To the right is a concrete bridge for bikes, in the centre of the image there are light rail tracks and bike paths, and in the background you can see a lake and an urban area behind it.

Sustainable Mobility and Transport Planning Research Group (SUSMOB)

Reimagining mobility for all through interdisciplinary research with communities to create safer, more sustainable and inclusive cities and regions.

SUSMOB addresses critical challenges in sustainable mobility through innovative, interdisciplinary approaches. We develop solutions for creating safe, inclusive, and equitable transportation networks in both urban and rural environments. 

Research Focus Areas

  • Co-creating safe, inclusive and just streets and mobility networks
  • Developing tools and methods to promote sustainable mobility behaviours
  • Addressing mobility inequality and transport justice 
  • Creating climate-responsive transport systems 

Research projects

MobileWorlds (2023–2025) 

JUST STREETS (2024–2027) 

Selected publications
  • Cadima, C., von Schönfeld, K., & Ferreira, A. (2024). Beyond Car-Centred Adultism? Exploring Parental Influences on Children's Mobility. Urban Planning, 9. 
  • Ferreira A., von Schönfeld, K., Tan, W.G.Z and Papa, E. 2020, Maladaptive Planning and the Pro-Innovation Bias: Considering the Case of Automated Vehicles, Urban Science, 4(3), pp. 41–41. 
  • Hidayati, I., & Tan, W.G.Z. (2025). Assessing justice in sustainable mobility transitions: narratives from transport policies in Jakarta. Journal of Environmental Policy & Planning, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1080/1523908x.2025.2452923 
  • Hidayati, I., Tan, W.G.Z., & Yamu, C. (2021). Conceptualizing Mobility Inequality: Mobility and Accessibility for the Marginalized. Journal of Planning Literature, 088541222110128. https://doi.org/10.1177/08854122211012898 
  • Hidayati, I., Tan, W.G.Z. and Yamu, C. H., 2020, How Gender Differences and Perceptions of Safety Shape Urban Mobility in Southeast Asia, Transportation Research. Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 73, pp. 155–173. 
  • Koning, R. E. de, Heldal, R., & Tan, W.G.Z. (2022). Spatial data and workflow automation for understanding densification patterns and transport energy networks in urban areas: The cases of Bergen, Norway, and Zürich, Switzerland. Data in Brief, 42, 108290. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2022.108290 
  • Lotfata, A., Cortesão, J., Zinsmeister, H., Steeneveld, G., Zeben, J., Taylor, Z., Tan, W.G.Z., & Elkhateeb, S. (2023). Climate adaptation in informal areas in hot arid climates. Sustainable Development. https://doi.org/10.1002/sd.2708 
  • Nag, D., & Goswami, A. K. (2022). Measuring the built walking environment through image calibration using a hybrid audit approach. Journal of Transportation Engineering, Part A: Systems, 148(11), 04022092. 
  • Nag, D. and Goswami, A.K., (2024). How to develop the walking environment for its 'consumers'? A conjoint answer derived from people's perception of link and network. Sustainable Cities and Society, 100, p.105031. 
  • Nikolaeva, A., Lin, Y.-T., Nello-Deakin, S., Rubin, O., & von Schönfeld, K. C. (2022). Living without commuting: Experiences of a less mobile life under COVID-19. Mobilities, 21. 
  • von Schönfeld, K. C., & Ferreira, A. (2022). Mobility values in a finite world: Pathways beyond austerianism? Applied Mobilities, 1–27. 
  • von Schönfeld, K. C.,Tan, W.G.Z., Curtis, C., and Visser, J. F. 2020, Every-Day Mobility Anecdotes: Addressing the Blind Spot of Goal- and Expert-Oriented Mobility Research, Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, 7, pp. 100169–100169. 
  • Yamu, C., Tan, W.G.Z., & Sielker, F. (2023). Case studies: City-scale digital twins. In W. Li, T. Nochta, J. Tang, & J. Schooling (Eds.), Digital Twins for Smart Cities (pp. 31–67). https://doi.org/10.1680/dtsc.66007.031 

Our Approach

  • Interdisciplinary collaboration combining technical and social science perspectives
  • Advanced methodological toolkit: GIS, Space Syntax, statistical analysis, Living Labs
  • Participatory engagement with communities, policymakers, and industry partners
  • Integration of arts-based research and ethnographic methods 

Our diverse team of architects, urban designers, planners, geographers, engineers, and social scientists collaborates to create mobility solutions that have a meaningful, real-world impact.