Design for movability in a changing behaviour vision. Design-oriented behavioural strategies for a product-service system research agenda in support of emerging active and sustainable urban mobility models

The current urban mobility paradigm is undergoing a significant shift, aiming to address various challenges related to the green, digital, and social transitions: (i) from an inefficient, distant, lonely city of modernity to an efficient, socially positive, and sustainable city of proximity; (ii) towards livable proximity; (iii) from passive to active and zero-impact mobility; (iv) towards active and healthy neighbourhoods; (v) from car-centric to intermodality; (vi) towards smart mobility technology enablers, i. e. connected, automated, electrified, micro, active/soft and inclusive mobility; (vii) from a good-dominant to service-dominant logic, or rather, from ownership to sharing use; and (vii) towards smart mobility disruptors, i. e. autonomous, shared, last-mile, and seamless integrated mobility (see Khamis, A. 2021; Manzini, 2022). This doctoral study highlights the need to support the development of emerging sustainable planning models - including the 15-Minute City (Moreno et. al., 2021), Superblocks model (Nieuwenhuijsen et al., 2024) or 20-minute neighbourhoods (Emery, T., & Thrift, J. 2021) - through the adoption of future studies, behavioural design, strategic thinking methods, and participatory design methodological approach applied to the product-service system, strategic and systemic design discipline. The research emphasises the need for targeted actions on “human values towards the environment and in patterns of behaviour and consumption” (Holden et al., 2020). Despite substantial technological advancements in personal urban mobility, there is a lack of technological acceptance and sustainability awareness among users. Moreover, there is a need to integrate these new modes of mobility into daily life with a clear focus on sustainability (Kjærup et. al., 2021; Sadeghian et. al., 2022). The overarching objective of the doctoral study is to orient people's mobility behavioural intentions towards active and sustainable urban mobility styles through a social change process, that transitions from the "stages of change" of pre-contemplation and preparation to the "stages of change" of action and maintenance (see Prochaska et al., 2015). Regarding this, the project aims to (i) explore the existing smart mobility disruptive services and technology enablers, the built environment quality factors and the behavioural factors affecting and orienting active and sustainable mobility choices; and (ii) examine the core role of design thinking, strategic thinking, future studies, behavioural design, and participatory design in the evaluation of data affecting behavioural intentions and in the development of design-oriented behavioural intervention strategies. In other terms, the PhD work aims to create a systemic link to correlate the concepts of “sustainability”, “health and wellbeing” and “behavioural change” within the cluster of mobility. Thus, the research question orienting the study is: How can ‘design research’ orient people’s behavioural intentions towards active and sustainable mobility styles in the context of human-scale urban mobility, specifically within the framework of a proximate, healthy, and inclusive neighbourhood? At the core of the research process, the project adopts a pragmatist philosophical perspective as the foundation for social research (adapted from Batista, M. Á. H. 2020). It employs abductive reasoning, which involves constructing and generating a theory through intuition and everyday experience (adapted from Batista, M. Á. H. 2020; Morgan, 2014). Consequently, the methodological process and proposed research activities highlight the necessity of co-constructing and co-designing expected research outcomes with the community, incorporating methodological pluralism. The research through design research process correlates with “Design thinking” (see Micheli, et al. 2018), the “Design-orienting scenarios method” (Manzini, E., & Jegou, F., 2000) and “Darnton’s Nine principles”, as a framework for innovation to identify the target audience behaviours and define acceptable, desirable, and disruptive strategic design interventions shaping possible active and sustainable mobility futures and positive behavioural change (Sung K., 2017; Sadeghian et al., 2022; Sung et al., 2022). The research methodology is structured to conduct (i) critical literature review, fuelling the debate on behavioural, urban quality factors and technological mobility disruptors; (ii) exploratory case study research, providing a practical experience; and (iii) research through design activities, defining research directions and insights towards the achievement of the research challenges. The expected outcomes, consistent with the specific objectives, concern: (i) the definition of the Behavioural Design for Movability (BDxM) conceptual framework including methodological approaches, quality factors of the built environment supporting active and sustainable mobility, behavioural models to be explored to understand the target mobility behaviour, and behavioural factors influencing mobility choice; (ii) the development of the BDxM research through (co)design process, as an operational research model for further and forthcoming research; (iii) the definition of the BDxM systemic codesign toolkit that enable the scalability of the entire work, i.e. in public administrations context; (iv) the development of a BDxM product-service system research agenda highlighting how the mobility behavioural intentions of the individuals might be approached from the product-service system design perspective; and (v) the definition of the BDxM Theory of Change as a communication tool strategically outlining the overall drivers of change to achieve the research challenges. The main intended beneficiaries are local territorial authorities - public administrations, urban governance bodies, policymakers, urban planners, design practitioners and the scientific community. The doctoral study, indeed, impacts both research and innovation as well as social policies in terms of promoting health and improving urban environmental quality towards the adoption of new active and sustainable mobility styles. In this regard, the project aims to define a forward-looking vision of a healthy, active, and sustainable city aligned with SDGs 3, 9, and 11.