CityFlows Launches City Analytics Startup

CityFlows is an EIT Urban Mobility flagship project bringing together a diverse consortium of partners to launch a state-of-the-art Crowd Management Decision-Support System (CM-DSS) to improve the safety and comfort of busy pedestrian spaces. The recent launch of City Analytics, a start-up licensing the CityFlows CM-DSS software to government authorities, represents a major project milestone. City Analytics will boost the quality of pedestrian spaces, a timely development as cities look for reliable tools that can help them respond to the Corona crisis. Find out more by reading this extended article below.

Background
The safety and comfort of pedestrian spaces influences the quality of life in cities, but crowding can limit these gains. In recent years, a few European universities and municipalities have developed techniques to actively monitor crowd movements and proactively manage crowded spaces using real-time decision support systems. These pilot programs have shown that effective crowd management can substantially improve the liveability and sustainability of densely populated urban areas. Yet, at the beginning of 2020, there was no state-of-the-art CM-DSS ready for large-scale deployment.

This is the challenge that a diverse consortium of partners set out to address in the EIT Urban Mobility project, CityFlows. The Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute) and its founding member Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), brought together researchers and practitioners in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Milan who have expertise in state-of-the-art sensor techniques, crowd management, governmental regulation, European privacy regulation, machine learning, data analytics and valorization of research output. This consortium consists of AMS Institute, TU Delft, as well as the city of Amsterdam, ALTRAN, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC), the city of Barcelona, ENEA, the city of Milan and AMAT.

Shortly after the project launched in January 2020, the partners experienced a massive set-back in the wake of Covid-19 emergency, with Milan being particularly hard hit. The initial timelines and scope of the project were challenged as large events were cancelled and tourist crowds disappeared. Despite these set-backs, the partners persevered, adapting to the new reality. In this article the partners share an update as the project reaches an important milestone.

Living Lab Projects
A key desired outcome of the CityFlows project is to boost the quality and accessibility of urban space through different living lab projects in the three partner cities of Amsterdam, Milan and Barcelona. Through these city-scale demonstrator projects, the CityFlows CM-DSS software developed by TU Delft and ALTRAN is being tested to illustrate the overall impact of the system and provide management strategies for various types of crowded spaces. These “living lab” projects are also integral to testing design assumptions and validating the software in different real-life contexts.

The first living lab project was planned at Amsterdam’s Johan Cruijff ArenA and was supposed to take place during the UEFA EURO 2020 soccer championship which has been postponed to 2021. The aim of this living lab is to showcase and evaluate the use of the CityFlows CM-DSS software during large sporting events. The software features a sensor system, including 2D sensors, that will be further built up using data from other sources. The system is fully operational and ready for testing once large sporting events can take place again. Additionally, the CM-DSS has also been adjusted for Covid-19 management, providing insights into levels of crowdedness and social distancing behavior in the area.

Similarly, the Amsterdam Covid-19 living lab represents an alteration to the original project which was supposed to manage crowds during the large-scale SAIL event that was cancelled. Instead, partners have adapted the operational crowd-monitoring system to monitor social distancing at several busy locations. Real-time data is produced and analyzed by city officials on a daily basis, helping to inform social-distancing measures and communications with the public through dashboards.

Meanwhile, the Barcelona living lab will produce simulations that predict the human behavior around Sagrada Familia. Data regarding flow dynamics will be collected primarily through RFID technology, providing the input for simulations which will eventually be used to redesign the pedestrian space surrounding Sagrada Familia. The pilot is currently in the final design stages and will be fully deployed in 2021.

The Milan Central Station living lab will be testing 5G technology through the set-up of a real-time crowd movement assessment system featuring highly sophisticated computer vision techniques. The municipality, ENEA and ALTRAN have designed a pilot using historical and real-time data collected by fixed and mobile sensors to feed the analysis of the crowd evolution inside the station. Moreover, the partners are developing an innovative 5G sensor system that analyzes and classifies pedestrian movements in CCTV images.

