NEWS - 2020/12/17

REIMAGINING URBAN MOBILITY – CITYTHON 2020

How can we re-imagine our cities to make them safer, more sustainable, and ready for new models of mobility and social interaction? That is the question that participants faced during the 2020 Citython editions, which took our urban mobility hackathon to the cities of Barcelona (Spain), Lublin (Poland), and Amsterdam (The Netherlands).

Organised by CARNET (an initiative coordinated by CIT UPC) with the support of EIT Urban Mobility, the three Citython editions brought together a total of over 150 international students and experts from different areas—from data scientists and developers to urban planners— to develop the solutions that will help to shape the future of our cities. In order to ensure the health and safety of all participants, this year’s Citython was held exclusively online, with the teams collaborating and coordinating with mentors in a virtual space.

During the hackathon days, all groups had the opportunity to attend individual online mentoring sessions to get feedback on their work and take part in a co-creation and collaboration environment. For a week, they designed solutions meant to solve current mobility challenges our cities face. 

After each Citython, the winners for every challenge were rewarded with a cash prize of 1,500€ and the opportunity to present their solutions at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2020 in Barcelona, which has been held in an online format too. 

Next year, the cities of Eindhoven (Netherlands), Bilbao (Spain), and Hamburg (Germany) will be hosting the three new Citython editions of 2021. In parallel to these on-site mobility hackathons, the cities of Barcelona and Lublin will repeat their experience of hosting two new Citython editions in an online format in order to continue solving the urban mobility challenges that these European cities are facing nowadays.