Sayalee Pendharkar, Munich

Meet Sayalee Pendharka – Nominated by the Munich City Council 

Urban design to sustainable transportation 

With the added challenge of meeting climate targets, Munich's urban planners are trying to open the city up for more sustainable forms of transport to facilitate the smooth and enjoyable movement of people. 

Sayalee Pendharkar, the EU Mobility Innovation Project Coordinator for the City of Munich, plays an important role in the city’s efforts to improve urban mobility.

Originally from Pune, India, Sayalee transitioned from urban design to sustainable transportation after moving to Munich in 2009 for her master’s degree at the Technical University of Munich. Since she had always felt an affinity for mobility and sustainable transport issues, Sayalee jumped at the chance to venture into that path when the opportunity arose.

“Now the whole city has become my landscape, and I can identify the pain points to direct design elements and plan them well. To my surprise it’s not so easy, because there are a lot of policy and regulation issues that need to be considered and tackled. There is also a lot of citizen engagement work and the need to collaborate with a lot of different stakeholders," she said.

Urban mobility pioneers

Sayalee’s role has evolved significantly since she joined the City of Munich. Initially working as a transport planner, she now coordinates European mobility projects within the city's newly formed Department of Mobility, created in 2021. The department brings together experts to develop the Mobility Strategy 2035.  

Sayalee is primarily responsible for all the European mobility projects and engagements that the City of Munich does EU-wide. This involves extensive collaboration with various stakeholders, including industry partners and citizen groups, to tackle policy and regulatory challenges. 

Munich was one of the founding partners of EIT Urban Mobility, and Sayalee said the city plays an active role in this European initiative. Webinars are regularly organised by the city club, where experts present case studies from the city of Munich. 

An emerging urban transformation leader

Being selected for the EIT Urban Mobility Emerging Leaders program is an exciting milestone for Sayalee. She sees it as an opportunity to enhance her leadership skills, especially in communication and team management.  

“I want to be able to actively contribute to discussions with policymakers in mobility transformation especially when it comes to sustainable mobility, climate neutrality challenges and increasing city liveability.”

Realising targets

Reflecting on Munich’s achievements in urban mobility, Sayalee points to the city’s relatively new Department of Mobility, which has streamlined decision-making and project implementation.  

“Munich is one of the hundred EU climate-neutral and smart cities, so in that scenario we are quite ahead,” she said. “We are implementing many things, not just in the Department of Mobility but also in terms of sustainability and urban greening. In general we have very high targets and we are extremely ambitious.” 

The department has already made considerable strides to create citizen-friendly streets while promoting sustainable and active modes of transport, and it’s clear that Sayalee’s active role in mobility projects and her dedication to sustainable transport make her an exciting up-and-coming contributor to the city’s future.