ETH Webinar: AI for spatial and transport planning

​AI technologies are powerful tools that open up new opportunities for urban mobility planning. They allow cities to use data more effectively, make planning processes more transparent, and create a deeper understanding of how different modes of transport interact. By simulating complex dynamics, AI helps planners explore innovative ways to design safer, more efficient, and more inclusive mobility systems.

​Yet, in most cities there is still a lack of tangible visions of how such a transformation could work in practice. As a result, public debates often remain focused on isolated pros and cons, rather than addressing the systemic impacts of change. By contrast, the car-oriented city of the mid-20th century was backed by powerful images and planning models that made radical transformations both imaginable and desirable. Today, the urgent shift to climate-friendly and space-efficient mobility equally requires strong narratives, backed by advanced tools.

This is where AI-powered planning can make a decisive difference. By handling higher levels of complexity, simulating a wide range of scenarios, and integrating diverse data sources, AI allows planners to better understand trade-offs and system-wide effects. Instead of debating isolated measures, cities can now explore comprehensive strategies, testing how different choices affect congestion, safety, emissions, or accessibility. Such approaches enable more transparent decision-making and more robust pathways toward sustainable urban mobility.

Join us to explore how AI-driven methods can transform traffic planning from piecemeal debates into systemic solutions, and discover how these tools can support your own projects.

Speaker: Lukas Ballo, Lukas Ambühl, Raphael Eder
Host: Andreas Rupf