City of Madrid elected as Polis president
“With other Polis members, we share the opinion that improving local transport is crucial to guarantee the sustainability of our cities and region”, said Javier Rubio de Urquía, coordinator of sustainability and mobility at Madrid City Council. “Time has come for Madrid to take a step forward and assume more responsibility in this process. We will do our best to support the Polis network and to work together towards deploying innovative urban transport technologies and policies for a more sustainable Europe.”
Madrid has been promoting sustainable transport for many years, both locally and through cooperation across borders. Outstanding initiatives in the Spanish capital include the city’s ambitious Air Quality Plan, the promotion of cycling and walking, the upcoming intelligent on-street parking scheme, its multimodal interchanges, and urban freight electromobility initiatives.
At the General Assembly, the cities of Budapest, Perugia, Rotterdam and Stuttgart were also elected to join the Management Committee of Polis.
Following the Polis elections, Thinking Cities magazine was launched yesterday, a joint print publication of Polis and H3B Media. "Thinking Cities gives cities and regions a central platform for European and international exchange. It will allow them to move towards the centre of the debate, and to engage in discussions on new and sustainable transport solutions in cities and regions," says Polis Secretary General Sylvain Haon. Thinking Cities will help stakeholders to understand the central role that local and regional authorities play in achieving transport innovation.
Today and tomorrow, the Annual Polis Conference “Innovation in Transport for Sustainable Cities and Regions” is taking place in Brussels, which gathers around 350 urban mobility professionals from across Europe.
The Polis Conference is an important annual highlight for urban mobility professionals. It provides an opportunity for cities and regions to showcase their transport achievements to an international audience, and for the wider transport community to engage with representatives of city and regional authorities on innovative transport solutions. Technical sessions at the conference cover innovative topics identified by Polis members.