Launching City Analytics
The CityFlows consortium recently reached a key milestone with the launch of City Analytics. This start-up is a vehicle for turning the CityFlows CM-DSS into a license-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) software package available to managers of pedestrian spaces (i.e. public spaces, train stations, event grounds, shopping malls, schools). Compared to its main competitors, the City Analytics software package is hardware independent, cloud-based, highly scalable, GDPR-proof and above all, highly customizable to the user’s needs. In the coming year, City Analytics will further develop the business case, and also connect other modes of transport, including bicycle flows, car flows and public transport. The software package has been available to serve interested parties since the beginning of December.

Knowledge & Educational Activities
A key consideration in launching the CityFlows CM-DSS on a large scale is ensuring that system operators have access to the right knowledge and information to use it effectively. For this reason CityFlows partners are developing an impact assessment of the deployment of the CityFlows CM-DSS for various types of crowded places.

Additionally, an educational package considering innovative crowd-management decision-support systems is being developed. This package will be hosted open-access on the CityFlows website. Since September, three CityFlows webinars have been hosted bringing together project partners and the broader crowd-management community. Recaps and recordings of those webinars are available on the CityFlows website and a fourth webinar is planned for December 15th on the topic of 5G applications for crowd-management. Project partners will continue to develop educational activities into 2021, showcasing the results and lessons learned from the different living lab projects and other best practices for crowd-management. Researchers and practitioners working on innovative crowd-management projects are invited to share their work with this growing community of crowd-management professionals.

Scaling Results
The CityFlows project has already achieved impressive results. Despite initial delays due to the Corona emergency, living lab projects in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Milan are well under way. And, with the launch of the City Analytics start-up, the CityFlows CM-DSS is ready to scale, thereby helping boost the quality of pedestrian spaces across Europe and internationally. This is more urgent than ever, especially as cities are looking for tools which can help them keep Covid-19 under control in the upcoming months.

Contact
To learn more about the CityFlows project visit www.cityflows-project.eu or contact:

Dorine Duives, TU Delft Principal Investigator via D.C.Duives@tudelft.nl
Cornelia Dinca, CityFlows Communications Officer via cornelia.dinca@ams-institute.org

https://cityflows-project.eu

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(Er zijn slechts 100 plekken beschikbaar, waarbij City Deal-partners voorrang krijgen) Aan alles komt een eind, dus ook aan zoiets leuks als de City Deal ‘Een slimme stad, zo doe je dat.’

We stoppen ermee
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Er zijn slechts 100 plekken beschikbaar, waarbij City Deal-partners voorrang krijgen. Meld je snel aan om verzekerd te zijn van een plek op dit inspirerende event. Meld je hier aan

Slotevent City Deal ‘Een slimme stad, zo doe je dat’ – Vier samen met ons de toekomst van slimme steden

Kom naar het feestelijke slotevent van de City Deal ‘Een slimme stad, zo doe je dat’, waarin we in een talkshow-setting terugblikken op alles wat we samen hebben bereikt én een blik vooruit werpen op wat er nog in het verschiet ligt. Dit event markeert het einde van een bijzondere samenwerking, en biedt jou de kans om inspiratie op te doen en waardevolle inzichten te delen.

Wat kun je verwachten (concept)?
Lessen en Visies – Samen verkennen we wat we hebben geleerd: van de kracht van samenwerken in een ecosysteem tot het belang van visie en doorzettingsvermogen. We delen onze inzichten over de uitdagingen en successen die we tijdens corona hebben doorstaan en hoe die ons sterker hebben gemaakt.
Lancering van ons nieuwe boek – Dit boek wordt een onmisbare bron voor iedereen die zich inzet voor slimme steden. Ontdek hoe de City Deal ook jou kan inspireren en ondersteunen.

