Design for impact: What if there were no need for cars in the world’s biggest cities?
Putting human-centered design thinking to work for sustainable urban mobility
Helsinki, Finland announced ambitious plans to eliminate the need for cars by 2025, making it an ideal site to explore the range of possibilities for the future of sustainable urban mobility. Photo by Katri Niemi/Flickr.
The challenges cities face – from traffic congestion, to air quality, to road safety – currently outpace today's solutions. EMBARQ is exploring how a human-centered design approach, which integrates the needs of people, the creative use of resources, and the requirements for business success, can be applied to help city leaders scale up sustainable mobility.
EMBARQ partnered with design pioneer IDEO for a two-part project to explore innovations in sustainable urban mobility. During phase one, the "Design Challenge," EMBARQ and IDEO will conduct fieldwork in Helsinki and Mexico City, then convene a group of transport experts, philanthropists, venture capitalists, bankers, technology gurus, telecommunications providers, marketers, and automakers for a design workshop to explore 'what's next' for urban mobility. Phase two seeks to build out, replicate, and scale the most transformative ideas that emerge. To learn more, take a look inside EMBARQ's human-centered design thinking process on TheCityFix.
Phase one of this project is underwritten by Mr. Carlos Rodriguez Pastor and the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, with additional support from General Motors and TransitCenter. The design workshop is co-organized in partnership with the Global Philanthropy Forum and Northern California Grantmakers Association.