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Mobility Infrastructure

A chief goal of sustainable urban development is the strategic design and redesign of mobility infrastructure. Fixing existing infrastructure is multilayered. The twentieth-century trend toward motorization had profound positive implications on the development of cities; but for all the good that has come from Eisenhower-era interstate highways, they’ve also had negative consequences, such as surrounding cities in a way that cuts off access to waterfronts, parks, and natural spaces. State and county transportation authorities, major transportation companies, and city leaders should work together to reopen access to these areas and restore them using next-generation ecological design and modern engineering.

An Outdoor City’s design pays careful attention to its mobility plan. It maintains roads and highways and offers benefits to ride sharers who help decrease the number of vehicles on the road. It also encourages public transportation and other modes of transit that are more environmentally friendly than private cars. In an Outdoor City, there are transit centers that are municipal hubs, offering transportation to schools, stores, medical facilities, places of worship, office buildings, walking routes, and parks. These are essentially regional urban ecosystems, and can even house retail spaces and restaurants. A well-designed municipal hub grows a region’s economy, improves the quality of life of its residents, makes it more visitor friendly, and significantly lowers the city’s carbon footprint.