Almost 85% Spanish cities covered by the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law violates mandatory adoption of sustainable urban mobility plans until 2023.

This means that it is only 25 of 149 cities were affectedwhich also contains 80% of the population of Spain, They have low emission zones (ZBE).mainly due to a lack of regulations and resources as many wait for the next generation of EU funds to arrive.

This is clear from the Alfonso Phase Low Emission Zone Observatory analysis. technical and economic feasibility of introducing low emission zones (ZBE) in a total of 40 municipalities in Spain.

The analysis also clarifies that the deployment of these zones reduced local pollution only in Madrid and Barcelona, ​​where Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) emissions decreasedalthough it has failed to demonstrate its effectiveness against those gases that contribute to the global problem, greenhouse gases (GHGs).

“In some of these 25 cases, the proposed actions were aimed at placing restrictions on the entry, movement and parking of the most polluting vehicles. However, these measures did not go further, which means that some improving local mobility, but in no case can be considered compliance with the above-mentioned law,” said the director of the Engineering and Architecture department. University of Alfonso X the Wise, Angel Sampedro.

In addition, the Observatory concludes that only Madrid complies with the Climate Change and Energy Transition Law in terms of monitoring the performance of the ZBE, thanks to its Madrid 360 strategy.

The Climate Change and Energy Transition Act obliges municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants and island territories to adopt Sustainable Urban Mobility Plans (SUMPs), including the creation of ZBEs, by 2023. In this sense, the observatory’s findings confirm that there’s still a long way to go.

“It is difficult to understand that more than 80% of municipalities obliged to implement these types of measures have failed to implement the SMPs for which assistance is available, both at European and national level, since 2006. We were able to conclude that ZBE is viable in any type of population, provided that the specific characteristics of each urban structure and mobility development are adequately taken into account, so in principle there is no reason not to continue working in implementing sustainable plans that have a positive impact- Sampedro explained.

Near economic profitabilityThe observatory estimates that the investment required to deploy efficient low-emission zones from 45 to 55 euros per residentdepending on the type of population. And he points out that Applies to periods from 2 to 8 yearsmay have full or partial returns from revenues generated from measures such as regulated parking, user fees, etc., or from public-private cooperation systems.

Following this first analysis, the ZBE Observatory will continue its work throughout 2023 to evaluate ZBEs already implemented, options for improving them, monitoring systems or performance analysis. This second wave also aims to offer cities innovative measures to deploy effective ZBEs and create a more sustainable urban model.

As detailed by UAX, the UAX Low Emission Zones Observatory allows civil engineering students to learn about and experience the work done in a high-employment area of ​​their specialty. Moreover, it is an interdisciplinary work that focuses on managing and experimenting with how application technologies work already in other cities, while students acquire knowledge in the field of digital transformation, social and communication aspects, as well as a global vision to propose new, more sustainable city models.

“In short, this is a project based on the educational model #UAXmakers this characterizes a university through which students learn effectively through real-life experiences while promoting employability,” he added.

The observatory has EMT Drive Green AwardBusiness Association Award for Sustainable Mobility, external recognition from the Renault Foundation and was accepted into the United Nations Global Compact due to the usefulness of its findings in promoting the implementation of ZBE.