Science meets City

VITA: Henriette Reker is the first woman to become mayor in the history of the City of Cologne. First elected in 2015 and re-elected in 2020, she is also the first independent mayor of her hometown. Born and raised in the western Bickendorf quarter, she visited school in Lindenthal before she studied law in Regensburg, Göttingen, and Cologne. In 2000, she was elected as Deputy Mayor for Social Affairs, Health and Consumer Protection in the city of Gelsenkirchen before she returned to Cologne to become Deputy Mayor Social Affairs, Integration and Environment. Henriette Reker is patron of the Cologne Science Forum.

VITA: Dr. Elisabeth Fröhlich is Professor of Strategic Procurement Management and has been President at CBS International Business School since April 2013. Her research focuses include sustainable supply chain management and sustainable procurement, qualification in purchasing as well as in strategic supplier management. Procurement 4.0 as well as challenges of an "Agile Purchasing" form further research focuses. Prof. Dr. Fröhlich is Chairwoman of the Cologne Science Forum and a member of the UN PRME Board, where she heads the Nomination and Governance Committee.

ABSTRACT: Copenhagen has a high standing among the livable cities of the World. A close cooperation between University and City has been a major factor in this development. For several decades the City of Copenhagen served as a laboratory for studying Public Life and Public Spaces. Gradually this concern became city policy for the locals and the way to go in many cities, globally. A good city is about mobility but certainly also about good places and spaces for living and enjoyment just as it is the case in a good dwelling. Good living spaces rather than corridors are what really counts.

VITA: Jan Gehl is an Architect, Founding Partner of Gehl Architects, and Professor emeritus of Urban Design, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture. Over the course of his career, he has published several books, including, “Life Between Buildings”, “Cities for People”, “New City Spaces”, “Public Spaces – Public Life”, “New City Life” and most recently “How to Study Public Life”. As part of Gehl Architects, Jan Gehl has collaborated on projects for the cities of Copenhagen, London, Melbourne, Sydney, Amman, New York and Moscow, among others. He is an honorary fellow of the architectural institutes in Denmark, England, Scotland, Ireland, USA and Canada. He has been awarded the “Sir Patrick Abercrombie Prize for exemplary contributions to Town Planning” by The International Union of Architects as well as “The Key for the City of Sydney” and Honorary Doctor Degrees from Universities in Edinburgh, Varna, Halifax and Toronto.

ABSTRACT: About 75% of Europe’s population live in urban areas. The urban dwellers travel slightly smaller distances per day when compared to the dwellers living in rural areas. Yet, their modal shift is similar: The probability that dwellers use the individually owned car is higher than the chance that they use their own bikes or the public transportation system. It is thus not surprising that space is kept ready for individually owned cars–also in urban areas, where space is limited. This space could, however, also be used otherwise, for instance, for creating social places, where humans can meet and socialize, or for establishing urban jungles, where humans can relax under trees and enjoy a park-like area in the center of a city. Within the scope of this presentation, it will be introduced which measures need to be undertaken in order to change human mobility and to make such visions of livable cities become true. On this basis, it will be discussed, how the urban population reacts to such measures and how such visions can become a driver for sustainable mobility.

VITA: Meike Jipp is Professor for ”Transport Demand and Impact” at the Technical University of Berlin, Germany, and director of the Institute of Transport Research of the German Aerospace Center (DLR). In her research, she concentrates on human behavior in ground-based transportation systems: Why are humans mobile? How can one explain mode choice in transportation systems? Which impact does this mode choice has? How can one design transport systems that provoke climate-neutral and socially friendly mobility? Meike Jipp studied psychology at Mannheim University, Germany, and Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. In 2008, she completed her PhD thesis at Mannheim University. After a two-year period as a postdoctoral researcher at Mannheim University, she became a researcher and project manager at the DLR-Institute of Flight Guidance in Braunschweig, Germany. In 2014, she became a group leader for driver cognition at the DLR-Institute of Transportation Systems. Between 2015 and 2020, she was head of the “Human Factors”-Department at the same institute. In 2019, she also became a full professor for Human Factors at the Technical University of Braunschweig. Early in 2021, she took over her current positions in Berlin.

