Understanding Planning Practices for Active Intermodality – A Comparative Case Study between Stuttgart/Germany and Gothenburg/Sweden from a Collaborative Perspective
Nowadays, cities are facing air and noise pollution due to the high amount of motorized transport. This impacts the inhabitants’ health negatively. Thus, scholars and planners suggest a shift towards a more sustainable urban transport scheme, including the integration of biking and walking with public transport. This is part of active intermodality – the combination of at least two modes in one single trip – which is crucial for facilitating that shift successfully. This results in the aim of this thesis which is to understand planning practices for active intermodality and aims at answering the research question: How can active intermodality be improved?This thesis is a comparative case study of Stuttgart/Germany and Gothenburg/Sweden. Their comparison will offer valuable insights into the planning processes due to their differing organizational and legal structures. To answer the research questions, the methods used were a literature review to understand the relevance and term of intermodality; a policy document analysis to see if the planning processes in both cities include intermodal measures and to find out who is responsible; and lastly, qualitative semi-structured interviews with responsible planners to further understand the implementation of active intermodality. The literature highlights that active intermodality can be best planned through an integrative planning approach, because many actors are involved. Therefore, the theory of collaboration was used to analyze the collaboration between planners in both cities.Both Stuttgart and Gothenburg aim for a more sustainable and intermodal transport network which is reflected by their policies. The approach to reach that goal is different in each city because Stuttgarts’ planning system is rather top-down while the planners in Västra Götaland/Gothenburg have more freedom of choice. Despite those differences, both cities highlight the importance of collaboration when it comes to planning for active intermodality. In line with the documents, interviews with planners confirmed that intermodal measures are covered by the planning process, yet the collaborative structures differ immensely. Moreover, the analysis of the interviews identified two barriers that the planning processes for active intermodality in both cities are facing. The first barrier is the planning systems that hardly allow comprehensive planning processes for intermodality, because both cities are still caught up in old administrative structures that oftentimes favor the cars. To overcome this, the theoretical framework suggests stronger leadership and mandates to establish a better collaboration. Despite the fact that there is an overall agreement of all actors that intermodal measures are necessary, priorities regarding the implementation of such measures differ among them. This calls for a joint problem definition and joint action to reach a better understanding of each other, according to the theory. Although planners face the same barriers, solutions are handled differently: planners in Stuttgart focus on discussing case-by-case in case a certain measure is not already covered yet while planners in Västra Götaland/Gothenburg are trying to establish collaborative structures to find a solution in the long-run.To conclude, this thesis demonstrates that collaborative planning for active intermodality is crucial for its successful implementation and improvement. The theoretical framework gave a valuable insight in what can be improved in collaboration to further facilitate active intermodality, however, the limits of the theory are regulations the planners have to stick to.