Research projects

NaMoLi III follows on from the work and results of the two previous funding phases NaMoLi I (2020/2021) and NaMoLi II (2021-2024) and continues the real-world laboratory of the Lincoln neighborhood in cooperation with the Mobility and Civil Engineering Office of the City of Science Darmstadt, the Frankfurt Lab for Social-Ecological Transformation of Urban Mobility (SET-Mobility) of Goethe University Frankfurt a.M. and HEAG mobilo.

The negative consequences of car-oriented urban development and the interaction between housing and mobility are clearly evident in existing urban districts. Nevertheless, even the planning of new districts mostly occurs car-oriented. Car-reduced neighborhood developments, on the other hand, are still a special issue. With the development of the Lincoln neighborhood on a former US housing area, the City of Darmstadt has implemented a sustainable neighborhood-based mobility concept and implemented it in planning law. Various awards emphasize the exemplary character of the concept, which is also a model for the development of another conversion area in Darmstadt (Ludwigshöhviertel).

However, ensuring the restrictive measures against motorized private transport and the provision of sustainable mobility options in line with the car-reduced planning approach in the long term remains a challenge in the consoldiation and transfer phase.

NaMoLi III therefore focuses on (a) the embedding of the mobility concept in the Lincoln neighborhood, (b) the transfer to other projects within Darmstadt and in other cities using the example of Cologne and (c) the diffusion of the car-reduced planning approach in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) and beyond.

Using qualitative survey methods, the ILS Research is investigating obstacles and success factors for the embedding, transfer and diffusion of neighborhood-based mobility concepts, focusing on the question of how the beliefs of the planning actors affect the transformative potential of car-reduced neighborhood developments. In the previous NaMoLi 2 project, the ILS Research was already able to identify the influence of the actors’ beliefs in planning process (see Schröder/Klinger 2024).

In addition, a legal report will be commissioned as part of the project to examine how the mobility concept of the Lincoln neighborhood can be legally secured in the long-term and how the legal instruments tested in Darmstadt can be applied in an adapted form in the transfer city of Cologne and, in the long run, also in NRW municipalities.

The SET-Mobility Lab of the Goethe-University Frankfurt uses a quantitative survey to evaluate the long-term impact of the mobility concept on the everyday mobility of residents, in particular behavioral changes compared to traditional residential areas, their socio-ecological significance and the population's assessment of the residential area.

Finally, the research findings, together with the results of the legal report, are to be discussed with representatives from the member municipalities of the Zukunftsnetz Mobilität NRW and incorporated into an action guideline for the car-reduced development of new residential areas.

Overall, the project’s scientific and practical planning findings contribute to the socio-ecological transformation of urban mobility on the neighborhood level in a transdisciplinar manner.

Publications with ILS contribution from the previous project NaMoLi II:

Klein, Marcus; Klinger, Thomas; Lanzendorf, Martin (2024): Residential self-selection and the relative importance of travel considerations in the residential choice of a car-reduced neighbourhood. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice 190, 104266. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tra.2024.104266 (Open Access). 

Schröder, Annika (2024): Forschen für den Planungswandel. Von autoorientierter zu autoreduzierter Quartiersentwicklung? In: PlanerIn 6, S. 11-14

Schröder, Annika; Werschmöller, Simon; Klinger, Thomas.; Lanzendorf, Martin (2024): Autoreduzierte Quartiersentwicklung am Beispiel der Lincoln-Siedlung in Darmstadt – Von überzeugungsgeleiteter Planung zu verändertem Mobilitätsverhalten der Bewohnenden. In: Canzler, W.; Haus, J.; Kellermann, R.; Schröder, S. & Thomsen, C. (Hrsg.) (2024): Gemeinsam in Bewegung: Forschung und Praxis für die Mobilitätswende. Beispiele und Erkenntnisse aus den Projekten der BMBF-Fördermaßnahmen MobilitätsWerkStadt 2025 und MobilitätsZukunftsLabor 2050. Sammelband. nexus Institut & WZB. Berlin. S. 37–45, www.zukunft-nachhaltige-mobilitaet.de/sammelband (Open Access). 

Schröder, Annika; Klinger, Thomas (2024): From car-oriented to car-reduced planning practices: The complex patterns of actors’ mobility-related beliefs in developing a new neighborhood. In: Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions 50, 100800. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eist.2023.100800 (Open Access).