Imagine you want to fix traffic and transport in your neighborhood, but nobody asks the people who actually live there what they need. This project set up "Citizen Mobility Labs" in 5 European cities where residents co-designed their own transport solutions — things like shared rides, better walking routes, or connected mobility services. They tested these ideas in real life over two rounds of piloting, using people themselves as sensors to collect real-time feedback. The result is a tested method for cities and companies to build mobility services that people actually want to use.
Cities and mobility companies keep building transport solutions that people don't use because they never asked residents what they actually need. Top-down planning leads to expensive infrastructure and services with low adoption, while neighborhoods remain underserved. There is no standard way to measure whether a new mobility service actually improves people's daily lives.
The project built and operated Citizen Mobility Labs in 5 EU cities, developed mobility intervention prototypes through 2 rounds of real-life piloting (with the second round producing scale-up-ready solutions), and created a real-time evaluation tool where citizens act as sensors to provide live feedback on transport changes. They also developed a common set of outcome metrics for assessing people-oriented mobility.
If you are a mobility service provider struggling with low adoption rates in new neighborhoods — this project developed and piloted citizen co-design methods across 5 EU urban areas that identify what transport solutions residents actually want before you invest in rollout. The real-time evaluation tools tested over 2 rounds of piloting can help you measure user satisfaction as you scale.
If you are a smart city technology vendor looking to sell citizen engagement tools to municipalities — this project built and tested a real-time data collection system where citizens act as sensors, providing live feedback on mobility interventions. Tested across 5 diverse urban areas with 14 consortium partners, the tools and metrics developed here could be integrated into your platform offering.
If you are a transport consultancy hired by cities to improve neighborhood mobility but your recommendations keep missing what residents actually need — this project created a replicable Citizen Mobility Lab method, piloted in 5 cities across 8 countries, that structures community input into concrete, testable mobility prototypes. The common outcome metrics developed can strengthen your evidence base for client reports.
The project data does not include specific per-city implementation costs or licensing fees. The Citizen Mobility Lab method was designed to be replicable and was tested across 5 urban areas of varying size and socio-economic context, suggesting it can be adapted to different budget levels. Contact the consortium for pricing on methodology transfer or consulting.
The project explicitly developed interventions and prototypes 'ready for scale-up' as documented in their deliverables. The method was tested in 5 EU urban areas with rich diversity in size, population density, and socio-economic context, which suggests the approach is designed for transferability across different city types.
The project was a Research and Innovation Action (RIA) funded under Horizon 2020, coordinated by Copenhagen Business School with 14 partners across 8 countries. IP arrangements would follow the consortium agreement. Businesses interested in licensing the real-time evaluation tools or Citizen Mobility Lab methodology should contact the coordinator directly.
This went well beyond research. The consortium launched Citizen Mobility Labs in 5 cities, developed prototypes for real-life piloting in 2 rounds (at months 24 and 30), and conducted 2 rounds of real-time evaluation of mobility interventions (at months 29 and 41). The second round specifically produced interventions ready for scale-up.
The project developed a real-time data collection tool where citizens themselves act as sensors, providing live feedback on mobility interventions. The tool was used across 2 evaluation rounds. Based on available project data, technical integration specifications would need to be discussed with the consortium partners.
The project aimed to create the first open standard for People Oriented Transport and Mobility assessment, developing a common Core Outcome Set of definitions, metrics, indicators, and methods. This could help companies and cities align their mobility services with emerging EU urban mobility requirements and citizen engagement mandates.
The project closed in November 2020. However, the consortium included 14 partners across 8 countries with a mix of universities, research organizations, and industry players including 3 SMEs. The project website at cities4people.eu and the coordinator Copenhagen Business School may still provide access to results and methodology documentation.
The 14-partner consortium spans 8 countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Netherlands, Turkey, UK) and is led by Copenhagen Business School — a business school, not a technical university, which signals a practical, market-oriented approach. The mix includes 4 universities, 2 research organizations, 3 industry partners (21% industry ratio), and 5 other organizations likely including city authorities and civic groups. With 3 SMEs in the mix, there is some entrepreneurial capacity, though the relatively low industry ratio of 21% means commercialization would likely require new private-sector partnerships to bring the tested methods and tools to market.
Copenhagen Business School (Denmark) — reach out to the transport/mobility innovation department
Want to use citizen-driven mobility methods in your city or product? SciTransfer can connect you with the Cities-4-People team and help you assess fit for your specific market.
