EDAG CityBot – an urban logistics ecosystem

When mobility comes to a halt, our cities become unlivable

Congested roads, chronic lack of parking space, crowds everywhere – in constantly expanding cities all around the world, is it realistic to even be talking about traffic flow? What we can talk about, though, are smog and fine dust alarms, increasing health risks and the diminishing quality of housing, living and working conditions. It is time for a completely new concept. Simply shutting down road traffic is not a feasible alternative. Mobility and being on the move do, after all, determine our daily life. They are an essential part of our social life at work and school, in our leisure activities and in supplying our everyday needs. For individual transport to continue to be possible even in densely populated areas, further traffic and mobility services that will genuinely ease the situation in our inner cities are called for. Not in the form of more vehicles, that will only lengthen traffic jams, but as game changers: mobility all-rounders that will take the urban future to a whole new level. EDAG‘s vision is: “Our livable city is clean, safe, friendly, quiet and smart”. This is not based on some hypothetical idea, but on a feasible modular concept.

Previously separated individual systems are integrated into one collective ecosystem

What will the future bring? To provide answers to this question, futurologists are targeting so-called megatrends; in addition to demographic change, the focus is on urbanization, individualization, digitalization and mobility. Mobility is a function involving energy, movement and space. In growing cities, space is a very limited and increasingly valuable asset. The availability and design ability of space determines whether and how people achieve their professional and private goals, how their wishes and requirements can be reconciled and how they can improve the quality of their living and working conditions. This is conditional on inner-city centers being planned for fewer vehicles, with less parking space and less environmental pollution, and on previously separate and individual mobility systems becoming integrated systems. This calls for an holistic approach that identifies a dedicated area for a new mobility concept, where apart from bicycles no other private vehicles are permitted. Within this area the EDAG Citybot behaves like a guest in a human habitat, pedestrians will always have the right of way - even without zebra crossings.

Livable cities are a human habitat

The EDAG CityBot ecosystem involves all the necessary stakeholders in its development, implementation, operation and use. As a game changer in urban logistics, CityBots are the heroes of the livable city. Mobility all-rounders with an integrated business model in each and every module. Whether with a trailer or a backpack, thanks to its autonomous, mechanical connectivity, modularity sets no limits to the possible applications of the heroes and any related business models. They are seamlessly integrated into the smart city of the future, enabling smart mobility to fully function as a component of the smart city. When developing new vehicle and mobility concepts, their technical validation is essential. This involves checking adherence to physical and kinematic laws and compliance with regulations, norms and standards. For a concept as far-reaching as the EDAG CityBot, most of these will have to be redefined. This rewriting of the rules is a great challenge, and a crucial step to make our cities truly worth living in. A first glance of this can already be seen at Campus FreeCity in Frankfurt (Germany), where the CityBot concept is further being researched and demonstrated.