The capital city will have an Urban Mobility Plan that is a strategic planning document for developing road and pedestrian infrastructure, public and private transport, for organizing parking places and creating bicycle infrastructure. This will be worked out by national and international experts with the involvement of citizens of Chisinau as part of the Moldova Sustainable Green Cities Project that is implemented by the Chisinau City Hall with the assistance of UNDP, IPN reports.

Attending the presentation, acting mayor of Chisinau Ruslan Codreanu said the city cannot be developed without strategic and sustainable panning, taking into account the urban realities and the needs of the people. The Urban Mobility Plan will help to more efficiently invest the public funds so as to improve the transport system in the city and the citizens have equal access to public or private transport and to ensure accessible and safe travel. The private transport during the past ten years has grown by about 30%.

Inga Podoroghin, UNDP Moldova environment and energy program specialist, said Chisinau city faces traffic jams and has congested road infrastructure. The public areas and sidewalks worsen in quality owing to illegal parking lots, while the level of air pollution increases constantly. The transport network should be thought so that the inhabitants of Chisinau are offered safe and comfortable travel alternatives, either by public or private transport, by bike or on foot.

Victor Chironda, UNDP Moldova national urban mobility consultant, noted this plan institutes a change – from the up to down urban planning method centered on experts, architects and engineers to urban planning oriented to the people and their involvement. Today’s event marks the beginning of a series of activities. An urban panning workshop involving functionaries, experts, representatives of civil society and others  will be held tomorrow already, on January 30. By June, the Urban Mobility Plan is to be prepared in draft form and will be later discussed at public consultations so as to finalize it.

The Moldova Sustainable Green Cities Project for 2018-2022 has a budget of US$ 2.72 million, US$ 2.64 million of which is provided by the Global Environment Facility, while US$ 80,000 by UNDP Moldova.