The influence of the exponential demand for EV infrastructure on Utrecht's aspiration to become a 10-minute city

The influence of the exponential demand for EV infrastructure on Utrecht's aspiration to become a 10-minute city

van Loo, Joey (TU Delft Technology, Policy and Management)

Wandl, Alex (mentor)
Ersoy, A. (graduation committee)

Delft University of Technology
Universiteit Leiden

Industrial Ecology

2023-10-31

All over the world, cities are attempting to emit less carbon to limit the possibly detrimental effects of human-induced climate change. One way to limit carbon emissions is by reducing fossil fuel car use and transitioning to forms of low-carbon mobility. Electric vehicles (EVs) are an exponentially popular low-carbon transport solution, providing similar qualities to fossil-fuel cars. The question is whether it is possible to supply the growing demand for public EV infrastructure and simultaneously have a spatial design with every function within a 10-minute walking or cycling distance of each resident. This paper studies this question in the context of the municipality of Utrecht, the Netherlands. To a large extent, policy decisions that are made now shape how the city will operate in the future. This exploratory research identifies leverage points and lock-ins on both a city scale (policy research) and a neighborhood scale (case study). Furthermore, Stakeholder behavior is analyzed by asking the most essential stakeholders how they expect to respond when the research results become a reality. They are also asked to consider policies to prevent lock-ins and utilize leverage points. The goal is to prevent any unwanted outcomes blocking zero-emission mobility. The study revealed that the current strategy for public EV infrastructure locks in the ability to utilize a significant share of the public space for the 10-minute city. The study suggests six strategy changes to improve the odds of simultaneously supplying the public EV infrastructure demand and implementing a ten-minute city by 2040.

EV infrastructure
3D-stakeholder grid
GIS
Sustainable mobility
Leverage points
Carbon lock-in
Systemic design approach
socio-technical systems
15-minute city
EV charging

http://resolver.tudelft.nl/uuid:5b44f830-8ded-40e3-9a4a-e07f14e9bbe6

Student theses

master thesis

© 2023 Joey van Loo