Driving sustainable urban mobility in the context of fragmented multi-level governance

The transition towards a mobility system compatible with climate reduction and sustainable development goals proves to be an ongoing challenge. Despite decades of climate action, the transport sector failed to decrease emissions significantly, and academic research on sustainable mobility has shown a lack of implementation. Multimodality is essential in the sustainable urban mobility transition and combines several mobility modes like walking, cycling, or public transport. Mobility hubs are the physical location where different mobility options come together, allowing people to switch from one mode to another. In this context, municipalities play an essential role in shaping urban infrastructure and the distribution of public space. However, the sector can be characterized as a multi-level, multi-sector, multi-actor governance field. Structural and ideational heterogeneity creates fragmented organizational structures, potential veto players, interdependencies, and demand for intense coordination and cooperation among vertical and horizontal levels. Still, there is only little literature analyzing the complex governance structures of mobility hubs or multimodal mobility. This article asks how the multi-level governance architecture in urban mobility affects the implementation of mobility hubs and which conclusions can be drawn from this? The concepts of governance architecture and policy arrangements define a broad understanding of governance. Both approaches will be combined into a four-dimensional analytical framework to examine organizational and ideational dimensions. The analytical framework will be applied to smart mobility governance and illustrated with an empirical example of mobility hubs in Munich (Germany). The analysis is based on qualitative content analysis of policy documents and six semi-structured expert interviews with local and regional stakeholders. This paper aims to enrich the growing literature on sustainable urban mobility with considerations from a governance perspective. Also, it seeks to critically examine whether mobility hubs can act as a catalysator for more sustainable modes of transport and spatial distribution or result in yet another implementation gap. In a broader sense, understanding the complex governance behind mobility hubs can enable more informed and coherent political decision-making processes and promote the sustainable urban mobility transition.