At the Las Matas train station in the town of Las Rozas, just north of the Spanish capital Madrid, life is going on as usual. The sound of a highway can be heard in the background as a train pulls in. On the roundabout in front of the station, a churros vendor is selling his wares as pedestrians navigate the busy intersection. It all seems like an ordinary scene in suburban Spain.
Unseen by passers-by, however, smart cameras are quietly observing and analysing pedestrian and traffic flows to understand how the space is being used – and how it could be used better. On this regular city roundabout, the future of urbanism is being sketched out.
User-friendly city planning
Las Rozas is one of the testing grounds for the researchers of an EU-funded initiative called AMIGOS that is using new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) and data analysis to help improve the quality of life in busy cities.
In this, it is closely aligned with the EU’s Cities Mission which aims to support 112 European cities in becoming climate-neutral and smart by 2030, serving as innovation hubs for sustainable urban transformation.
The cameras used by the AMIGOS team were designed by the Austrian Institute of Technology and rely on AI. This allows them to rapidly process months’ worth of camera footage and build up an accurate picture of how city spaces are being used. The information collected can help city planners redesign public spaces with real people in mind.
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AI is one of the only ways to process huge amounts of data in real time, which is very important for fast moving environments such as cities.
“This project is about the really basic questions that every citizen asks themselves. Questions like ‘can I let my children go to school safely on their own’,” said Martin Krekeler, who works with the Senate Chancellery of the City of Hamburg, Germany, and coordinates the AMIGOS team.
Testing ground
As a first step, the researchers are aiming to improve the safety and comfort of city dwellers in the Las Matas neighbourhood where a highway to Madrid converges with a train station, a car park and various smaller roads.
“Our city encounters several challenges,” said Nuria Blanco Caballero, who works for Las Rozas Innova, the city’s innovation agency. Las Rozas is very spread out. Three highways cross the town and there is a lot of traffic coming to and from Madrid.
“There’s a lot of interaction between cars and pedestrians here,” said Blanco Caballero. “That causes risks.”
On the agenda is a complete renovation of the area around Las Matas train station that will include safety improvements, parking space for bikes and e-scooters, electrical charging stations and a car-sharing space.
Information collected by the researchers’ camera was combined with feedback received through local user surveys to inform renovation designs.
“One of the things we found was that people weren’t always using official crossings, for instance,” said Blanco Caballero. “That, of course, can lead to dangerous situations.”
Las Rozas is currently busy redesigning the area, with concrete safety barriers, new sidewalks and better road markings. It’s a good example of how new technologies can help cities make smarter decisions that are aligned with people’s needs.
AI in the city
AI cameras similar to the one used in Las Rozas are being deployed in other European cities too as part of another EU-funded initiative called ELABORATOR, coordinated by Dr Angelos Amditis, R&D Director of the Institute of Communication Computer Systems at the National Technical University of Athens.
In Copenhagen, for example, they are using smart cameras to analyse traffic flows and examine situations where an accident has occurred or has only been narrowly avoided.
The French district of Issy-les-Moulineaux, just outside of Paris, has installed a system of dynamic traffic signs as part of the initiative. Based on who is using an intersection, and how busy it is, more space is created for cyclists, and drivers are alerted to their presence. The system uses AI to manage this automatically.
“AI is necessary,” said Amditis. “It’s one of the only ways to process huge amounts of data in real time, which is very important for fast-moving environments such as cities.”
Learning by example
In both initiatives, the aim of the research teams is to set an example for other cities to follow. The AMIGOS team is currently working closely with 10 cities: Gabrova (Bulgaria), Lappeenranta (Finland), Hamburg (Germany), Reykjavik (Iceland), Nazareth (Israel), Bologna (Italy), Jurmala (Latvia), Las Rozas (Spain), and Ankara and Istanbul (Turkey).
Additionally, they are working with five twin cities that will try to replicate the results achieved in the main cities: Laval in France, Frankfurt and Wiesbaden in Germany, Um-al Fahm in Israel and Gozo in Malta.
In the case of the ELABORATOR research team, there are six cities where work is currently underway to improve the comfort and safety of urban living. These are Copenhagen (Denmark), Helsinki (Finland), Issey-les-Moulineaux (France), Trikala (Greece) Milan (Italy) and Zaragoza (Spain).
A further six cities – Split (Croatia), Liberec (Czechia), Ioannina (Greece), Kruševac (Serbia), Velenje (Slovenia) and Lund (Sweden) – will learn from the lessons of the first phase.
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We need to adapt our projects to the needs of real people. Technology can help us with that.
AI and data processing are a valuable resource for both research teams, who are well aware of the potential risks and pay close attention to privacy concerns and potential issues.
Local citizens are kept well informed of the actions being taken. At the same time, the goal is to reduce cities’ reliance on the large tech companies that they currently depend on for technology and data.
“Cities need data,” said Krekeler. “Yet today that data is often owned by private companies which means that cities need to buy it.”
The voice of the people
At the centre of the work being carried out is a desire to do policy differently, in a way that takes people’s voices into account. In this, they are being supported by the EU in a push to accelerate green and digital transformations within cities as part of its Cities Mission and the European Green Deal.
“We can’t deny this, people are frustrated,” said Krekeler. “That’s why it’s so important to use technology to ask them about their city and observe how they use it.”
In Las Rozas, the renovation of the Las Matas area is almost complete. As a next step, they will be scaling up their approach to cover the whole city. The objective in this second stage will be to improve movement flows to and from schools.
“Co-creation is key,” said Blanco Caballero. “We need to adapt our projects to the needs of real people. Technology can help us with that.”
Research in this article was funded by the EU’s Horizon Programme. The views of the interviewees don’t necessarily reflect those of the European Commission. If you liked this article, please consider sharing it on social media.
