With the aim of promoting sustainable mobility and combating the climate crisis, more and more cities are taking decisive action on traffic-calming. Despite their benefits, these actions can generate new tensions and inequalities between streets with different levels of traffic-calming within the same neighbourhood. Given the lack of research on the subject, the TRANSEQUI project explores the implications of traffic-calming measures on intra-neighbourhood equity, taking the Eixample district and the actions of the Superilla Barcelona programme (particularly the conversion of some streets into green axes) as a reference case. Through a comparison of streets with different levels of traffic-calming, the project aims to identify the main intra-neighbourhood inequities that can be generated by traffic-calming actions, as well as their implications for different population groups. The project examines these inequalities by combining objective and subjective data, using a multi-method approach that includes quantitative and qualitative insights. The project is divided into three distinct blocks. First, the main inequalities between streets will be analysed and quantified in terms of the negative externalities of motorised traffic: noise, pollution and accidents. Secondly, interviews will be conducted with key actors (e.g. neighbourhood/traders associations, administration) to explore these inequalities in a qualitative way, from a local point of view. Finally, these interviews will feed into the design of a survey of Eixample residents, which will explore how residents of different streets perceive the equity of the pacification actions. In terms of social impact, the identification of possible inequalities resulting from the implementation of pacification measures can contribute to the design of public policies that reduce these inequalities. In this way, the results of the project are expected to help guide the next implementation of the Superilla Barcelona programme, as well as to inform other traffic-calming initiatives.
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