Transatlantic Perspectives: Reflections from Arcadis on Mobility and International Urban Dialogue.
There’s something profoundly revealing about cities—not in the buildings that occupy them or the avenues that cut through them, but in the small stories woven into the asphalt, the tramways, and the slow (and sometimes very rushed) movements of the people who inhabit them. Walking through Amsterdam, a city moving to its own rhythm, imperfectly balanced between bicycles, canals, and people, time feels flexible. The streets stretch to include what’s needed—no more, no less. It’s a kind of human precision: an urbanism that owes as much to mathematics as it does to poetry.
My role at Arcadis (www.arcadis.com), a Dutch firm offering sustainability and consultancy services for built assets, has made me reflect constantly on the cities I inhabit and those I’m invited to shape. From Oaxaca to Vancouver, cities seem to speak a common language, each with its unique tone and distinct tempo. Recently, I had the privilege of participating in two events that reaffirmed this connection: the UrbanismNext Europe Conference (www.urbanismnext.org) in Amsterdam and the Mpact Transit + Community Conference in Philadelphia (mpactmobility.org). What I found at both conferences was not so much a collection of ideas on the future of urban planning, transport, and mobility but rather a series of questions—questions which, if considered together, could guide us towards more just and equitable cities
Walking through Amsterdam is a constant reminder of how cities can inspire behaviour change and invest in new interactions within the built environment. Mobility isn’t a series of policy decisions disconnected from daily life. Instead, it’s an intricate web of spaces designed to support communal life. At UrbanismNext Europe, while exploring the impact of emerging technologies, I realised something: it isn’t technology that should lead the way, but people. Bicycles, autonomous vehicles, and micromobility systems are all tools, but their success depends on how city dwellers adopt and integrate them into daily life
In Oaxaca, Mexico, we are applying this lesson through two consultancies led by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), aiming to encourage active mobility: walking, cycling, and using alternative modes of transport. With its rich cultural heritage and history-laden streets, Oaxaca is a place where the past and future converge in a nearly tangible way. And yet, it’s within this convergence that we find an opportunity for change. Each street in Oaxaca has a story, and each urban intervention we design is a collective invitation for that story to keep growing, with an eye towards the future. This vision isn’t simply about building cycle infrastructure or banning private vehicle traffic. I was privileged to share these and other insights with the UrbanismNext 2024 audience, where, in our session “Active Mobility in Oaxaca,” we demonstrated how a citizen-focused approach, combined with global solutions, can transform a city.
Shortly after the Netherlands, I headed to Philadelphia for a different event. Here, the city’s rhythm is different. The streets feel heavier, denser, and emptier, and public transport has the air of an afterthought, as if it exists parallel to the city rather than as part of it. However, in that dissonance, I encountered a narrative that resonated more deeply in a professional exchange of ideas.
At Mpact Transit + Community 2024, I was honoured to moderate a session on gender-inclusive transport design. In this session, alongside three remarkable women—Haleema Bharoocha, Mariajose Zacarias, and Ana-Francisca de la Mora—we discussed challenges women often encounter with systems that aren’t designed with their needs. From a lack of infrastructure for those carrying out caregiving tasks to feelings of insecurity in transit spaces, women face a mobility landscape filled with invisible barriers.
More importantly, we shared potential solutions from our diverse practices, from urban planning to civic engagement; we discussed how personal experiences, sociology, and ethnography can -and must- be woven into the physical design of transport infrastructures. It’s not enough to build more metro lines or rapid transit; it’s about creating systems (and spaces!) where women and sexual minorities feel safe, where mothers can move freely with their children, and where accessibility isn’t a luxury but a norm. And yet, there remains a significant amount of work to do.
In the end, these two conferences were more than platforms for discussing urban theories. They were spaces where we pushed to ensure that mobility, sustainability, and inclusion intertwined with the daily stories of those who live in cities. Our challenge as urbanists, designers, and planners isn’t insignificant. We are in the midst of a global transition where emerging technologies are taking centre stage in the conversation on the reshaping of mobility. Yet we must remain self-aware, reminding ourselves that cities are much more than the built environment; they are living spaces, breathing, changing, and, above all, intended to serve their people.
These two conferences made clear to me that mobility is far more than the systems and spaces we travel through; they are living entities, in constant dialogue with their inhabitants. But for that dialogue to be fair, we need all voices to be present. With their complex and dynamic realities, cities in Latin America have as much to teach as they have to learn. Cities like Oaxaca, where history and zeitgeist are in constant dialogue, show us that the future of our cities won’t be defined by technology alone or by urban policies designed in isolation. It will be built through shared experiences, diverse perspectives, and solutions that emerge from collaboration and community.
By Luigi Barraza Cárdenas, Architect & Urban Planner at ARCADIS
