Designing a strategic mobility plan for a small and medium sized cities using a multi-stage methodology: Case of Celje

Uroš Kramar; Tina Cvahte; Marjan Sternad; Darja Topolšek

Uroš Kramar University of Maribor, Faculty of logistics, Celje, Slovenia
Tina Cvahte University of Maribor, Faculty of logistics, Celje, Slovenia
Marjan Sternad University of Maribor, Faculty of logistics, Celje, Slovenia
Darja Topolšek University of Maribor, Faculty of logistics, Celje, Slovenia

Keywords: urban mobility, strategy, planning, multi-stage methodology, small and medium sized cities (SMSC)

Abstract

Urban mobility is one of the crucial factors of quality of life in cities. Therefore, an effective mobility system and its holistic planning are of utmost importance for sustainable and quality development of urban centres. This paper focuses on holistic and integrated strategic planning of a mobility system. The used multi - step methodology was tested on a case of a city of Celje, Slovenia. With the first round of focus groups, information about the specific urban mobility system was gathered which was used to develop a SWOT matrix. This was the foundation for the execution of a second round of focus groups, where the output was a proposition for a strategic plan for mobility development in small and medium sized cities.

References

Alsnih, R., Hensher, D. A. (2003) The mobility and accessibility expectations of seniors in an aging population, Transportation Research Part A, Vol. 37, pp. 903-916.

Austrian Institute for Regional Studies and Spatial Planning (2005). ESPON 2006 Programme. ESPON 1.4.1 „Small and Medium-sized Towns (SMESTO)“. Vienna.

Balamuralikrishna, R., Dugger, C. J. (1995) SWOT analysis: a management tool for initiating new programs in vocational schools, Journal of Vocational and Technical Education, Vol. 12, pp. 36-41.

Bührmann, S., Wefering, F., Rupprecht, S. (2011) Guidelines on the development and implementation of a Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan. Cologne: Rupprecht Consult.

Celik, A. Metin, I., Celik, M. (2012) Taking a Photo of Turkish Fishery Sector: A Swot Analysis, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, No. 58, pp. 1515-1524.

Čolić, R. (2014) Evaluation of the capacity development of actors within participatory planning process, SPATIUM, No. 31, pp. 45-50.

Dijkstra, L. and Poelman, H. (2012). Cities in Europe the new OECD-EC Definition. Regional Focus. A series of short papers on regional research and indicators produced by the Directorate- General for Regional and Urban Policy.

D’Otero, J. C. P., Abril, H. M. S. (2013). Methodological proposal for the characterization of mobility in small cities tourism, 13th World Conference on Transport Research, 15. – 18. July 2013, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Duarte C., Ettkin, L. P., Helms, M. M., Anderson, M. S. (2006) The challenge of Venezuela: a SWOT analysis, Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal incorporating Journal of Global Competitiveness, Vol. 16, No. 3, pp. 233-247.

Dürrenberger, G. (1999) Focus Groups in Integrated Assessment. ULYSSES Working Paper.

Dyson, R. G. (2004) Strategic development and SWOT analysis at the University of Warwick, European Journal of Operational Research, No. 152, pp. 631-640.

ESPON. (2013). TOWN. Small and medium sized towns in their functional territorial context. Case Study Report Slovenia.

ESPON. (2014). TOWN. Small and medium sized towns in their functional territorial context. Scientific Report.

European Commission, Directorate General for Regional Policy. (2011). Cities of tomorrow Challenges, visions, ways forward.

Glaister, K. W., Falshaw, J. R. (1999) Strategic planning still going strong, Long Range Planning, Vol. 32, No. 1, pp. 107-116.

Giffinger, R. Fertner, C., Kramar, H., Meijers, E. (2007). City- ranking of European Medium-Sized Cities. Paper presented at IFHP World Congress - Futures of Cities, IFHP, Denmark.

Hecimovic, H. (2014) Koprivnica – Planning sustainable mobility in a small town, CIVITAS forum 2014, 23. – 26. September 2014, Casablanca, Marocco.

Hristić, D. N., Stefanović, N. (2013) The role of public insight in urban planning process: Increasing efficiency and effectiveness, SPATIUM, No. 30, pp. 33-39.

Hřyland, S., Haugen, A. S., Thomassen, Ř. (2014) Perceptions of time spent on safety tasks in surgical operations: A focus group study, Safety Science, No. 70, pp. 70-79.

Kahan, J. P. (2001) Focus Groups as a Tool for Policy Analysis, Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, No. 2001, pp. 129- 146.

Keller, P. (2000) A Challenge in Future Transportation Research and Planning. Energy Technologies for a Sustainable Future. Villigen: Paul Scherrer Institute.

Kress, V. E., Shoffner, M. F. (2007) Focus Groups: A Practical and Applied Research Approach for Counselors, Journal of Counseling & Development, Vol. 85.

Krueger, R.A., Casey, M.A. (2009) Focus Groups: A Practical Guide for Applied Research, 4th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Lindholm, M. (2013) Urban freight transport from a local authority perspective – a literature review, European Transport, No. 54, paper no 3.

Lindholm, M., Behrends, S. (2010) A holistic approach to challenges in urban freight transport planning. 12th WCTR. Lisbon: Portugal

Luca, O., Sercaianu, M. (2011) Mobility management in European projects. Lessons learned for Romania, Theoretical and Empirical Researches in Urban Management, 6 (2), 54-66.

Masadeh, A. M. (2012) Focus Group: Reviews and Practices, International Journal of Applied Science and Technology, Vol. 2, No. 10, pp. 63-68.

Mercatelli, L. (2014) Urban mobility planning in cities and town with less than 100.000 inhabitants: Planning challenges and opportunities, 1st European Conference on Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans, 12. – 13. June 2014, Sopot, Poland.

Morgan, D. L. (1996) Focus Groups, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 22, pp. 129-152.

O’Doherty, T., Fitzgerald, B. G., Moles, R., O’Regan, B. (2013) A novel method for feasibility testing urban sustainable development policies, SPATIUM, No. 30, pp. 1-6.

Taniguchi, A., Fujii, S. (2007) Promoting Public Transport Using Marketing Techniques in Mobility Management and Verifying their Quantitative Effects, Transportation, 34 (1), pp. 37-49.

The Gallup Organization (2007) Attitudes on issues related to EU Transport Policy. Hungary: Flash EB No206b.

UN-Habitat: Urban transport (2014a) Objectives and Strategy. Online: http://mirror.unhabitat.org/content.asp?typeid=19&catid=639&cid=7984, accessed 20th Sep 2014.

UN-Habitat: Urban transport (2014b) Urban Transport Programme. Online: http://mirror.unhabitat.org/content.asp?cid=849&catid=639&typeid=24&subMenuId=0, accessed 20th Sep 2014.

Zavodnik Lamovšek, A., Drobne, S., Žaucer, T. (2008). Small and medium-size towns as the basis of polycentric urban development. Geodetski vestnik, 52 (2), pp. 290-312.

Zohrabi, A., Manteghi, N. (2011) A Proposed model for strategic planning in educational organizations, Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, Vol. 28, pp. 205-210.