The Sustainable Mobility Innovation Ecosystem: Proposing a Theory-Based Taxonomy

Sustainable mobility is undergoing a profound transformation driven by emerging technologies, increasingly stringent government regulations, and rising societal expectations, challenging traditional mobility models and fostering the emergence of new collaborative ecosystems. Actors from diverse sectors are converging to co-create innovative solutions that support a more sustainable mobility paradigm. Given the novelty of this phenomenon, this study proposes a theory-based taxonomy of innovation ecosystem initiatives for sustainable mobility. To this end, an exploratory literature review was conducted on 760 peer-reviewed articles published over the past twenty years, linking publications on innovation ecosystems with those on sustainable mobility. Topic analysis, performed using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA), identified ten key themes. These themes were then grouped into three main categories during an expert roundtable: smart transportation systems, sustainable mobility planning, and logistics optimization. Furthermore, the analysis of author networks reveals a segmented and specialized collaborative structure, characterized by strong cohesion within thematic groups but limited connectivity between them. This fragmentation reinforces thematic concentration while limiting inter-domain interactions. Overall, the proposed taxonomy offers a structured framework for better understanding and supporting the design, coordination, and orchestration of innovation ecosystems in sustainable mobility.