Balancing user logic and urban governance: Integrating shared e-scooters into a human-centred mobility paradigm

As European cities seek to reconcile sustainable urban mobility with the rapid expansion of light-electric vehicles, the integration of shared e-scooters into urban transport systems presents significant challenges for governments. Using an international, multi-actor qualitative approach, this article examines how human-centred mobility principles mediate the relationship between shared e-scooter integration conditions and user-centred outcomes, while exploring the tensions that emerge around spatial justice, accessibility, safety, and sustainability. Multiple expert focus-group design was applied through ten online international focus group series between December 2024 and February 2026, involving purposively selected stakeholders representing policymakers, local authorities, industry actors, research organisations, and user associations from five countries. Data were analysed using constructivist grounded theory with iterative coding and member checking, resulting in the development of the Human-Centred Shared E-scooter Integration Pathway (HC-SEIP) model. The findings demonstrate that shared e-scooter governance extends beyond managing a new mobility mode. Spatial justice, accessibility, safety, and sustainability act as mediating human-centred mobility principles, shaping how the four integration levers are translated into outcomes responsive to diverse and often competing stakeholder needs. The results suggest that successful implementation depends on adaptive, evidence-informed, and participatory governance approaches capable of balancing diverse user needs within increasingly multimodal urban mobility systems. Based on these findings, eight implications for research and practice are proposed, outlining a human-centred approach to the governance and integration of shared e-scooter systems.