Urban Radar, a French based start-up supported by EIT Urban Mobility,  was selected to run a pilot project on curb management and urban logistics in Barcelona, one of the leading European smart cities. Urban Radar’s platform fits in Barcelona’s strategy by enabling communities and city managers to take an accessible data-centric approach.  Thanks to this solution, carbon emissions, pollution, and congestion will be reduced, thereby contributing to more sustainable mobility of people and goods.

Following EIT Urban Mobility’s mission to improve mobility to make cities more liveable places, Urban Radar’s pilot proposal focuses on enabling sectoral collaborations and tailoring tools to improve the way city logistics is currently understood, coordinated, and regulated. The coordinated work with the city of Barcelona has delivered insights on how the current network of loading zones (AreaDUM- Area of Urban Distribution of Goods) is utilised, and what policies and changes could be made to the network to better address the needs of citizens and industry.

On the pilot project, Raül Feliu, Business Creation Manager at EIT Urban Mobility, explained that this project is at the core of EIT Urban Mobility’s mission to create more liveable urban spaces by tackling the logistics and curb management challenges faced by the city of Barcelona and by many other European cities.

According to Philippe Rapin, CEO of Urban Radar, this pilot is a win-win. “Our technology can combine multiple data sets to build measurable impact solutions in a quick, affordable, and secure way together with the city of Barcelona”.

The pilot project is one of the first steps on Barcelona’s mission towards a new governance model in urban logistics, founded on public-private collaborations and the digitalisation of logistics activity and loading zones.

Àngel López, Director of Mobility Strategies at the city of Barcelona considers the project a key turning point to better manage the last-mile logistics and the continuous flow of vehicles and packages across districts. This collaboration between Barcelona, Urban Radar, and EIT Urban Mobility will positively impact citizens’ life by lowering congestion, improving air quality and promoting more sustainable urban logistics.

Urban Mobility has gone through unexpected and momentous changes in 2020. COVID-19 ripped through our nations and cities bringing individual, community and societal upheaval and turmoil. Density and proximity, the very two things that make our cities the economic, cultural, intellectual, political, and innovative beating hearts of our society, were also the weakest points when faced with a new and deadly threat.

Wise medical advice led to lockdowns that inevitably saved millions of lives while freezing personal mobility. Who we are today, how we relate to each other, and how we perceive and move around our cities has changed. Maybe forever.  EIT Urban Mobility was privileged to play a small role in Covid Response Initiatives. Inclusive logistics projects protecting the elderly and vulnerable were rolled out in Budapest touching thousands. New ruggedised rickshaws were designed for handicapped and reduced mobility passenger in the hilly cities of Bergamo and Bilbao. As road space was taken back for public space, citizens in 5 cities were able to design and manufacture their street furniture for their own public spaces.  New nanotech sprays covered the surfaces of our buses and metros, to ensure we got home safely.  

It has been an unforgettable year that has shaped our thinking on where EIT Urban Mobility needs to go. We learned we could move fast and innovate at pace. We learned that the right thinkers and doers are there – you just need to find them. We learned that innovation can be financially beneficial and contribute to sustainable growth. 

In 2021, we launch a call for the Business Creation Programme 2022 focused on our City Challenge Areas. This year we will focus on five simple areas: Active Mobility. Sustainable Logistics, Energy and Mobility,  Future Mobility and Creating Public Realm.  We expect great things from our own EIT Urban Mobility community and hubs. Moreover, having seen how our community responded to COVID with rapid, agile, and impactful projects – we expect more. Higher. Faster. Better. And as the saying goes “Don’t tell me how it cannot be done. Tell me how it can”. 

We look forward to receiving your applications for inclusion in the Business Plan 2022 – 2024. 

Main features of the call (aim and segments) 

The overall purpose of the Business Creation programme is to resolve challenges facing European cities to improve citizens lives, by taking innovative ideas and putting them to the test in real life. 

The Business Creation programmes helps entrepreneurs grow their successful business ventures. It does so by providing a new-business-friendly environment, offering start-ups and scaleups training, advice, funding and opportunities for networking. 

For the Business Plan 2022, Business Creation specifically looks for actions to continue and improve content, formats and business models of the Accelerator Programmes and SME Hub.  The Business Creation call in 2022 is focusing on two areas that reflect the different stages of maturity and needs of startups and SMEs: Acceleration and the SME Hub.  

Call summary 

First Call for Proposals for Business Creation for BP 2022 – 2024: Main Features 

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Supporting documents:

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Contact details 

Events-Webinars 

You can find the calendar on the main events here.