Healthy mobility transition:
Facilitating active mobility in cities

People who walk, cycle and use public transport not only help to protect the environment and the climate. Active mobility also promotes personal health and improves the quality of life in cities. But how can the mobility transition succeed? And what will healthy mobility look like in the future as cities have to adapt to heat and heavy rainfall as a result of climate change?

In the AMBER project, we are using citizen science studies and an interdisciplinary mix of methods to investigate which measures will make it easier to switch from cars to active mobility. The team is also investigating how the health-promoting effects of cycling, walking etc. can be sustainably improved.

Why active mobility?

We want to understand how healthy, active and climate-friendly mobility in cities can become more attractive – and how weather changes due to climate change need to be taken into account. Here we present our project and explain, among other things, why bus and train travel is also part of active mobility.

Practical research

Researchers from the fields of health and environmental psychology, public health, meteorology, and sustainability management work closely with practice partners such as the ADFC and Changing Cities. An international scientific advisory board regularly exchanges ideas with the researchers.

Impulses for a healthy mobility transition

How healthy is active mobility in the city? When are cycling and walking perceived as pleasant? How can new mobility routines be established in daily life – and what can companies and civil society contribute to this? We provide some initial insights into these questions here.

News

First Citizen Workshop on May 30: Helping to shape mobility research

“Imagine you could carry out a research project on mobility in cities – what questions do you think should be investigated?” At the first citizen workshop of the AMBER project on May 30, 2024 in Berlin, around ten citizens gathered and shared ideas. Topics were, for example: What do cars offer that other means of transportation do not? Where are the obstacles to shifting to active mobility? What influence does urban planning have on how mindful road users are of each other? Further participatory formats are planned.

“Minds of the future”: Dr. Jan Keller & Dr. Vivian Frick

The environment and how people relate to it – this interrelationship fascinates Dr. Jan Keller and Dr. Vivian Frick. In the series “Minds of the Future”, the BMBF's program FONA introduces the two psychologists who are leading the AMBER research project. Together with their team, they are investigating how a climate-friendly mobility transition can succeed in cities and how this would also benefit the well-being of the public. One crucial aspect is that “by jointly evaluating their data, citizens have the opportunity to actively participate in the research,” emphasizes Keller.

FONA website (DE) ...

Vivian Frick as a guest on “radioeins”

Many people find it difficult to get enough exercise in their daily lives. Regular walking or cycling promotes health – but this requires good overall conditions: “The mobility transition should be about designing cities and villages so well that they promote active mobility,” says Vivian Frick on radioeins. “Everyone should be able to move around safely and healthily.”

Healthy mobility transition:Facilitating active mobility in cities