ABSTRACT: In line with the Clean Vehicles Directive (EU) 2019/1161, the "Climate Protection Master Plan for Hamburg" provides for a comprehensive conversion of municipal vehicle fleets to zero-emission drive systems, which is also being implemented by SRH. Small vehicles and small commercial vehicles with storage electric drive have been successfully operated by SRH for some time, and the conversion is underway accordingly as part of new and replacement procurements. More than 170 SRH vehicles already have an electric or hybrid drive instead of an internal combustion engine. With these vehicles, local emission-free use/operation within Hamburg is already ensured at the present time. While the conversion to electric drives in the small vehicle sector is taking place without any issues, various problems can be observed with the conversion in the large waste collection vehicle sector, which must be successively eliminated.
This is primarily due to the "special mode of operation" of the waste collection vehicles. The charging/fueling of the vehicles is carried out by regeneratively generated charging current from our waste incineration plants at the SRH depots and is thus climate neutral. A total of 120 charging stations are spread across nine operating sites in the city.
The future expansion of the required smart charging infrastructure at all SRH sites will be carried out under funding projects with other municipal companies and with funding that has already been successfully obtained.
(Orginal lecture by Prof. Siechau held by M. Sc. Fabian Schott)

VITA: M. Sc. Fabian Schott studied environmental engineering at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW Hamburg) and at the University of Stuttgart. Since 2022 Mr. Fabian Schott works as an assistant to the CEO from Stadtreinigung Hamburg, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Rüdiger Siechau. Prof. Siechau worked for various companies in plant engineering sectors (e.g. UHDE, Thyssen). In 1995 Prof. Siechau joined Stadtreinigung Hamburg as managing director and has been appointed CEO in 2007. In addition, Prof. Siechau is supervising doctoral theses of young academics at TUHH where he was appointed as honorary professor in 2013.

ABSTRACT: The road as we know it today was designed during the twentieth century to support the growth of our societies. This growth, very strongly correlated with the development of the internal combustion engine automobile, no longer appears sustainable, especially in urban areas. Indeed, the motorway creates nuisance and pollution, and encourages urban sprawl. In reality, it is rather the vehicles that generate these negative externalities. To mitigate them, vehicles are improving gradually on the ecological and energy sides. The road, which was only responsible for 5 to 10% of the negative environmental externalities, is likely to see this proportion growing. In addition, digital technologies are preparing to revolutionize individual mobility. The vehicles of tomorrow will be electric, autonomous and shared. The road will also have to adapt to the needs of these new mobilities, in a context of crisis of public finances, which is likely to slow down the adaptation of the roads. In parallel, we have to invent a framework that is more conducive to innovation, so that innovative techniques can be tested more quickly and so, and thus favor innovation. This presentation will give an overview of some results of the fifth road generation (R5G) flagship program, which aims at developing full-scale demonstrators of the next road generation considering all the aforementioned challenges.

VITA: Nicolas Hautière, Ing. PhD Habil., is Ingénieur en Chef des Ponts, des Eaux et des Forêts at the Université Gustave Eiffel. After ten years of research experience in computer vision applied to cooperative ITS, automated vehicles and opportunistic meteorological observation, his mission is now to initiate, develop and direct innovative research or innovation devices allowing the industrial transfer of solutions resulting from research in the field of renewed intelligence of mobility vectors and infrastructures likely to contribute to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. In this context, he is in charge of the “Route 5e Génération (R5G)” Project on the one hand and, on the other hand, he acts as Director of the Components and Systems Department (COSYS).

ABSTRACT: In this presentation, I will describe our contribution to the successful electrification of the transit bus network (TBN) in the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Electric TBNs are more susceptible to operational delays and uncertainty due to the need for charging during the day and using locally generated renewable energy adds an additional layer of uncertainty to the operations. Our work shows how real-time optimization of the charging schedule can help to ensure feasible operations, improve the utilization of renewable energy, and reduce the impact on the electricity grid.

VITA: Prof. Dr. Pieter L. van den Berg is an associate professor of transportation and logistics at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University. He obtained his MSc in Econometrics and Operations Research from VU University Amsterdam and his PhD in Applied Mathematics from Delft University of Technology. His research focuses on the application of Operations Research to the logistics of public transport operators and emergency service providers.

