sources than other sectors. Reducing the impact of transport emissions on climate change and the environment as a whole has become a pressing concern in many countries.

As we enter the era of smart cities, it is timely to inquire whether and how the uptake of alternative mobilities enabled by new technologies (e.g. electric vehicles and bike-sharing) can improve individual health and wellbeing and planetary health. Are we traveling for good? Or are we producing more carbon than before?

This project seeks to understand the link between new mobilities and health and wellbeing at the individual and urban/regional levels with a view to informing urban policymakers and planners on designing and implementing programmes to incentivise people to adopt more sustainable travel behaviours. It will synthesise and evaluate successful and less successful practices around the world, identify the common contributing factors and consequences, and establish a conceptual framework to test the hypothetic link between new mobilities and health and wellbeing.

In the long run, the team also aims to produce an impact case study and undertake empirical research to investigate the influence of various geographical, social, and cultural factors on new mobilities.

The scientific knowledge and research capacity generated will be valuable in informing policymaking, planning and technological innovation to combat climate change and its impacts (SDG #13), and achieve sustainable cities and communities (SDG #11) and good health and wellbeing (SDG #3).

Who's involved

CUHK: Prof. Mei-Po Kwan, Director, Institute of Space & Earth Information Science

CUHK: Prof. Shelly Tse, Associate Professor, JC School of Public Health & Primary Care

CUHK: Prof. Harry Lee, Associate Professor, Dept of Geography & Resource Management

The University of Auckland: Prof. Subeh Chowdhury, Senior Lecturer, Dept of Civil & Environmental Engineering

University of Bristol: Prof. WANG Yiming, Senior Lecturer, School for Policy Studies

University of Leeds: Prof. Susan Grant-Muller, Chair in Technologies & Informatics, Institute for Transport Studies

Aarhus University: Prof. John Thøgersen, Professor, Dept of Management

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad: Prof. Sandip Chakrabarti, Assistant Professor, Public Systems Group

National University of Singapore: Prof. WANG Xize, Assistant Professor, Dept of Real Estate

Portland State University: Prof. Kelly Clifton, Professor, Dept of Civil & Environmental Engineering

The University of Sydney: Prof. Chinh Ho, Senior Research Fellow in Transport Economics & Transport Planning, Business School

The University of Tokyo: Prof. Giancarlos Troncoso Parady, Assistant Professor, Dept of Urban Engineering

University of Oxford: Dr. Andy Hong, Lead Urban Health Scientist, Nuffield Department of Women’s & Reproductive Health

University of Toronto: Prof. Eric Miller, Professor, Dept of Civil & Mineral Engineering

Utrecht University: Prof. Dick Ettema, Professor, Department of Human Geography & Planning