Mobility is not only the sum of technology and cost analysis, but also of spatial practices linked to land-use, accessibility, and mobility design (Eckart & Vockler, 2023). As a consequence, innovative mobility solutions (should) bring (direct/indirect) benefits to the entire community, to be accepted and succeed. This is the case of Urban Air Mobility (UAM), a new type of infrastructure under development, that uses electric aircrafts to move quickly around the city. Even though social acceptance constitutes a source of concern for its implementation (EASA, 2021), developing scenarios proposed by companies feed a market-driven approach, where mobility design follows back. Design instead should be addressed from the initial stage of planning (Triggianese, 2023), to effectively integrate mobility in the urban and social environment.
This paper, therefore, highlights how mobility design (both architectural and urban) plays a crucial role in shaping mobility places, contributing to its success.
The investigation method through which these spatial relationships will be emphasized is through an analysis of failed case studies, Rotterdam-The Hague Airport (NL) and Bresso Airport (IT). Both represent air mobility cases embedded in an urban context. By learning from these two “failing stories”, it is possible to stress the role of the design in integrating mobility projects within the urban environment. This contribution sets a link with the narrative of UAM network and project design, which, even though they are linked to a market factor, can still address social and land-use practices.
In the form of mobility design, architecture and urban design has the power to act as a mediator of interests (Triggianese, 2023), between the market, technology and people, translating innovation into spaces. This position can feed future research on mobility design projects, recentring architecture and urban design’s role in the mobility implementation, to shape new common visions.
Bibliography
- EASA. (2021). Study on the societal acceptance of Urban Air Mobility in Europe.
- Eckart, P., & Vockler, K. (2023), Mobility Design. Shaping Future Mobility, Jovis.
- Triggianese, M. (2023). Design of Co-creation in Rotterdam Central Station (1996-2007): Architecture and urban design roles in the multi-stakeholder collaboration. Spool, 10(1), 57-71.
