ITDP is excited to announce that ITDP Brazil has officially received funding from Prosperity Fund UK, the government of the United Kingdom’s fund to tackle climate change, strengthen energy security, and promote an open global economy in key emerging economies. ITDP Brazil has received a grant from the fund to carry out a two year nationwide project focused on national policy and urban mobility plans.

Brazil’s National Mobility Law, which went into effect in April 2012, mandates that all Brazilian cities with a population over 20,000 draft and present an urban mobility plan to the Ministry of Cities by 2015. The release of federal funding to each city is contingent on that city’s presentation of a mobility plan, which, according to the law, should serve to reduce inequality; promote access to services; improve access and mobility; promote sustainable development; and strengthen democratic institutions in the city.

This is no small order. The law applies to 1,663 Brazilian cities, 79 of which have more than 300,000 inhabitants. The great challenge now is to ensure that this law is put into practice effectively, in a manner that truly promotes sustainable urban mobility in Brazil.

To that end, ITDP is working closely with the Ministry of Cities in Brasilia, drafting guidelines that the Ministry will use to support city officials in their efforts to create mobility plans and, later, to evaluate those plans. As part of the project, ITDP will also produce fact sheets outlining best practices in urban mobility, which will be useful for city governments; hold workshops and seminars with local and international experts to encourage deeper discussion and debate about what should be incorporated into mobility plans; and work directly with the governments of three large cities—Belo Horizonte, Rio de Janeiro, and Fortaleza—to accompany them in the planning process and make the task a less daunting one. ITDP Brazil is confident that these activities will contribute to more comprehensive, sustainable, and achievable urban mobility plans in these three cities and throughout the country.