School of Architecture and Urbanism at UNPHU, seeks innovative solutions for urban mobility

The School of Architecture and Urbanism of Universidad Nacional Pedro Henríquez Ureña (UNPHU), held a workshop on January 4, 2024; entitled “Sustainable Mobility in the Greater Santo Domingo: generating ideas from academia”, where students and professors participated, in order to launch and design creative solutions that contribute to the Urban Mobility project, promoted by the Dominican newspaper Listín Diario. 

During the day, key topics were addressed such as the integration of transport systems, the implementation of innovative technologies, the design of sustainable infrastructure, the promotion of active transport, as well as citizen participation in decision-making.

The workshop also presented the introduction of the problem from the diagnosis of the Sustainable Mobility Plan for Greater Santo Domingo developed by INTRANT with support from AFD, Mobilize Your Cities, Systra and the mayoralties of the province of Santo Domingo with funds from the European Union.

Among the main mobility challenges identified by the students were the following:

• Lack of implementation of comprehensive mobility plans that allow diversification of modes of transport favoring mass passenger transport such as bus, metro, and cable car.
• The concentration of public and private services such as health, education, recreation that increase activities and flows of people in the National District.
• Lack of road safety education since the first years of formal education that has an impact on road safety and increases reckless practices.
• Little inter-institutional linkage and coordination between municipal planning, urban policies, and mobility systems.
• The comprehensive management of risks that cause vulnerability and damage to infrastructure and people.
• Existing high demand for mass public transport services in areas without routes and road corridors.

The results obtained from this first workshop aim to build a reflective space for students around the integrality necessary to address the issue to produce proposals that help reduce vehicle congestion, minimize levels of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, increase walkability in the city through the design of better networks of public spaces, among others. 

The workshop was given by the urban planner, Architect Omar Rancier, Dean of the Faculty of Architecture and Arts at UNPHU, with the participation of Architects Heidi De Moya and Mizocky Mota, who shared their experiences and good practices in the search for effective and sustainable solutions. In addition, group work dynamics were developed to stimulate the generation of innovative ideas and the formulation of concrete proposals.

The activity was part of the Urban Design course, in that framework during the current academic period students will continue working on developing ideas through the design and initiatives of urban projects such as design.