Implementation of Low Emissions Zones (LEZ) through softtraffic calming strategies: the case study of Cartagena (Spain)

Abstract

Spanish Law 7/2021 on climate change and energy transition makes it mandatory for municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants to establish low-emission zones by 2023. On the otherhand, the Sustainable and Accessible Urban Mobility Plan of the Cartagena City Council ‘Cartago!’,approved by the Local Government Board in 2021, recommended to develop low-emission zones invarious areas of the city based on scientific knowledge and not on political priorities, limiting trafficrestrictions only to cases in which they are necessary for technical reasons to improve mobility. Thisstudy proposes an innovative process using soft traffic calming strategies based on woonerf philosophy, applied to combine both requests. A spatial definition framework at a graphic level of theareas to be implemented as low emission zones was developed in two levels. The target areas forair quality improvement have been defined through a prior geostatistical analysis and the selectionof the perimeter of action of the priority areas was established through a methodology based ongeostatistics indicators applied through fuzzy AHP multi-criteria evaluation. The results obtainedcan serve as a basis for the development of low-emission zones in medium or small-sized cities.