A Discord in Teaching Urban Mobility Specialists-Observations on University Curricula of Smart and Sustainable Mobility

The study of academic programs in urban mobility is highly relevant in the context of rapid urbanization and escalating environment threats. In aiming for sustainable development, cities encounter complex issues that require professionals capable of integrating intelligent technologies and environmentally rational approaches. This research focuses on analyzing a sample of urban mobility themed undergraduate and graduate curricula in Europe to identify patterns and potential shortcomings in the education of specialists in transport planning. The authors utilized content analysis to categorize the content of academic curricula across key focus areas and competencies, contrasting the elements of smart mobility, sustainable mobility, core foundational knowledge and soft skills. The sample involved 16 relevant programs, selected by considering various leading universities in major European cities offering a minimum of 120 ECTS credits, enabling an examination of comprehensive training programs for specialists in this field. Most programs emphasize smart mobility and sustainable development, reflecting a trend towards integrating technologies with environmental-friendly solutions. At the same time, the analysis reveals differences in focal specialization patterns, with undergraduate programs more often focused on applied aspects of transport planning. In contrast, graduate programs examine research components and offer more specialized training. Regional differences in training priorities were also observed. In some curricula of Northern-European countries, special attention is given to environmental sustainability and public transportation development, whereas in central Europe, the focus tends to be more on direct engineering perspectives of transportation systems management and the adoption of intelligent technologies. Factors such as national educational standards, labor market demand, and collaboration between universities and the transportation industry further influence the content of academic programs. The study indicates that educational programs in transport planning and urban mobility in Europe are developing toward deeper integration of smart technologies and sustainable approaches. The findings support a reassessment of educational standards and the development of new curricula that align more closely with the requests of the modern era. The paper's conclusions have theoretical and practical implications for training programs, enabling universities to adapt curricula to the rapidly transforming mobility landscape.