Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2008-07-08-Speech-2-506"
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"en.20080708.41.2-506"2
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"Madam President, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, I would like to begin by thanking Reinhard Rack for his excellent report and I thank the Commission for having firstly drawn up the Green Paper, which is now the subject of a broad consultation and which is going to result in an action plan by the end of 2008.
With my colleagues in the URBAN-Housing Intergroup, especially Jan Olbrycht, who has just spoken, we invited Commissioner Barrot to discuss this subject with us last year. That debate was particularly lively, notably on the topic of the integrated approach. Commissioner, in the brief time I have available, I would like to highlight the benefits of looking at that very aspect in greater detail. There is a fundamental link between urban planning concepts and urban mobility. When I say ‘urban planning concepts’, I actually mean the absence of urban planning concepts. I will mention four elements to illustrate this.
Firstly, it is clear that our urban areas are currently growing, whether they are small, large or medium-sized, with the appearance of commercial, industrial, housing and leisure sectors and zones. Every time new zones are developed, mobility develops. Need I remind you that our urban areas have grown by 11% in terms of their size, while their populations have grown by just 2.5%? That in 10 years, from 1990 to 2000, the expansion of urban areas was three times the size of Luxembourg? These figures demonstrate that every time an urban area grows, our journeys get longer, no matter where they take us. Finally, within these urban areas, in 10 years the number of daily trips in private cars increased by 70% and each individual trip increased by 20%.
These figures, these examples, clearly show that without a successful integrated approach that takes into consideration the different urban parameters, even with more efficient, safer, more intelligent vehicles, even with faster, more comfortable public transport, we will not totally resolve the problem of urban mobility and we will not resolve the problem facing our fellow citizens, who will always be forced to make an increasing number of longer, costly and unpleasant trips.
These urban planning concepts, Commissioner, ladies and gentlemen, must take account of urban transport not just in terms of the cities and towns, the urban territory, but also, as my colleague Mr Rack said, at a suburban level. There must be a degree of consistency for all of our citizens who work, relax, learn, etc. in this urban and suburban perimeter. However, the problem that arises, and this has just been mentioned, is how to enable the different administrative structures, the different districts and the other territories to coexist. That is why, Commissioner, we are asking you to give special consideration to the integrated approach in your future action plans."@en1
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