ABSTRACT: Sealed surfaces, heat waves and rising rent prices - how can cities continue to be liveable in the future and at the same time contribute to global sustainability? Today there is consensus that urban sustainability transformations – considered as far-reaching radical processes of change - are needed since piecemeal changes of current modes of development are not enough. What does this imply for urban mobility and an integrative urban development?

VITA: Kerstin Krellenberg is an Environmental Scientist and Geographer, and since 2020 Professor of Urban Studies at the Department of Geography and Regional Research at the University of Vienna. Her main interest is to contribute to a sustainable urban development by analysing the impacts of global change processes in cities and by elaborating integrative solutions for city-specific challenges in joint efforts with city administrations, the private sector, and civil society. Her interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary and transformative research approaches support to foster exchange and transfer of knowledge towards urban sustainability transformations.

ABSTRACT: I would propose to reflect on the potential use of big data –and more specifically mobile phone data– for a better informed urban and transportation planning. ICT has become an active component of our everyday live, enabling the collection of large amounts of data through satellites, sensors, GPS, smart phones, etc. This results in new sources of mobility data, collected at the individual level, whose qualities are often referred through to the 5Vs: Volume, Variety, Velocity, Veracity, and Value. Big data analysis may help to build a better understanding of urban dynamics as it provides fine-scale temporal information such as where, when and how people travel around. My presentation will address the value and limitation of big data in the field of mobility. I will hence compare the pros- and cons- of different ICT sources: mobile phone, personal GPS, on-line platforms, … I will then review different applications of such data in the field of urban and transportation planning, considering both descriptive and modelling applications. My presentation will be based on examples from Liege Agglomeration where we used mobile data to calibrate a Matsim model of personal mobility patterns across the urban area.

VITA: Jacques Teller is a professor of urban planning at the University of Liège, where he is leading the Local Environment Management and Analysis (LEMA) research group. He is a member of the Scientific Council of the Lab Research Environment (Vinci, Paritech) and of the Efficacity Research Institute in France. His research typically combines urban governance issues with the modelling of urbanisation and transportation dynamics. It addresses the impacts of urbanisation on energy consumption, heritage management, housing provision and transport demand. He coordinated several European research projects —SUIT (FP5), APPEAR (FP5) & PICTURE (FP6)— and was the Chairman of the COST Action C21 dedicated to Urban Ontologies. He has been in charge of an important research about the impact of territorial policies upon GreenHouse Gazes (GHG) emissions in the view of integrating this issue within the Spatial Development Perspective of the Walloon Region.

ABSTRACT: Linear motor elevators revolutionize architecture, and create new urban mobility. Cabins are driven independently, providing flexible and efficient service in limited spaces. Energy is supplied from the linear motor track, making the system environmentally friendly. The track can be vertical, horizontal, or curved, and can carry passengers or cargo.
Mobility in Kyoto, like in many other Japanese cities, has gone through several transformations, currently centered on ICE vehicles, with the associated issues. We envision a linear motor mobility system that could fit into the narrow streets, and allow access by the increasingly elderly public to the cultural heritage on the surrounding hills.

VITA: Prof. Dr. Sandor Markon is managing director at Linearity Co. Ltd. and Professor at the Kobe Institute of Computer Science. He is a senior researcher at Fujitec Co. Lt. and works as a visiting scientist at the National Institute of Information and Communication Technology. He received his Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering from Kyoto University.

ABSTRACT: Consequences on road insecurity, social segregation and exclusion, the environmental crisis and the sedentary lifestyle epidemic. In the case of Greater Paris, professionals and officials address these problems by promoting the attractiveness of public spaces and transports, the autonomy of vulnerable groups or active mobility. But they need to abandon a top-down technocratic vision in order to learn from the users and regulate their innovations, such as choosing two-wheeled motor vehicles or scooters as means of transportation, parking or consuming on sidewalks, including green spaces in the daily mobility routines etc.

