Participatory Scenario Development for Sustainable Cities: Literature Review and Case Study of Madrid, Spain

Richard J. Hewitt (), Charlotte Astier, Juan Balea-Aneiros, Eduardo Caramés, Claudia Alejandra Aranda-Andrades, Zuleyka Zoraya Campaña-Huertas and Alison Tara Smith
Additional contact information
Richard J. Hewitt: Institute of Economy, Geography and Demography, Centre for Human and Social Sciences, National Research Council (CSIC), C/ de Albasanz, 26, 28037 Madrid, Spain
Charlotte Astier: Observatorio para una Cultura del Territorio, 28012 Madrid, Spain
Juan Balea-Aneiros: Observatorio para una Cultura del Territorio, 28012 Madrid, Spain
Eduardo Caramés: Observatorio para una Cultura del Territorio, 28012 Madrid, Spain
Claudia Alejandra Aranda-Andrades: Observatorio para una Cultura del Territorio, 28012 Madrid, Spain
Zuleyka Zoraya Campaña-Huertas: Observatorio para una Cultura del Territorio, 28012 Madrid, Spain
Alison Tara Smith: Observatorio para una Cultura del Territorio, 28012 Madrid, Spain

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 21, 1-27

Abstract: Sustainable mobility policies are unlikely to succeed without efforts to tackle disagreement between different social groups. In this context, we describe a participatory process based around semi-structured interviews with expert stakeholders in sustainable mobility in the city of Madrid. Information elicited from interviews was structured using the Natural Step approach, based on detailed analysis of stakeholder discourse, into four scenarios of sustainable mobility: Remote Working, The 15-min City, Electric City and Public City. Subsequently, the four scenarios were subject to critical analysis by a second group of experts during a stakeholder workshop. The Remote Working scenario was considered a partial solution applicable to only ~30% of the population and saved commuter trips might be canceled out by increased mobility elsewhere. The 15-min City was seen as desirable but utopian and dependent on political consensus and major public investment. The Electric City was thought useful for reducing emissions but hard to implement due to infrastructure limitations and cost. The Public City was seen as an integrated vision from which other solutions should flow but also politically divisive. While no single scenario was unanimously backed by all participants, different coalitions of interest tended to support different approaches. Collectively, the four scenarios reveal divergent pathways to the same goal (a more sustainable city), suggesting ways forward for policy.

Keywords: participation; sustainable mobility; transport policy; pollution; scenarios (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/21/9830/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/21/9830/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:21:p:9830-:d:1787379

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().