Urban mobility infrastructure and networks are receiving growing attention within the urban studies in the context of a broader policy debate on sustainable urban living and sustainable urban development. Policy makers are increasingly looking for strategies to implement sustainable transportation systems while reducing congestion. The xLab will address this challenge and prototype an innovative tool to facilitate the emergence of a sustainable urban mobility model, by fostering the collaboration among the different players of the urban transportation. At the end of the course, students will understand the complexity of urban solutions and that the importance of an integrated view in solving urban mobility problems.

During the course, students acquire multisectoral skills that can be used for the development of projects in the workplace and in their final experimental proposal. Through the co-design process, used for training purposes, they learn to design new innovative, digital and sustainable development models to face urban mobility problems in a integrated way, solving traffic and air pollution by addressing social inclusion and economic development of cities Knowledge and understanding This course provides advanced knowledge and analytical resources that allow students to understand the legal, political and economic context in which to insert their ideas and to learn tools to assess whether a project idea meets the needs of the area. In addition, the course offers key theoretical tools to learn the development of the basic components of each project such as the definition of a budget, the mapping of stakeholders and the definition of the value chain. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding The course teaches students how to apply the concepts learned and the tools presented in class to real and implementable projects. Therefore, participants learn to develop, write, and present an innovation project in the context of the new frontiers of the urban mobility sector represented by the benefits of connectivity and digital technologies, and to measure their positive impacts. At the end of the course, students can autonomously carry out an experimental project from the definition of the problem to the presentation of the results. Autonomy of judgment At the end of the course, students are expected to be able individually to analyze the main problems regarding urban environment, through the analysis of collected data and interactions with stakeholders and partners. Throughout the duration of the course, students learn to interact with the professionals, evaluating the information they receive to better support the decision-making process and the ability to develop even independent projects. Communication skills This course offers students the opportunity to acquire and understand key terms and concepts for communicating critical ideas, proposals, analysis, and reasoning in the urban mobility sector. In addition, the course provides students with new vocabulary and the communication skills necessary to be able to communicate with experts and professionals in the sector. Learning ability At the end of the course, students will have had the opportunity to work closely with professionals in the sector, learning the techniques and tools required in the working world. Furthermore, students will acquire new skills and abilities, for example, practical notions relating to the most effective ways to present a project, which will contribute to their professional career.

Urban transportation is one of the pivotal areas for the implementation of an urban sustainable development model, that the EU institutions are advocating for. Especially in light of the Covid-19 crisis, the reshaping of urban mobility is a necessary step to ensure the health and wellbeing of cities’ residents. Urban sustainable mobility is one of the most profitable terrains for the expected success of technological and digital developments, which makes it a formidable ground for experimentation but also for potential challenges. To overcome these challenges, “urban co-governance” is highly needed. The city should act as a facilitator of co-management structures throughout its territory and enables city inhabitants to actively take part in the regeneration of their habitat, improve their lifestyle, and develop the community they belong to. Tailored policy tools should be developed to enable all actors (i.e. social innovators, public authorities, businesses, civil society organizations, and knowledge institutions) willing to access the polycentric co-design processes to get involved in the creation of an urban mobility ecosystem. The xLab will address this challenge and elaborate a tool for solving the issue with reference to a specific city (that will be identified in close collaboration with the xLab partner). The xLab will be divided in five phases. In the first phase, shared for all xLabs, the different laboratories will be presented indicating their characteristics and points in common. In the second part of the path the groups will separate to face interactive and collaborative lessons, in which they will be able to explore in detail the economic, social and technological characteristics of the reference sector and its main theoretical notions. In the third part the co-design work will begin in which the students will work in groups, together with experts from the companies. In the fourth part, students will have a moment of confrontation across all xLabs. In the fifth part, students will work on finalizing their ideas, thanks also to the feedback received in the previous session. In the last session, the final projects will be presented to a "jury" who will evaluate their feasibility and social, economic, and environmental impacts.

Few reading materials will be made available on learn.luiss before class. Students might be asked to present them in structured presentation or to elaborate on them during class discussion or student-led peer discussion.

The teaching method will foresee a mixed approach which will see guest lectures participating to the classes, the use of case studies and the development of lab sessions. The traditional presentation of the analytical problems will be concise and leave room to Q&A and discussions as well as co-working session, where students are encouraged to be proactive, apply concrete tools introduced during lectures and work collaboratively on the development of a project.

The evaluation will be based on the class participation, the contribution to the project idea/project prototype which will be evaluated thought also the development of individual exercise.

Yes