Initiatieven als ‘AI in de Stad’ en DMI – Samen met de zaal gaan we in gesprek over belangrijke nieuwe initiatieven zoals DMI en ‘AI in de Stad’. Waar liggen kansen en wie kunnen we nog verbinden om verder te groeien?
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Let op: Beperkte plekken beschikbaar! – Er zijn slechts 100 plekken beschikbaar, waarbij City Deal-partners voorrang krijgen. Meld je snel aan om verzekerd te zijn van een plek op dit inspirerende event. Meld je hier aan

Mis deze unieke gelegenheid niet om met gelijkgestemden te praten, jouw ideeën te delen en geïnspireerd te raken door de resultaten en toekomstvisies van slimme steden. Samen maken we van deze afsluiting een startpunt voor iets nieuws.
Dit jaar ronden we de City Deal af en borgen we de resultaten. Dat laten we zien in dit slotevenement. Zorg dat je erbij bent!
__________________________________
Datum: 23 januari 2025
Tijd: 12:00 – 18:00
Locatie: Prodentfabriek Amersfoort
Meld je hier aan

Pelle Menke, Communications and Programme officer Mobility at Amsterdam InChange, posted Nov 18th

During our Knowledge and Demo Day on 10 October (2024), Guus Kruijssen and Rombout Huisman (Province of North Holland) led a working session on their recent scenario studies – Smart Mobility North Holland 2050. In this report, I will share the four ‘Context’ scenarios they developed, the process, and the discussions with the session participants.

Objectives of the Scenario Study

What do we actually mean by future visions and scenarios? What are the different types, and how can they be used? A discussion among the participants quickly highlighted the many different motivations, forms, and use cases. Rombout and Guus began by explaining their aim for this study.

The province of North Holland plays various roles in the field of mobility as a policymaker, road manager, and concession provider. Given the major challenges related to housing, CO2 emissions reduction, and road safety, their perspective on the future of mobility revolves around Reducing (travel), Improving (travel options), and Changing (travel behaviour). This perspective forms the basis for developing, operationalising, and maintaining their strategy – a cycle that spans approximately 50 years. However, digital developments and innovations are making the world change faster than ever, necessitating greater awareness of possible contextual changes. The key question is: how do the choices we make now relate to the different possible futures?

To explore this, a team of colleagues embarked on developing four challenging context scenarios. Working with internal and external experts, they moved from an environmental analysis and contextual factors to scenarios and strategic insights. The process and outcomes were kept administrative and had no political or policy-driven focus. The result is not a set of visions to choose from but rather a representation of various developments and challenges that may arise, to which you can assess your own projects and actions against.

The Four Scenarios

Four distinct context scenarios were developed. Here is a summary and a few key aspects of each:

Steady Traffic (Doorgaand verkeer) A slow shift towards a green economy, benefiting only the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (MRA). The population grows to 3.7 million. Cars remain dominant, transitioning gradually to electric, but roads and trains stay congested. Digitalisation and innovation progress slowly, with limited impact on efficiency and accessibility.
Turbulent Weather (Rukwinden) Ongoing shocks and international instability, with the US leaving NATO and significant climate change. The population increases to 3.1 million. Fuel crises accelerate electrification, but investment focuses on priorities like the navy. Technological scepticism grows due to data breaches, impacting accessibility.
Our Own Path (Eigen weg) The Netherlands withdraws from international cooperation and leaves the EU, focusing on healthcare, circularity, and local production. The economy contracts due to trade restrictions and brain drain, and the population decreases to 2.6 million. Fewer traffic jams, but cars remain significant alongside increased regional public transport. Distrust in innovations and sustainability rises, with informal sharing preferred over commercial options.
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Willem-Frederik Metzelaar, Managing Director at EIT Urban Mobility, posted Nov 13th

Hallo allen! Ik deel graag de uitnodiging voor een online webinar van EIT Urban Mobility. Op woensdag 𝟐𝟕 𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫 organiseert EIT Urban Mobility samen met Smart Dublin een interessant webinar over ‘actieve mobiliteit in de stad’.

💡 Ze presenteren een nieuwe, innovatieve oplossing die recent in Dublin in gebruik is genomen en gaan in op ideeën en uitdagingen rond Actieve Mobiliteit – een thema dat natuurlijk past binnen de slimme stad.
🏙️✨ Zeker de moeite waard om bij te zijn!
ℹ️ Het webinar is in het Engels. Doe je mee? 👉 Meld u aan voor deze webinar via : https://kennislab.typeform.com/to/J8Ef0Vd8

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