COVPOL

Covid-19 mitigation strategies and their local impacts in the City of Vienna: the case of mobility innovations and practices

The measures taken to mitigate Covid-19 are changing the environment in which mobility innovations and practices develop. Which technology areas are experiencing a boost, which are being curbed, and how do these changes affect the city of Vienna? 

The measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic and the associated reduction in person-to-person contacts affect many areas of technical change, including mobility. Cycling and walking are on the rise, and more people drive in their cars alone. Emerging innovations such as car sharing, as well as more traditional forms of mobility such as public transport, are facing large reductions in passengers as social distancing measures continue to be the norm. Furthermore, ‘digital mobility’ has been intensified as working from home and distance learning carry on.

The City of Vienna’s responses to the Covid-19 pandemic are deeply embedded in the local economy, society and government policies and processes. In the course of the COVPOL project, an empirical overview of the most important implications for mobility innovations and practices that have emerged throughout the implementation of measures to contain Covid-19 at the territorial level in Vienna, as well as their economic, social and policy aspects with regards to sustainable mobility strategies, is given. The crisis has breathed new life into discussions about the city’s long-standing problems, particularly to those related to the fair distribution of space. The change in mobility in Vienna due to digitization also received new attention due to the digitization-push experienced in various areas of life.