Integrating mobility plans in the Vision Luleå 2050

The mobility plan in Luleå is a good example of how goals regarding sustainable mobility can be integrated into the general city vision.The urban mobility plan has been incorporated as part of a general vision reaching until 2050 and it is called "Travel and transport" (Resor och Transporter) and it explains the current mobility situation, trends and development patterns to expect and goals for future and by what means the goals can be reached.

The general city planning is divided in four parts where each part supports the other. The Vision Luleå 2050 (developed in 2008) presents the most general vision of what the city aims at, under that there are Directions (Riktningar) that present what should be prioritized in a nearer future in order to reach the vision by 2050. On the third level of the city planning are the Programmes (Program), which are six in total and describe more sector specific development patterns. The final and most concrete level of planning are the actual Action plans and guidelines (Planer och riktlinjer, Verksamhetsplaner) that are a next step also in the mobility planning process.

At the moment, the municipality of Luleå embraces the third level plans, the Programmes, and these programmes will now develop into more specific plans. Of these plannig stages the Programmes and the Directions together build the new general city plan (Översiktsplan). In the four-step planning process the bottom-two planning stages, Programmes and Action plans, are mostly under the responsibility of officers, although also Programmes can be influenced by citizens and other stakeholders.

Regarding mobility and transport, the goals and development patterns that are presented in the Travel and transport programme include e.g. that walking, cycling and use public transport must be seen as attractive from the citizen point of view and that the municipality of Luleå will increase citizens' knowledge on and use of different transport means. The municipality will also develop transport in a safer way with lower speed limits and noise reduction. An evaluation of the programmes will be made every few years and when the Directions are re-examined. The evaluation can in this way influence the Programmes and make them more up-to-date, both regarding time scheduling and project content. Achieved goals will be evaluated yearly in municipal interim and annual reports.