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HARMONY · Project

Planning Tools That Show Cities How New Mobility Will Actually Reshape Their Streets

transportPilotedTRL 6
harmony-h2020.eu

Imagine a city council asking: "If we allow autonomous shuttles and delivery drones, what happens to traffic, housing, and CO2 in ten years?" Right now, nobody has a good answer because planning tools treat transport, land use, and new technologies as separate puzzles. HARMONY built a connected suite of models that lets metropolitan authorities simulate all of these together — tested in 6 real European cities from Rotterdam to Athens. Think of it as a flight simulator for urban mobility policy.

By the numbers
6
Metropolitan areas where the model suite was piloted
6
TEN-T corridors covered by pilot cities
21
Consortium partners
9
Countries represented in the consortium
29
Total project deliverables produced
9
Industry partners in the consortium
3
Integrated model layers (land-use, activity-based, network)
The business problem

What needed solving

Cities and regional authorities face a perfect storm: autonomous vehicles, delivery drones, shared mobility, and e-commerce are all arriving simultaneously, but current planning tools cannot model how these interact with each other, with land use, or with citizen behaviour. Authorities risk making billion-euro infrastructure investments based on outdated models that treat each trend in isolation, leading to congestion, wasted spending, and missed climate targets.

The solution

What was built

An integrated model suite combining land-use models (long-term), activity-based people and freight models (mid-term), and multimodal network models (short-term), plus a transport and spatial data warehouse. The suite was validated in 6 pilot metropolitan areas and linked to an EU-wide TEN-T model. A total of 29 deliverables were produced, including multimodal land network datasets and technical documentation.

Audience

Who needs this

Transport planning consultancies advising metropolitan authoritiesCity and regional transport departments planning for autonomous vehiclesMaaS and autonomous vehicle fleet operators needing demand forecastingReal estate developers assessing impact of mobility changes on land useNational transport ministries evaluating TEN-T corridor investments
Business applications

Who can put this to work

Urban Mobility & Transport Consulting
mid-size
Target: Transport planning consultancies advising municipal authorities

If you are a transport consultancy helping cities plan for autonomous vehicles and shared mobility — this project developed an integrated model suite covering land use, passenger and freight activity, and multimodal networks, validated across 6 European metropolitan areas on 6 TEN-T corridors. It lets you run policy scenarios that connect long-term spatial development with short-term traffic operations, giving your clients evidence-based answers instead of guesswork.

Smart City Technology
SME
Target: Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform providers and AV fleet operators

If you are deploying autonomous vehicle services or drone delivery and need to understand where demand will emerge — HARMONY's activity-based models predict how people and freight actors respond to new mobility options. The model suite was tested with real electric AV and drone demonstrations, so it reflects actual user preferences collected through market surveys, not theoretical assumptions.

Real Estate & Urban Development
enterprise
Target: Property developers and spatial planning agencies

If you are a developer evaluating how new transport infrastructure changes land values and demand — HARMONY's strategic land-use models show how mobility shifts reshape spatial organisation over the long term. The tools were applied in 6 diverse metropolitan areas including Rotterdam, Turin, and Upper Silesian-Zaglebie, covering different city types and development patterns.

Frequently asked

Quick answers

What would it cost to license or deploy these planning tools?

The project was publicly funded as a Research and Innovation Action, so the core model suite and methodologies are documented in 29 deliverables. Licensing terms would depend on the individual consortium partners who developed each module. Contact the coordinator at University College London to discuss access and pricing.

Can these tools work at industrial scale for a major metropolitan region?

Yes — the model suite was specifically designed for and validated in 6 metropolitan areas across 6 TEN-T corridors, including large regions like Rotterdam and Upper Silesian-Zaglebie Metropolis. The three-tier architecture (strategic land-use, tactical activity-based, operational network models) is built to handle metropolitan-scale complexity.

Who owns the intellectual property?

IP is distributed across the 21-partner consortium from 9 countries. The coordinator is University College London. As an RIA-funded project, results must be disseminated, but commercial licensing of specific software tools would be negotiated with the developing partners.

Does this comply with EU transport and climate regulations?

The model suite was explicitly designed to assess whether urban mobility policies contribute to meeting COP22 targets, social equality, and wellbeing. It also links to an EU-wide model to evaluate impact at the TEN-T network level, aligning with EU transport corridor planning requirements.

How long would integration into our existing planning workflow take?

HARMONY includes a transport and spatial data warehouse with documented technical design. The multimodal land network models were built for specific metropolitan areas, so adaptation to a new city would require local data integration. Based on available project data, the 6 pilot deployments provide templates for this process.

Is there ongoing support or development?

The project closed in February 2023. However, with 9 industry partners and 21 consortium members, several partners may continue developing commercial versions of specific tools. The project website at harmony-h2020.eu may list follow-up activities.

What evidence exists that this actually works?

The tools were applied and validated in 6 real metropolitan areas: Rotterdam, Oxfordshire, Turin, Athens, Trikala, and Upper Silesian-Zaglebie. Real-world demonstrations with electric autonomous vehicles and drones were conducted, and market surveys captured actual citizen and freight actor preferences.

Consortium

Who built it

The 21-partner consortium spans 9 countries with a healthy 43% industry ratio (9 industry partners), indicating genuine commercial interest beyond academic research. University College London coordinates, backed by 4 universities and 2 research organisations providing scientific depth. The 3 SMEs and 6 other organisations (likely public authorities and associations) ensure the tools were tested with real end users. The geographic spread — from the Netherlands and UK to Greece and Poland — means the tools have been stress-tested across very different urban planning cultures, regulatory environments, and city structures, which strengthens the case for broader European deployment.

How to reach the team

University College London (UK) — use SciTransfer's coordinator lookup service to find the project lead's direct contact

Order a report on this consortiumSee UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON profile →
Next steps

Talk to the team behind this work.

Want to explore how HARMONY's planning tools could work for your city or region? SciTransfer can connect you directly with the right consortium partner for your specific need — spatial modelling, AV integration, or drone logistics planning.

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