Rotterdam as living lab for smart future mobility

Rotterdam is a city of frontrunners, pioneers and people with the courage and will to drive change. Entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and experimentation are integral to our city’s DNA. Rotterdam often leads the world in new ideas and innovations. The new Mobility City Campus, recently announced and to be launched in Rotterdam, is a prime example. Rotterdam as a living lab for smart and healthy future mobility.New ideas and sustainable initiatives constantly arise in Rotterdam: over 50 mobility-related pilots are taking place in and around the city right now, from autonomous pilots at Rotterdam The Hague Airport to a hydrogen production facility in the Port of Rotterdam and now also the development of Mobility City Campus. This makes Rotterdam one of the leaders in mobility innovation in Europe. As a result, Rotterdam represents an appealing party for global players who aspire to healthy mobility for everyone. A good example is the world premiere of the first all-electric MINI on 9 July 2019.

 MOBILITY CITY CAMPUSThe recently announced Mobility City Campus is an ambitious project with potential global impact and a truly pioneering ideology. The goal is to bring together all of the stakeholders of the mobility (transportation) ecosystem within the city of Rotterdam. Here they will develop, produce and showcase some of the most cutting-edge innovations that will shape the way people and cargo move for the next decades to come. The Municipality of Rotterdam and Rotterdam Partners are assisting initiator and mobility expert Kayvan Nikjou and his partners from Finish company Avanto Ventures in developing the Mobility City Campus, with a potential location in the Rotterdam Makers District in the Merwe-Vierhaven area.Avanto Ventures is the main driver of the Mobility City Campus project. For Antti Rantanen, founder of Avanto Ventures, Rotterdam is the perfect choice as location for this exciting new development. “Rotterdam is one of the largest logistic hubs in the world and has a neutral position in the mobility industry. Over fifty pilot projects in the mobility field are currently taking place within the Municipality of Rotterdam, from autonomous pilot projects at Rotterdam Airport to a hydrogen production facility at the Port of Rotterdam. From our perspective, Rotterdam is a mobility city: this volume of mobility pilot projects within one region makes Rotterdam one of the leaders of mobility innovation in Europe.”BIG AMBITIONSThe city of Rotterdam has big ambitions as frontrunner in smart future mobility. The city is open to innovation and shows this by allowing different types of pilots for mobility related initiatives. The emphasis lies on sustainable and green innovations to create healthy mobility for everyone. Vice Mayor Barbara Kathmann (Economy): “The world of mobility is rapidly changing. The municipality supports initiatives such as the Mobility City Campus because they help implement mobility innovations. The goal is for the campus to strengthen our business climate for both Dutch and international businesses, attract talent and boost employment.”The aim is to open the campus in 2021. But Rotterdam and the world will probably get to see the first initiatives way before then. Once the Mobility City Campus is completed it will include ultramodern R&D facilities, offices and workplaces of many leading companies active in the mobility industry, and also an event centre where launches of new technologies and products can take place in full view of everybody.Read the full press release announcing the Mobility City Campus on the Rotterdam Partners website. Want to stay up to date on this subject? Follow #futuremobilityrotterdam on social media.Photo’s on this page: Worcflow, Gerhard van Roon Kunst en Vliegwerk RP, Claire Droppert, Together in Transit, Iris van den Broek