Changes in society and culture are intertwined with spatial and social mobility. For decades, car travel has been glamourized and treated as the number one mode of transport in cities. However, the internationally driven effort to protect the climate (as stated in the Paris Climate Agreement) demands the decarbonization of our cities and the drastic reduction of the use of (non-renewable) energy. One of the biggest producers of the greenhouse gases CO2 and NO X is the mobility sector. Additionally, it is the sector with the smallest change in emission rates since the 1990s. In order to achieve resource-friendly and sustainable individual and public mobility systems, municipalities need to collaborate and politicians need to have brave and forward thinking and act in the people’s best interest. COVID-19 and the changes it brought to mobility routines made the lack of public spaces in our cities very apparent: there isn’t enough room for active mobility like cycling and walking, the eco-friendly modes of transport that also take place outside of enclosed spaces like vehicles, where infection is more likely. Many cities around the globe acted quickly – pop-up bike lanes brought more and more cyclists to the streets, parking space was transformed into cafés, sitting areas or places to meet. The pandemic showed us what our cities could look and feel like if traffic to and from work was reduced and public space was taken from the private car and returned to the people. To reach even further into the future, the New Emscher Mobility project created different scenarios and simulated tendencies in urban development, in mobility change and in system dynamics – including the needs and routines of the people in the Ruhr Area. A key issue of sustainable mobility is an efficient and customer-friendly public transport system. A separate project, the AVÖV project, implemented and simulated a digitally interconnected shuttle system to increase the attractiveness of public transport in different spatial contexts. To make mobility sustainable, it has to be accessible for everyone. Flexible, comfortable and easy-to-use public transport is an important pillar for future urban and rural mobility. Mobility is always dependent on space, technologies, the economy and human behaviour. Therefore, in order to successfully implement citywide, regionwide and nationwide sustainable mobility systems, an interdisciplinary approach is key.