Fira de Barcelona launches a new show to debate the mobility of the future

Mobility is transitioning towards a new model that transforms the map of cities. New ways of getting around are proliferating in the streets, which have to compete with traditional ones to gain their space. New needs arise that force a rethinking of urban configuration, such as the growth of e-commerce and the impact of its delivery on traffic. And electrification is accelerating its implementation, which is also accompanied by the deployment of a charging infrastructure.

In this paradigm shift that is taking place, Fira de Barcelona wants to position the Catalan capital as a world reference for the mobility of the future with a new exhibition that allows analyzing all the changes that are occurring. This new event will be the Tomorrow.Mobility World Congress, the evolution of the Smart Mobility Congress, the smart mobility exhibition held at the Smart City Expo World Congress since 2016. The new brand is accompanied by EIT Urban Mobility, a European initiative based in Barcelona that is responsible for designing the mobility of the future. The Port de Barcelona, the RACC, Moventia and Social Car also support it.

Tomorrow.Mobility will coincide with Smart City, with the aim of demonstrating that the cities of the future will not be reached without first resolving the mobility transition. Its first edition will be held from November 16 to 18 at the Gran Via venue and will be a pilot test, awaiting its grand premiere in 2022, when the trade fair sector has fully recovered from the impact of the pandemic. This year it is expected to bring together some 10,000 congress attendees, mostly European, and some 25,000 for next year, details the director of Smart City, Ugo Valenti.

But that's not all. Tomorrow.Mobility will be an exhibition that will not only last three days and will be complemented by a digital platform that will be available all year round. The platform will continuously generate new content and will include tools to meet other professionals and train. Likewise, Fira de Barcelona is working on the creation of a mobility hub in the exhibition area that will host companies, startups and institutions. "A physical and permanent space for innovation," defines the general director of Fira, Constantí Serrallonga, without giving more details.

With these three pillars, the fair institution wants to ensure that the new show sets the global agenda on mobility and generates an effect similar to that of the Mobile World Congress (MWC), causing an explosion in the technological ecosystem. To achieve this, Barcelona starts from a good position. It has the presence of institutions such as EIT Urban Mobility or leading companies such as Seat. But it also benefits from the proliferation of new companies that is being experienced in the city, with the recently highlighted prominence of Wallbox, the third unicorn in all of Spain.

Fira raises the curtain

After more than a year of paralysis in the world of congresses, Fira is beginning the reactivation process. The reduced version of Integrated Systems Europe (ISE) is followed by the return of B-Travel. Starting this Friday, the Montjuïc venue recovers its fair activity, which had disappeared since the celebration of the Saló de l'Ocupació and BizBarcelona at the end of September last year, shortly before the second wave. On its first day, visitors to B-Travel filled the venue, eager to get inspiration for their holidays.