THE EUROPEAN SUSTAINABLE MOBILITY WEEK, ESTABLISHED IN 2002 UNDER THE AEGIS OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION AND CELEBRATED EVERY YEAR FROM 16 TO 22 SEPTEMBER, PROMOTES INITIATIVES AIMED AT IMPROVING THE QUALITY OF LIFE IN URBAN CENTRES. THIS CAMPAIGN AIMS TO RAISE CITIZENS AND GOVERNMENTS AWARENESS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF REDUCE THE USE OF PRIVATE CARS, ENCOURAGING MORE ECOLOGICAL MEANS OF TRANSPORT SUCH AS BICYCLES, PUBLIC TRANSPORT AND WALKING. THE INITIATIVE IS PLACED IN THIS FRAMEWORK “ROADS TO SCHOOLS”AIMED AT TRANSFORMING THE SPACES AROUND SCHOOL INSTITUTIONS INTO SAFER AND LIVABLE AREAS, AS DEMONSTRATED BY THE RECENT ACTIONS UNDERTAKEN IN ROME
The European Sustainable Mobility Week
The goal of European Sustainable Mobility Week 2024 was centered on the theme “Shared spaces, wiser choices“. This slogan underlines the importance of more intelligent and collective management of urban spaces, promoting solutions that encourage the reduction of dependence on private cars. The initiative is inspired by virtuous models such as those of European cities such as Copenhagen e Amsterdamwhere cycling and public transport are widespread and like the project of Paris from the “city 15 minutes away“, which aims to make essential services easily reachable on foot or by bike.
This edition saw significant participation from over 2100 cities in almost fifty countries, with more than seven hundred interventions registered to promote sustainable modes of transport. The main objective was to raise citizens’ awareness of the importance of promoting greener mobility solutions such as carpoolingpublic transport and the use of bicycle.
Rome and the European Mobility Week: the new project “School Streets”
In this European context of growing awareness of sustainable mobility, too Roma gave its contribution with the inauguration of new ones “School Streets”including the redevelopment of via Mondovì, near the Istituto Comprensivo “Giuseppe Garibaldi”in the Appio Latino neighborhood.
The choice to intervene in this area is part of a broader strategy of rethinking urban spaces, in line with the models already adopted in European cities such as London, Paris, Copenhagen and Barcelona with the “superillas” (or “superblocks”), areas that include several blocks – usually nine – where vehicular traffic is significantly limited.
These cities have represented an example of excellence in Europe, with respectively three hundred and six hundred areas dedicated to pedestrian safety, free from car traffic.
Rome has set itself the goal of creating one hundred of these areas by Jubilee of 2025highlighting its determination to align itself with the standards of the main European capitals, demonstrating how essential it is to free public space by removing it from car traffic and returning it to citizens.
This not only leads to a tangible improvement in the safety for children and pedestrians, but also contributes to an overall redevelopment of the urban environment. This process passes through a structural transformation of the city landscape: fewer vehicles in circulation mean better air quality, a reduction in noise and, more generally, a healthier and more livable environment. But let’s see what actions the Eternal City has implemented.
Via Mondovì and the redevelopment project
Via Mondovì represents the tenth intervention within the redevelopment program of school areas in Rome, with another eighteen streets already in an advanced planning stage. The short-term goal is to reach forty-one school streets, with the prospect of reaching the final goal of one hundred throughout the city.
According to the mayor Roberto Gualtierithese structures go beyond simple closure to traffic: they are true public spaces that first and foremost return places dedicated to the community to citizens.
Through the reduction of the space reserved for vehicles, not only a reduction in pollution is achieved, but also an environment more favorable to interaction and communication development of a collective conscience linked to the protection of the urban environment. But let’s go into detail.
Two examples of sustainable roads
Via Mondovì embodies in an exemplary way the vision of a more sustainable and livable city. In addition to the closure to vehicular traffic, which marks a clear transformation in terms of safety and usability, a redevelopment complete with repaving interventions.
These will not only have an aesthetic function, but will be designed to improve the functionality of the area, making it more suitable for pedestrian mobility and the needs of the local community. The project will be enriched by a series of cultural and creative initiatives, including the creation of street art works with smog-eating paint, an innovative technology capable of absorbing and reducing air pollution.
The redevelopment of via Mondovì is inspired by the model of via Puglie, in the Sallustiano district, another successfully transformed area of Rome. Here, there pedestrianization has brought tangible results: safety for children has improved and the area has become a aggregation point for families, residents and local traders. Furthermore, the reduction in traffic has improved air quality and made the neighborhood more livable.
The experience of via Puglie has demonstrated how a well-planned intervention can radically transform the urban fabric, making it become a real “urban laboratory”, replicable in other areas of the city.
Rome as an educating city: the role of the school. A project, the Capitoline one, with profound educational value
The transformation of the areas surrounding the schools does not only represent a physical redevelopment intervention, but also a cultural change. The goal is to create a dialogue between the educational environment and the urban context, integrating learning with the principles of a safer and more inclusive city life.
In this vision, Rome aspires to become one educating citya place where education, sociality and civic sense intertwine, so as to encourage the growth of a community based on safety and mutual respect from childhood. In short, the project aims to shaping urban spaces in which the values of shared responsibility and cooperation are an integral part of citizens’ daily lives, laying the foundations for a more aware and cohesive society.
The project of school streets it is not limited to the interventions already started, but is projected towards a future full of innovative initiatives and collaborations that will involve schools, local associations and the community in a broader sense.