With this initiative, the first Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan is installed in a Chilean city.
27 January 2022, Antofagasta, Chile - To close the collaboration between the EUROCLIMA+ programme and the Regional Government of Antofagasta, the Sustainable Urban Mobility Observatory of Antofagasta, was presented at the end of 2022, a platform that will allow the visualisation of the indicators of the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP), the first of its kind in a Chilean city.
At the event, held at the Universidad Católica del Norte, the final results of the study developed by the Observatory and the SUMP Dissemination Report were also presented. The Regional Government of Antofagasta also presented its next step in sustainable mobility: the development of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan for Calama, another important city in the region.
With respect to the observatory, it consists of a web platform that uses public information from the System of Urban Development Indicators and Standards (SIEDU), of SECTRA (Roads and Urban Transport Programme) and from the logistics observatory of the Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications. With an interactive and easy-to-navigate design, this instrument will serve to monitor the implementation of the Antofagasta SUMP and the scope of its 7 strategic objectives.
On the other hand, in the presentation of the Antofagasta SUMP dissemination report, it was highlighted that this public policy document will focus on reducing travel distances between the different centres and sub-centres of the city, integrating modes such as walking, cycling, public transport and car, as well as optimising the transport system through technology. Following this approach, the SUMP design is based on the development of longitudinal and transversal corridors for sustainable modes.
"These plans are innovative instruments that aim to turn the traditional form of transport planning in most of the world's cities on its head. Instead of focusing planning exclusively on reducing travel times at the lowest possible cost, but at high environmental cost and low protection of life, they put people and the environment at the centre of planning, ensuring that mobility is clean, safe, healthy and efficient," said Ewout Sandker, Head of Cooperation of the Delegation of the European Union in Chile.
To achieve this, investment in priority actions is proposed through 7 packages of measures:
- Public Transport.
- Active Transport.
- Discouraging automobile use.
- Land use and public space.
- Logistical transport.
- Intermodality.
- Governance.
The closing event was attended by the Regional Governor of Antofagasta, Ricardo Díaz Cortés, who gave the words of welcome:
“We all know that we have to move towards lifestyle changes. We are in a condition of climate change where our own actions have done a lot of damage to the planet. However, this is quite complex, because it means changing habits and the way of being, the way of conceiving the city. And that is the great challenge of SUMP: how we generate other types of mobilities that are healthier and more environmentally sustainable, but that imply a change in our ways of being and living”.
Around 20 people representing public and private bodies, as well as civil organisations also participated, including: Regional Government of Antofagasta, Municipality of Antofagasta, Regional Ministerial Secretariat of Transport and Telecommunications, Regional Ministerial Secretariat of Housing and Urbanism, Sectra (Roads and Transport Programme), EUROCLIMA+ Programme, City Planning Consultancy, School of Architecture of the Catholic University of the North, University of Antofagasta, as well as Creo Antofagasta.
With an endowment of 500,000 euros and with the implementation of the German Development Cooperation (GIZ), the EUROCLIMA+ programme collaborated to develop the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) of Antofagasta, which brings together a common vision and objectives to move towards a more sustainable mobility focused on people's well-being. Now that the SUMP has been developed, citizen participation and the Mobility Observatory will allow following up on the implementation of actions based on people's needs:
"All discussion, all planning, must be more open to the community. We have to open up the space, we have to give social weight to each of our policies, because it is social weight that makes these policies permeate and remain over time," commented Ricardo Díaz Cortés".
About EUROCLIMA+
EUROCLIMA+ is a programme funded by the European Union and co-financed by the German federal government through the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), as well as by the governments of France and Spain through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation.
The Programme's mission is to reduce the impact of climate change and its effects in 18 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, promoting mitigation, adaptation, resilience and climate investment. It is implemented according to the "Spirit of Team Europe" under the synergistic work of seven agencies: the Spanish Agency for International Development Cooperation (AECID), the French Development Agency (AFD), the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), Expertise France (EF), the International and Ibero-America Foundation for Administration and Public Policy (FIIAPP), the German Society for International Cooperation (GIZ) GmbH, and the UN Environment Programme (UNEP).
For more information:
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