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Knowledge category: Synergetic local policy plans

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs)

Updated on 16.11.2023

SUMPs focuses on improving quality of life in cities by satisfying the mobility needs of people and businesses. SUMPs achieves this by ensuring all residents are offered accessible transport options, improving safety and security, reducing air (GHG), energy use, and noise pollution, making transport more efficient and cost-effective, and improving the quality of the urban environment.

Author: European Commission
Year of adoption/publication: 2019

More information

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan(s) (SUMP(s)) have been designed to tackle transport-related problems in urban areas more efficiently. SUMPs contribute to reaching the European climate and energy targets set by EU leaders and have been promoted by the Commission as a new planning concept able to address transport-related challenges and problems of urban areas in a more sustainable and integrative way via the Action Plan on Urban Mobility (2009) and Transport White Paper (2011). As SUMPs are concerned with all modes of urban transport, cycling is a one element of the plan.

Interoperability with Circular Systemic Solutions and Circular Economy Action Plans

Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs) have been designed to tackle transport-related problems in urban areas more efficiently. These plans are made for long-term improvement through an integrative approach. SUMPs are a structured process: visions are created; objectives and targets are set; policies and measures are selected; and active communication, monitoring and evaluation all take place. The SUMP process sets the tone for a new mobility culture, which will be achieved through defining policies, identifying measurable targets, ensuring the involvement of stakeholders at appropriate stages and collaboration between relevant policy areas and authorities. SUMPs can potentially include measures that lie at the intersection of mobility and circular economy, and thus contribute to development and implementation of Circular Systemic Solutions, speeding up the CE transition.

Social aspects
Territories involved

large 500 000-200 000, medium 200 000-50 000, and small cities 50 000-5 000

large metropolitan area >1.5 million, metropolitan area 1.5 million-500 000