Urban Mobility Measures in Response to COVID-19: Emerging Concepts and Trends for Sustainable Planning

Transport systems were highly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, challenging the pathway of cities towards sustainable mobility. This work analyses worldwide sustainable urban mobility measures adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic to provide a comprehensive taxonomic picture of emerging policy and research issues. Qualitative exploratory research is carried out using the N-Vivo software to identify concepts and challenges for leveraging the sustainability and resilience of urban mobility systems. To our best knowledge, this research is the former presenting a focus on concepts around the subject of sustainable urban mobility measures implemented across the World during the pandemic and comprehensive analysis using a sustainable urban mobility lens. Results show that most policy measures were reactive to a public health emergency and suggest a lack of strategic planning to achieve a just sustainable urban mobility, as advocated by SUMP and SDGs. Nevertheless, some aspects of the impact of the pandemic on society have been widely addressed, like technological advances in mobility services, improving the level of urban mobility management through intelligent traffic systems. Overall, the pattern of responses suggests that further policy and research efforts are required for cities to advance towards the full implementation of smart and sustainable mobility strategies.