Image from Unsplash by Milos Lopusina
Kruševac (Serbia)
The City of Kruševac has a population of 127,429 people and covers 854 km2 - this encompasses 101 'settlements'. Of these, 11 are classed as urban. They include the city centre and suburbs, constitute 64% of Kruševac's territory, and have 81,399 residents. The remaining 36% are classed as being rural, and integrate 89 'villages' that surround Kruševac. These areas are home to 46,030 people.
A modal split analysis was done during the development of the city's SUMP in 2016. This found that 44% of people walked; 3% cycled; 19% used public transport; 32% used cars; and 2% took taxis. Kruševac was shortlisted for the European Mobility Week Award 2016.
In November 2015, the City Council and City Assembly gave the green light for the development of Kruševac's Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan (SUMP) to begin. This process is expected to finish and the SUMP be adopted by the end of 2017. Kruševac will be the first city in Serbia to have a SUMP.
The target of SUMP is to achieve a modal split of“80:20” by 2030. The aim is for 80% of trips to be made on foot, by bike, or using public transport, with the amount of journeys made by cars going down to 20% from the current rate of 32%.
Medium-term strategic goals:
- To improve pedestrian traffic and extend pedestrian zones
- To increase the use of bikes by constructing new cycling infrastructure and introducing new services
- To make public transport services better
- To improve parking policy
- To reduce the use of private cars and raise the use of sustainable modes of transport
- To reduce the number of traffic accidents
Long-term strategic goals:
- To develop the city to a human scale and in a sustainable way
- To make traffic flows in the city efficient and sustainable and ensure that vehicles move safely through the city
- To reduce the amount of fatalities caused by traffic accidents to 0 by 2030
- To reduce the negative impact of transport on the environment, including reducing CO2 emissions, traffic noise, and fossil fuel consumption
The goal is to develop a city that is attractive and accessible city to all, regardless of age, gender, and socioeconomic background. The implementation of the SUMP can help make the city more attractive to tourists. There is already a basis to build upon as the E7 international walking route E7 and the EuroVelo 11 cycling route (Eastern Europe route) run through the city.
Kruševac's participation as a "follower city“ in several European projects - such as TIDE, SWITCH, and FLOW - and its membership of the CIVINET network proved helpful in the the SUMP development process. In addition, the city has participated in study visits under the as part of the BUMP and CIVITAS SATELLITE projects.