Decarbonising the industry blog series: Mobility
June 11, 2021
The pandemic we are currently in is driving a multitude of changes across the world. While, undoubtedly, many of the impacts have been devastating, there are some developments which bear great promise for the future.
Interestingly enough, some of the most significant and positive of these changes happen right in front of us – in our cities, particularly large and densely populated urban areas. New trends are emerging that are pushing urban centres in Europe and around the globe to adopt exciting new models that put citizens and their life quality front and centre. One of these new ideas is the 15 minute city.
A concept masterminded by professor Carlos Moreno of Paris’ Sorbonne University, the 15 minute city calls for an incredible reimagining of our urban centres to prioritize the basic needs of the people who live in them. Essentially, the model envisages neighbourhoods where all of a person’s key necessities can be easily reached – either by foot or by bike– in 15 minutes or less – including workplaces, schools and childcare, shops and restaurants, clinics, cultural institutions and parks. One great example of initiatives leading in that direction is the city of Paris. Led by mayor Anne Hidalgo, the Paris municipality has been driving forth a comprehensive set of policies to create self-sufficient communities, including a €350 million investment program to create bike lanes on every street by 2024 while removing 60,000 spaces for private car parking. An important part of that is the rollout of innovative charging infrastructure for micromobility vehicles like those of our start-up DUCKT in the 13th Paris Rive Gauche district.
The Business Booster 2021 will focus on “the new industrial revolution” – another transformative development that is set to play a major role in the future of our cities. In fact, this new industrial revolution will be pivotal for the digital and sustainable production at-scale of those solutions and infrastructure that ideas such as the 15 minute city will be built upon. In addition, the event will feature a number of exciting EIT InnoEnergy portfolio companies that are primed to take a lead role in changing our cityscapes and in bringing us closer to making the 15 minute city a reality.
Join us on 3-4 November to learn how emerging micromobility players like ONO, DUCKT and Ducktrain are working to support models like the 15 minute city, and in turn improve the day to day lives of Europeans for decades to come.
In the meantime, download our new Micromobility Report to understand the challenges, solutions and incredible impact of the micromobility sector in Europe.