We have talked a lot about decarbonising buildings and heating in our recent blogs, so now some news of a transport project we’re excited to be getting started on. Our Head of Smart Mobility, Kim Smith introduces our latest work with the Royal Borough of Greenwich on the next generation of mobility hubs, assessing the impact of new transport solutions on the shared spaces of a housing estate.

For some time now, DG Cities has been working on projects that seek to understand the decarbonisation challenges that transport, in all its forms, brings. Transport is more than a service, it is the glue that binds together social cohesion and complex aspects of people’s lives; it facilitates access to life’s necessities, from work and admin to recreation and education. Whether you live in a city with good public transport links, or in a car-dependent rural spot, there are nuanced decisions to be made about getting from a to b.

With the phasing out of the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles getting rapidly closer, a large part of our mobility work has been looking at the infrastructure required to support the transition to electric vehicles, whether for individuals or industry. In all our research, a primary concern flagged by those we have interviewed and surveyed has been access to a reliable and fairly priced charging network.

Work done with some of our partners, including Field Dynamics as part of Project REME, has helped us look at charging solutions for the large number of people who lack access to off-street parking in rural locations. Our latest work with the Royal Borough of Greenwich (RBG) takes us back to an urban environment, looking at the complexities of parking and charging on the Borough’s housing estates, and exploring ways to support residents in their transition to zero-carbon vehicles.

We have benefited from the insight gained through our work with developers, particularly where we have helped them future-cast transport trends and understand the changing wants and needs of their residents over a 15 or 20 year phased build out. This helped us create a picture of changing behaviours and the flexible approach which can be applied to supporting transport requirements.

Initially, our discussions with RBG Housing were centred around supporting the transition to electric vehicles for council tenants by identifying opportunities and delivery models for siting charge points on housing estates. DG Cities takes a whole-city approach to understanding the diversity of needs – and understanding that change in one area can impact many others. The project has now developed into a more holistic look at modal choices and offers on different estates, and what could be delivered to widen access, not just to electric vehicles, but to other sustainable and active travel solutions.

Would residents want to look at identifying space in the estate for cycle schemes, e scooter trials, car club vehicles? How does this impact on the public realm and shared spaces around the estate? From these lines of enquiry, we began thinking about a bespoke mobility hub designed with the specific wants and needs (and physical limitations and opportunities) of the borough’s differing types of estate and its residents.

We’re at the very beginning of this exciting piece of work. Initially, we’re looking at different estate typologies, spread across the Borough, to develop pilot designs. Working with colleagues from Greenwich Council, we have identified five estates which fit one or other of these categories. Our research and project development approach is always human-centric, and the estate mobility hub pilots is no different – over the next three months we’ll be working with residents and Council officers to create a template for a model which could then be rolled out across Greenwich.

Watch this space…