VITA: Jérôme Monnet, Professor at Université Gustave Eiffel, is the codirector of the Paris School of Urbanism (Ecole d’urbanisme de Paris, Marne-la vallée, Paris region, France). He holds a PhD in Geography from the University of Paris-4 Sorbonne. He used to live and work in Mexico City (French Center for Mexican and Central American Studies, CEMCA, 1988-1991 and 2001-2005), Los Angeles, California (Getty Research Institute, 1996-1997), and Toulouse (University of Toulouse-Le Mirail, 1992-2001). He was also an invited Professor in Geneva (Switzerland), Manizales (Colombia) and Nanjing (China).
His research focuses on the uses and social practices of public space in contemporary urban areas and conurbations, with fieldwork in Mexico City, Los Angeles and Paris. He develops a theoretical proposal on the social production of public space and the definition of territory, territoriality and territorialization. The most recent development of his studies deals with the surge of walking and pedestrian mobilities in urban policies, through action-research with local governments.

VITA: Dr. Joachim Thiel is senior lecturer and postdoctoral researcher in urban and regional economics at the HafenCity University of Hamburg (HCU). He is currently doing research on smart city actor ecologies and urban testbeds for digital technologies, as well as on learning and innovation processes within large-scale construction projects and large-scale events. His research topics also include urban labour markets and creative industries. Joachim is deputy spokesperson of the newly established Research Training Group on “Urban Future Making” funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG). Prior to his current job, Joachim worked as head of the strategic development unit in the presidential office of HCU for four years.

VITA: Tuija Hirvikoski has a PhD in Industrial Management, MSc in Public Administration and MSc in Education. She is currently Director (Research Development and Innovation) at Laurea University of Applied Sciences, Finland. She is also one of the founding vice presidents of Laurea.
Tuija has more than 30 years of experience in leading, developing and evaluating higher education institutions and collaborating with the cities, firms and NGOs operating in the Helsinki-Uusimaa region, one of Europe’s most innovative and competitive innovation ecosystems. She is a founder and a former president of the European Network of Living Labs (ENoLL), a global institute developing citizen involvement and joint learning activities to enhance participatory Research and Innovation methods. Tuija received the Open Innovation Luminary Award from the EC Open Innovation Strategy and Policy Group (OISPG) that unites industrial groups, academia, governments, and private individuals to support policies for open innovation at the European Commission. Her work with the EC expert groups, such as the Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP), the Horizon Interim Evaluation expert group (SwafS/RRI), and the New ERA stakeholder movement, provided her with invaluable insight into why we need to strike a balance between the needs of science and the challenge-based innovation. Value co-creation, joint learning, and experimentation across scientific disciplines, industrial sectors, and organizational borders are at the very heart of Tuija’s current activities.

VITA: Kerstin Krellenberg is an Environmental Scientist and Geographer, and since 2020 Professor of Urban Studies at the Department of Geography and Regional Research at the University of Vienna. Her main interest is to contribute to a sustainable urban development by analysing the impacts of global change processes in cities and by elaborating integrative solutions for city-specific challenges in joint efforts with city administrations, the private sector, and civil society. Her interdisciplinary, transdisciplinary and transformative research approaches support to foster exchange and transfer of knowledge towards urban sustainability transformations.

VITA: Jan Gehl is an Architect, Founding Partner of Gehl Architects, and Professor emeritus of Urban Design, The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts, School of Architecture. Over the course of his career, he has published several books, including, “Life Between Buildings”, “Cities for People”, “New City Spaces”, “Public Spaces – Public Life”, “New City Life” and most recently “How to Study Public Life”. As part of Gehl Architects, Jan Gehl has collaborated on projects for the cities of Copenhagen, London, Melbourne, Sydney, Amman, New York and Moscow, among others. He is an honorary fellow of the architectural institutes in Denmark, England, Scotland, Ireland, USA and Canada. He has been awarded the “Sir Patrick Abercrombie Prize for exemplary contributions to Town Planning” by The International Union of Architects as well as “The Key for the City of Sydney” and Honorary Doctor Degrees from Universities in Edinburgh, Varna, Halifax and Toronto.

VITA: Brigitte Scholz, born 1968, graduate agricultural and open space planner
Brigitte Scholz has directed the Office for Urban Development and Statistics of the City of Cologne since 2017. Her work focuses on strategic urban planning, the creation of subspaces and sectoral concepts, integrated action plans, urban building promotion, and regional cooperation. The Office of Statistics collects and updates basic data on development in Cologne. Before working for the City of Cologne, Scholz was Project Manager at IBA see (Brandenburg), and has overseen various projects in the city and region as a professor in education and research.