Cities are home to almost three-quarters of the EU population and account for 85% of GDP. However, in many urban areas increasing demand for urban mobility has created a situation that is not sustainable, including issues relating to severe congestion and parking difficulties, long commuting times, inadequacy of public transport systems, pollution and noise.

Urban focused regulation such as Urban Vehicle Access Regulations (UVAR), attempts to address these issues in cities.

There are a number of European actions to support sustainable urban mobility:

• The Urban Mobility Package
• Urban Vehicle Access Regulations (UVAR) (see Portal of all Urban Access Regulations in Europe)
• Action Plan on urban mobility
• Keep Europe Moving – ‘sustainable mobility for our continent’
• White paper 2011 – ‘Roadmap to a Single European Transport Area’
• Green Paper on urban mobility
• Smart and Sustainable Mobility Strategy