Who is doing what and how? Descriptive analysis of the sustainable mobility planning practice in Germany

The current European guidelines for the Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) promote a vertical (European, national, regional and local policy goals) and horizontal (sectorial and operational plans) integrated mobility planning approach based on the involvement of different target groups. However, how this involvement is implemented in practice is not sufficiently researched, and empirical data that go beyond a single case study are still to be developed. This paper aims to fill this gap by presenting an empirical assessment of planning practices. Through a mixed-method approach combining grounded theory and quantitative data analysis techniques, including co-occurrences analysis, association rules and network analysis, we analysed planning documents (n = 67) and identified patterns in which target groups are involved through an array of participation methods aiming for different participation goals within German urban mobility planning. Our results point to the participation gap of professional stakeholders from the strategy development phases, which is rather kept at the decision-making level with input from researchers and consultants. Citizens are actively involved during the envisioning phases, but passively engaged after the implementation of measures. Conclusively, we reflect on these empirical findings from a methodological and operational point of view.