Who is delaying the decarbonization of urban mobility? A comparison of public authorities’ and residents’ visions for the mobility transformation in Munich, Germany

Greenhouse gas emissions from transport continue to rise across Europe. Existing research attributes this inertia either to policymakers’ reluctance to propose restrictive measures, or to citizens’ opposition to such interventions. This paper examines these assumptions by comparing visions for the future of mobility articulated by public authorities and residents in Munich, Germany. With a mixed-methods design, we analyze policy documents, parliamentary deliberations, and strategy papers, alongside free-text responses from a large-scale survey of 1,722 residents. Our findings reveal broad agreement between authorities and residents on the desirability of a less car-centric future. However, while residents expressed support for restrictive measures such as car-free neighborhoods and reduced parking, policy documents presented an ambivalent stance, framing car reduction as achievable without coercive measures. Both actor groups largely omitted the climate crisis as an imperative for change, instead emphasizing quality of life, congestion, or demographic pressures. We argue that this shared but vague vision risks delaying transformative action: it remains unclear how the transition should be implemented, conflicts are insufficiently addressed, and restrictive measures necessary for systemic change are under-acknowledged. Our study highlights that overcoming inertia requires shifting focus from building consensus on desirable futures to negotiating concrete pathways, including changes in lifestyles and spatial arrangements. Furthermore, we found that framing the decarbonization of transport as both desirable and possible does not suffice to leverage transformative action; governance traps and delay strategies may persist nonetheless, namely through a focus on goals instead of on actions, excessive precaution, and a disregard for the urgency.