On the 19th and 20th of April, the Municipality of Reggio Emilia hosted the last Peer Review of the RESOLVE project. Five experts from the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Belgium attended the two-days meeting organized by the Municipality, which received advices and suggestions to improve the access and mobility policy for the historic center and to better define the measures contained in the 2nd generation Mobility Plan currently under realisation following the SUMP guidelines elaborated by the European Commission.
The Municipality of Reggio Emilia organised the last peer review of the RESOLVE project on the 19th and 20th of April. Five experts from different parts of Europe visited the city to evaluate the current situation and provide their advice on future projects and strategies for the historic city center, whose development is comprised into a Strategic Plan approved in April 2016 and is currently subject of a plan for make it more pedestrian friendly with the reorganization of accessibility and parking.
Giuliano Mingardo from Erasmus University of Rotterdam (the Netherlands), Alberto Marescotti of the City of Padua (Italy), Robert Stussi of PerformEnergia (Portugal), Vlasta Krmelj of Energap (Slovenia) and Benedicte Swennen of the ECF-European Cyclists' Federation (Belgium) were the selected experts, bringing together their different backgrounds and their different skills to provide the Administration with a qualified adivce on how to improve the mobility and accessibility of the historic center, preserving its attractiveness and vitality for residents and business activities.
During the first day the experts, through a working session and a site visit to the main areas already redeveloped or object in the coming weeks of the pedestrianisation measures, had an overview of the mobility situation in the city center, the plans for the expansion of the pedestrian area and new regulation of the LTZ, and the strategic guidelines of the SUMP - Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan – that will be approved by the end of 2017.
During the second day the experts provided the technicians and key policymakers (vice mayors for Mobility, City centre and trade, International relations) their advices. The experts praised the city for the quality of mobility policies implemented over the past 10 years and highlighted the importance of the work done from the Administration to build a cooperative climate with the trade associations, which are also actively involved in the project through the local stakeholders group.
These are the key messages of the expert team:
KEEP ON THE RIGHT TRACK!!!
• The city of Reggio developed a very good mobility policy in the last 10 years, keep building on this!
• Reggio Emilia is a pioneer in mobility planning: you had a SUMP before it was invented!
• Many measures pay off after 5-10 years; keep on working on sustainable mobility, it will pay back on the long term
• You achieved “impressive” results: you are on the good track, keep on!
• 30 Km zone
• 68%-58% car use
• Good monitoring!!!
• Realistic and clear targets for the new SUMP
• You have a very good relationship with shopkeepeer
BUT DON’T STOP NOW!!!
One of the experts, Benedicte Swennen, published an article about her experience in Reggio Emilia; if you are interested to read it, click on this link: ecf.com/news-and-events/news/la-dolce-vita-reggio-emilia
