Hamburger Hochbahn, HVV and others: A culture for sustainable mobility

The challenge

In a major city like Hamburg, there are already many alternative mobility options to the car. Despite the pollution caused by emissions, the shortage of parking spaces, increasing traffic jams and journey times, the car is still the most frequently used means of transport. The density of cars has even increased by 12% in recent years(https://bit.ly/36dii9z).
The contradictory thing about this is that many people are aware of the need for a mobility transition, but are not adapting their behaviour accordingly. An interdisciplinary team consisting of people from Hamburger Hochbahn; Hamburger Verkehrsverbund; Landesbetrieb für Straßen, Brücken und Gewässern; Behörde für Verkehr und Mobilitätswende; hySolutions GmbH and three creative professionals has dedicated itself to the phenomenon of the "knowledge-action gap".

Output

Achieving Hamburg's ambitious mobility and climate targets requires not only the right alternative options, but above all a new mobility culture to ensure that existing options are utilised.

The team's result is a participatory communication concept that involves citizens in a playful way by rewarding sustainable mobility behaviour. A competition was developed for this purpose, which is communicated through a concise umbrella brand (MovingHH) and is visible throughout the city. The aim of the competition is to make citizens aware of the impact of their mobility decisions, to get them excited about new forms of mobility, to break established routines and to actively involve them in shaping the city.

An app is used to track and visualise CO2 consumption depending on the form of mobility. CO2 savings are always made when the car is not used - so it doesn't matter whether you travel by bike, e-scooter or public transport - the main thing is that the car stays parked.
The mobility points collected in this way are rewarded - they can be used for the participatory redesign of car parks (rePlace). In this way, the link between sustainable mobility and more urban open space through fewer cars is made clear. Once enough points have been collected and experienced for a location proposed by citizens themselves, a parklet can be created from various modules and used. The use should be based on the needs of the neighbourhood. An AR representation in the app helps to visualise the various options (urban gardens, seating areas, bicycle parking spaces, a stage or other elements) and evaluate their added value for the neighbourhood. The customised parklet is then given a permanent place for 6 months and becomes a new meeting place for the neighbourhood.

The idea is therefore to combine the competitive and playful competition principle with the incentive to help shape and participate in the mobility transition: The more green and sustainable mobility, the more the city can be moved towards a public, revitalised and sustainable living space - Moving City for Future.

The team shows that the mobility transition is not only determined by alternative forms of mobility, but also to a large extent by the habits of each and every one of us. Starting at this point and changing behaviour in the long term through cultural innovation is an indispensable step towards a more sustainable future, alongside technical innovations.

Creative experts: Nathanaël Gourdin, Ulrich Grenz, Jonas Voigt

People from the company side: Melanie Mergler, Laura Ehrenberg, Kathrin Gisdon, Joachim Wiucha, Lilli Russ, Florian Magin, Daniel Schulz, Dominik Radzuweit

Format & method

In the Cross Innovation Lab, companies come together in changing constellations over a period of six weeks to work together on product developments in a stimulating environment. Experts from the creative industries are specifically involved in the process.

• Field research: At the beginning, the challenges of the companies are analysed in a new kind of depth in collaboration with creative professionals - and their fresh perspective from the outside.
• Workshop phase: In a total of four workshop/lab days, the companies develop new solutions together with selected creative professionals.
• Feedback loops: Between the labs, a concept review takes place with all participating companies in order to further improve the products through joint feedback and exchange.

In the iterative work process, companies develop new products or product adaptations in a significantly reduced amount of time.