What if fewer cars were normal in the city? 
To sharpen our view of the present, it is often worth taking a look into the future. This is exactly what our MCube aqt project done. But what does it mean in concrete terms if we rethink street spaces, reactivate neighborhood discourse and deliberately do not program areas?
The city of tomorrow - fewer cars, better quality of life
Many cities are facing the challenge of distributing their traffic areas more fairly. Cars currently take up a large proportion of public space, but what if this space were used differently? The MCube aqt project has researched precisely this question and dared to change its perspective: instead of parked cars, places of encounter are emerging, instead of pure thoroughfares, lively neighborhoods are developing.
Shaping new street spaces together
A central component of our approach was the Real participation of the citizens. Urban planning must not just be thought about from the top down - it has to be developed locally together with the people. Our project team around Marco Kellhammer which has tested innovative utilization concepts in Munich's Kolumbusstraße.
The Passenger Podcast: More about our vision
In the current episode of the The Passenger Podcast speaks Project manager Marco Kellhammer about the opportunities of a car-free city, the importance of neighborhood involvement and the surprising results that have emerged from the flexible use of street spaces.
🎧 Listen now: Link to the podcast (March 17, 2025)
Conclusion: A look into the future starts today
The MCube aqt project has shown that cities with fewer cars are not only possible, but desirable. More space for encounters, culture and the environment means a higher quality of life for everyone. But turning this vision into reality requires bold experiments, open discussions and the commitment of urban society.
Here's the aqt Results brochure.
The lessons learned from the first MCube funding phase show which factors really drive projects forward - and where typical barriers arise.
Creating transparency, proving impact, sharpening strategies - the new indicator guide supports precisely this.
For the first time in this format, students made their way to three European cities. They went to Stockholm, Tallinn/Helsinki and Barcelona.
This time, mobility in the cities of Ljubljana, Genoa and Utrecht was examined.
How can mobility data and simulations make cities more liveable - and change visible and tangible?
What do Brussels, Lisbon, Milan and Paris have in common?
Where to put cars, bicycles and e-scooters - and how do we organize parking space fairly, efficiently and sustainably?
The Mobi-Score - The hidden costs of mobility at a glance
Resilient change towards sustainable mobility - lessons for a transformative urban mobility policy
Experimenting for the mobility transition - impetus for municipalities to dealing with real-world laboratories
What is MOSAIQ?
Imagine something: There is more space for people. The streets have more trees and plants. Everyone can get around better. That's how your Schwabing-West district could be in the future. How would you like your district to be? We want to talk to you about it!
The project is called MOSAIQ. MOSAIQ is a research∙project. MOSAIQ means: Mobility and urban climate in the future city∙part. The Technical University of Munich is leading the project.
What is MOSAIQ about?
MOSAIQ wants to make the streets in the city∙part more beautiful. People should feel comfortable there. There should be more space. For meetings and plants, for example. You can help decide what is tried out in the Stadt∙teil. The ideas come from you. Some ideas will be tried out on the streets for a certain period of time.
The aim of MOSAIQ is to make urban districts good places to live.
At the same time, the climate in the city should improve. And people should be able to move around the city easily.
What is happening in the district?
