From Smart Urbanism to Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan: A Critical Evaluation of the Case of Cagliari

Nowadays, cities are undergoing uncontrolled development, the main factor of environmental unsustainability, and are increasingly suffering the repercussions of environmental alterations. Policies based on smart urbanism, a concept strongly linked to sustainable development, have been trying for years to respond to these problems, significantly influencing applications in local contexts. In the field of mobility, this attention is manifested significantly since 2014, when the European Union defines the guidelines for the drafting of Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs). In Italy, these regulatory tools were implemented in 2017, when the Italian Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport (IMIT) approved the guidelines for SUMPs, called in Italian ‘ Piani Urbani di Mobilità Sostenibile ’ (PUMS). However, many Italian cities have not yet defined their plans or have, in general, drafted general guidelines. Among these, the Metropolitan City of Cagliari (MCC) has only the guidelines of its PUMS. Considering these assumptions, the authors introduce the theoretical analysis linked to the concept of smart urbanism, to then provide a critical framework for transport policies through the comparison between the strategies and actions defined by the IMIT and those defined by the guidelines addressed by the MCC. This chapter offers an overview of the choices that the metropolitan city intends to implement for its sustainable mobility. The main purpose is to evaluate, at first, how the MCC has identified the key principles to be included in its guidelines. In particular, the objective is to understand if the selected macro-objectives and the objectives are in line with the real needs and requirements that the city has. Furthermore, questions are raised about their feasibility and implementation through appropriate strategies and actions, and above all to understand whether something should be integrated in the light of national guidelines. Finally, the authors added some implementation action aimed at a more human-oriented approach to the needs of the population, the use of technologies and the relationship of the MCC with water.