Professor David Banister is Professor of Transport Studies at Oxford University and Director of the Transport Studies Unit. Until 2006, he was Professor of Transport Planning at University College London.  He has also been Research Fellow at the Warren Centre in the University of Sydney (2001-2002) on the Sustainable Transport for a Sustainable City project and was Visiting VSB Professor at the Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam (1994-1997). He was a visiting Professor at the University of Bodenkultur in Vienna in 2007. Author and editor of 18 research books, more than 150 papers in international refereed journals, and a further 100 papers in journals or as chapters in books.

There are enormous benefits from travel, as economies have become more globalised and as the new communications infrastructure allows international networking at low cost.  People’s aspirations and expectations have been increased through media coverage of world events, through more educational and leisure opportunities, and through increasing wealth.  There is a true internationalisation of all activities, and travel forms an essential part of that process.  To counter that optimism is the evidence that we now live in the carbon society, and that carbon emissions are affecting the global climate with irreversible long term consequences.  Transport is the one sector where such a reduction in energy use and emissions is proving to be extraordinarily difficult to achieve.

In urban areas, there are many good examples of reductions in energy use in transport, principally through demand management (pricing, parking and access control, congestion charging), investment in public transport, priority for walking and cycling, and a range of soft measures designed primarily to reduce the use of single occupancy cars.  In addition planners have been active in creating high quality local neighbourhoods, including innovative designs for housing and mixed use developments, and the concentration of development around public transport accessible locations.  In all cases, the intention is to reduce the need to travel (particularly by car), to encourage greater use of public transport (and walking and cycling), and to reduce travel distances.  The key here is to provide quality, with easy access to local services and facilities, so that people do not need to travel long distances.  There are positive signs that city living is becoming “fashionable” and that sustainable lifestyles are being adopted by many people.  This paper presents a global picture of what is happening in terms of cities, mobility and climate change, highlighting recent trends.  It is argued that the current situation is unsustainable, and that transport must contribute fully to achieving carbon reduction targets.  A proposed alternative is presented, based on the sustainable mobility paradigm that looks at ways to reduce the need to travel in cities.  The belief that technology provides the solution is misplaced, as technological innovation can only get us part of the way to sustainable transport. Finally, it is suggested that there may be opportunities for cities in the developing world to switch to low carbon systems without passing through the period of oil dependency.  Potentially, the future is bright for low carbon transport in cities, but the real question is whether there is the commitment and leadership to follow such a path.