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Mérida, Yucatán.– Intelligent cities (smart cities) have mobility as a fundamental element, since it impacts people’s quality of life, road safety, the environment, productivity and competitiveness, specialists agreed during the Smart City Expo Latam Congress 2023.
Carlos Jesús Orozco, director of Urban Mobility at the Mexico World Resources Institute, highlighted that digitization and the use of data (generated from the adoption of mobility technologies) provide an opportunity for state and municipal governments to improve the transportation systems.
From the adoption of digital and sustainable technologies, such as hybrid or electric vehicles, it is possible to make transportation more efficient and promote the transition of territories to smart cities in Mexico. But a cultural transformation is also necessary.
Rafael Hernández, General Director of the Institute of Mobility and Territorial Urban Development of Yucatán, warned that there is currently an enormous dependence on automobiles. To reduce it, it is necessary to improve the quality of public transport and convert public space into a more conducive environment for other modalities such as cycling and walking on foot.
Not modernizing public transport will generate a negative impact on climate change, due to the intensive use of vehicles that run on fossil fuels; the deepening of social inequalities, since those most affected by poor transportation are people who live in remote areas; as well as productivity of the industries and the different economic sectors, explained Hernández.
On the other hand, Gonzalo Álvarez, municipal president of Zapotlanejo, pointed out that, given the exponential growth of cities, urban planning is also an essential part of building smart cities. In this path, he said, all the needs of the population must be taken into account: the development of accessible spaces for people with disabilities, lighting, transportation, security and connectivity.
Although changes are already taking place in municipalities and states, and there is increasing awareness about the importance of modernizing and digitizing transportation systems, access to financing to promote projects in these areas is still an obstacle for improve mobility, pointed out Carlos Jesús Orozco.
The specialist emphasized that in cities people spend a significant part of their time, even several hours a day, moving from one place to another. For this reason, towards the design of smart cities it is necessary to «be clear that mobility is a piece that directly impacts people’s quality of life».