Two days of meetings (and debates) on mobility organised at the Milan Luiss Hub. What the seventh edition of Citytech, one of Italy's major events dedicated to mobility technology, left us with.
We at LifeGate were there too, at the multifunctional space of the Luiss Business School, in the heart of Milan's Porta Nuova innovation district. We went to browse through the many ideas and projects on show at Citytech 2019, but also to (re)present the data from Milano Sostenibile – 3° Osservatorio sullo stile di vita dei cittadini, which once again confirmed that Milanese residents are the Italians most interested in sustainable mobility and, more broadly, in the most advanced forms of transport, including micromobility.
Leggi anche: Un milione di milanesi crede nella sostenibilità. I dati dell'Osservatorio Milano sostenibile 2019
"We are in the midst of a complex and interesting transition that is moving us towards greater sustainability, but we need to know how to manage it — and that is the task of good governance — so that the balance sheet shows a positive result for the quality of life of citizens." Opening proceedings was Marco Granelli, Milan's Councillor for Mobility and Public Works, who described how Milan embraces change willingly: "We have been experiencing this transformation over recent years, orienting ourselves more and more towards sustainable mobility, starting from investments in public transport and connectivity networks made up of, for example, shared mobility — cars, scooters, bicycles and micromobility."
In short, Citytech was the occasion to reaffirm Milan's commitments: from the plan for the complete electric conversion of the ATM fleet by 2030 to the provision of electric charging infrastructure across the city, through to the reclaiming of public spaces. But Citytech was also an opportunity to debate the major issues reshaping the face of cities and mobility. Starting with the city 5.0, envisioning a "Super smart society based on the satisfaction of real needs — that is, a technologically advanced society, an Augmented human society, in which progress is designed along human centred lines, meaning conceived to improve the living and working conditions of people," as explained by Emilia Garito, CEO of Quantum Leap IP.
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Another hot topic at Citytech 2019 was Urban air mobility, regarded by many as the next frontier of innovation in the transport sector. Of particular interest was a study conducted by Nexa, an American strategic advisory investment firm, which examined 74 cities around the world, among those best suited to hosting new aerial mobility services. Milan was among them, ranking 27th among the cities analysed as having the most potential, and the only Italian candidate to attract the technological innovation of urban air mobility. Many international players are active in the field of urban air mobility: Airbus, Dufour Aerospace, Skyports, Vertical Aerospace, as well as the Italian industry with Telespazio. "Before cities and countries commit to providing the physical and airspace for vertiports (platforms similar to heliports but on a smaller scale, ed.) and a regulatory framework for eVtol flights, they need to understand what the social and economic benefits of using this technology are, such as the reduction of traffic and emissions, the arrival of new industries, and the growth of employment and tax revenue," clarified Michael J. Dyment, founder and managing partner of Nexa.
But Citytech 2019 was also the right context in which to explore other issues. From digital technologies that are radically transforming the way we move around cities and make use of mobility services — thanks to companies providing increasingly innovative solutions in terms of rental, sharing and connectivity — through to the progressive shift towards electric, which is possible only — as emerged at Citytech — if there is strong collaboration between the public and private sectors and among all the players involved: transport companies, energy and charging system providers, product and technology suppliers, automotive manufacturers and actors in sustainable logistics, an often under-explored yet central piece of the puzzle when it comes to solving the emissions problem.
It is one of the major topics of the moment, at least in Europe's largest cities (Milan included). Citytech dedicated an important debate to micromobility, bringing together European experiences — notably the not always straightforward one of Paris, and the interesting case of Hive, the e-scooter sharing service operating in several European cities including Barcelona — and Italian cities. The spotlight was on cities that have already launched or will be launching trials linked to micromobility, undoubtedly an important and virtuous element of urban mobility, but one that still has some aspects to optimise (safety and rules of use above all).
Another topic still little known to the general public but extensively explored by the many players working on the future of mobility — digital payments, the use of blockchain technology, data analysis and predictive calculations — was at the heart of the two-day Milan event. Citytech chose to dedicate a focused session to the digital transformation of mobility, a transformation that has been under way for some time, often invisible, but one we will need to get used to. The words most frequently heard at Citytech? Artificial intelligence, cloud, big data, IoT, augmented reality and machine learning. Terms worth keeping in mind, because they will be the ones that radically transform — hopefully above all to the benefit of users — the world of mobility.
