Rapid urbanisation, increased densification, and declining accessibility put pressure on the quality of life in our cities. Residents, visitors, and businesses should benefit from innovative technologies and new mobility solutions – but these often lead to more complexity and conflicts. We’ve noticed that major cities in The Netherlands are facing big challenges around spatial design, infrastructure, and mobility. Especially during the current corona crisis, the limited adaptivity of the cities and their infrastructure has been put to the test. We believe that smart solutions can upgrade cities’ infrastructures to be more adaptive. Therefore, together with our partner The Future Mobility Network, we created Coding the Curbs™. This solution will help future cities to increase liveability, accessibility, and sustainability.
Multiple-use of space
We believe that a smart and adaptive city has a spatial design that harmonizes with the rhythm of the residents, visitors, and businesses. Imagine curbs that are flexible to give room to pedestrians in the new 1,5m society. Or smart (un)loading zones for trucks that are turned into recreational areas for the bars and restaurants during the weekend. By making an exploration of the environment and mapping out the different functions and users, we can identify new opportunities for the flexible use of the limited space.
Digital and physical integration
Next, we will ‘code the curb’: adding a digital layer on top of the physical infrastructure. Such a digitisation system allows the exchange of data through an API between various stakeholders – e.g. a logistics company and a restaurant business. By continuously monitoring, the municipality is able to discover patterns and make real-time adjustments accordingly. Such interventions could include active parking management, geofencing, restricting access, route planning, and communication with drivers and (smart) vehicles. This will make flexible use of the space on the curb possible – for example between the delivery of goods and space for terraces.
Co-creative approach
The success of our system builds upon close collaboration with relevant parties. Therefore, Coding the Curbs™ has a unique co-creative approach in which stakeholders are actively involved throughout the process – such as citizens, businesses, and governments. Together, we will identify opportunities, define use-cases, and collaborate on integrating them into current and new systems.
Currently, we are happy to announce that we started our first pilot with the municipality of Rotterdam. Together we will work on making the city of Rotterdam ready for tomorrow.
Want to learn more? Please feel free to contact us or read more on our website.