The city-network EXPO-region is a board made up of 7 cities in the Hannover region, which aims to find joint, sustainable and environmentally acceptable solutions to urban problems. One of the key issues for the area is the impact of freight transport. Within the EXPO-region, this has reached alarming proportions, as the region is crossed by many major European traffic corridors which generate problems of transit traffic as well as origin and destination traffic. By the year 2010, it is estimated that road goods traffic could increase by as much as 61%. This not only creates major problems for supply transport within the inner city areas but causes a serious environmental impact with high noise and pollutant emissions, affecting the quality of life in the region. Any effective strategy for organizing freight transport in a more rational way, will depend on the development of an integrated regional strategy, as goods transport often crosses the borders of municipalities and regions. The current project therefore proposes to promote such “integrated aspects of spatial planning” in order to actively reduce the environmental impact of goods transport in the area. The project would be jointly developed between the city network partners: (7 cities in the Hanover area + 1 board), Volkswagen AG (low emission vehicles), IVE (railway concept), IVU (telematics) and local companies / boards.