Governance of urban mobility: Complex systems and integrated policies

Transportation systems are “internally” complex systems, made up of many elements influencing each other both directly and indirectly, often nonlinearly, with many feedback cycles. Apart from the internal complexity, transportation systems are closely interrelated with other systems, which can be defined as external. Transport projects may have implications for the economy, the location and intensity of the activities in a given area, the environment, the quality of life and social cohesion. Actually, today, in order to have a better view of the urban problems and mainly for better governance of mobility, the urban system per se is no longer studied, but rather the whole metropolitan area surrounding it. Transport and land use are clearly integrated. Each technological innovation in transport has encouraged both people and industry to change their location to take advantage of the improved mobility; similarly, each change in land development (e.g. houses, factories, offices and shops) has influenced the demand for travel and ultimately the provision of new transport infrastructures and services. An example of integrated land use and transport planning is the Regional Metro System (RMS) project, carried out in Campania, which is finally reported.