Donostia-San Sebastian

The city of Donostia-San Sebastián is located in the Basque Country on the north coast of Spain, 20 km from the French border. The city has a population of 185,685, and the wider metropolitan area is home to around 400,000 inhabitants. The territory of the municipality covers 6,000 hectares, of which

With a urban-rural split (34% is urban area and 66% rural) and a growing tourism industry, Donostia-San Sebastián must accommodate a wide variety of transit demands and needs.

It has been applying integrated policies favouring pedestrians, cyclists and public transport. By reducing on-street parking and returning public spaces to pedestrians the city managed to become an even more attractive and sustainable place. A major achievement of the city’s mobility policy is the establishment of a pedestrian network that makes most of the city reachable on foot through promenades, and pedestrian axes.

Indeed, Donostia-San Sebastian was a demonstrative city within the CIVITAS ARCHIMEDESproject (2008-2012), where it aimed to maintain the high modal share of walking and increase bicycle use by 30%.

credit: David Vives

The historic city centre has also been a focus for shifts in mobility towards more sustainable transit for passengers and freight. An access control system, Limited Traffic Zone, is in operation here.

The city of Donostia-San Sebastian is/was involved in TIDE, SITE, SmartCEM, SWITCH, CYCLELOGISTICS AHEAD, CIVITAS CAPITAL and SUMPS UP.

San Sebastian was engaged in the TIDE project on urban transport innovation. This short movie shows their achievements in the project.

You can find out more on their website or follow them on Twitter.