Housing cooperatives can act as a potential and important engine to promote sustainable mobility, within the framework of their transformative will outside the margins of the capitalist residential market.

Faced with current environmental and social challenges, the promotion of more sustainable mobility arises as an urgent need. This transformation not only promotes environmental sustainability, but also promotes social justice by guaranteeing accessible and affordable transport that contributes to creating more equal and inclusive municipalities, and improves the quality of life for all the people who live in the territory.

In this context, housing cooperatives can act as a potential and important engine to promote sustainable mobility, within the framework of their transformative will outside the margins of the capitalist residential market. The list of reasons why these projects could be a catalyst for this change is extensive: incorporating charging infrastructure, facilitating fleets of shared vehicles, organizing internal and external training and awareness actions, etc.

At the beginning of 2023 a Sostre Cívic we proposed that the new year would be the best opportunity to promote and establish sustainable mobility in our co-operative housing projects in the coexistence and promotion phase. We had the push to do it thanks to the Singulars Project New infrastructures and services for the construction of sustainable communities, led by Sostre Cívic, together with the entities bike i We are Connection as grouped and We are Mobility i Granollers Pedal as collaborators.

We bet on the bicycle as a primary element of urban mobility

A Sostre Cívic we believe that the future of mobility lies in the promotion of shared bicycles and electric cars, both as a direct response to environmental challenges and to create fairer, more accessible and healthier communities.

During 2023 we have carried out several specific actions with the aim of promoting the bicycle as a sustainable means of transport in cooperative housing projects, among which stand out:

1. Training in the use of the bicycle: With the aim of promoting a responsible and safe use of bicycles, training has been carried out for the user partners on urban circulation and bicycle maintenance. In addition, to promote community self-management of bicycles to encourage their use and maintenance, the provision of secure parking and training in basic mechanics has been included.
   
   
2. Mobility studies: We have carried out mobility studies that have consisted of identifying the context and conditions of each project (location and urban context, commerce and equipment, existing slopes and existing mobility services), the daily mobility dynamics of each community (dispersion of movements according to work , consumption, care and leisure) and the monthly economic cost of current mobility. This global analysis has made it possible to identify the real needs of users and to propose the most suitable bicycles for their journeys and to make adjustments to the existing fleet to improve their use. 
   
   
3. Creation of safe parking lots: The technical criteria to be incorporated in order to have safe parking spaces for electric mobility vehicles in the cooperative housing projects under promotion have been defined. In the projects in the coexistence phase, we have studied and adapted the existing spaces.
   
   
4. Rental of bicycles: 12 electric bicycles and 3 charging cycles have been given to cooperative housing projects to encourage the use of bicycles as a sustainable means of transport. This has allowed residents of the projects to move more sustainably and reduce the use of private vehicles.
   The bikes have been provided by bike, and these are recovered bicycles put back into circulation with the aim of raising awareness about reuse and recycling. The advantages of being self-reproducing is that it is easier to adapt them to the needs of the projects where they must be used and at the same time the standard components are unified, to improve maintenance and repair.

Sustainable mobility based on shared electric mobility

Regarding the promotion of the use of the shared electric car, and of the hand of the cooperative We are Mobility, has been launched un new vehicle to the cooperative housing project of La Sala, in Calonge. The car is located in the building's parking lot and is available to the residents of the block and is also shared with all citizens.

In Barcelona, ​​dissemination actions have been carried out to the neighbors of the projects of Cirerers i La Balma in order to publicize the shared electric mobility services that are already underway very close to each of the buildings to start working on this mobility model.

Another line of work has been the promotion of the use of public transport among residents of cooperative housing projects. This has been done through the dissemination of information on the public transport lines available in the area, the promotion of active mobility in combination with these, and proposals for possible practical application individualized for each cooperative housing project , to incorporate them as their own lines in the design of the projects and the organization of the group.