Scale-Up User-Centric and Data-Driven Solutions for Connected Urban Poles (SCALE-UP) is a four-year, Horizon 2020 Innovation Action that started in June 2021. It brings together 23 partners from five different European countries.

As part of SCALE-UP, three advanced urban nodes – Antwerp, Madrid, and Turku – team up around one main goal: developing data-driven and user-centric strategies to accelerate the take-up of smart, clean, and inclusive mobility, by means of well-connected and multi-usage urban nodes, and to the level needed to meet EU climate and transport objectives.

To reach the main goal, five strategic objectives were defined:

• Improve multi-level and multi-stakeholder governance enabling seamless multimodal transport across urban nodes (GOVERNANCE)
• Develop (inter)connected and multimodal nodes for passengers and freight as a backbone of a resilient mobility system, including network optimisations (MULTIMODALITY)
• Develop data-driven mobility strategies and tools to stimulate seamless multimodal transport of passengers and freight, and optimise network capacity across the wider urban area (DATA)
• Provide access to inclusive, clean, and safe mobility solutions (CLEAN-SAFE-INCLUSIVE)
• Change travel behaviour, focussing on clean, active, and healthy modes of transport (BEHAVIOUR).

The five objectives relate to fields of intervention in which the SCALE-UP urban areas excel and deliver valuable output by implementing 28 mobility measures scaled to the functional urban area and taking into account the TEN-T dimension. Furthermore, a strong framework for thematic policy validation amongst SCALE-UP experts guarantees a meaningful cooperation between the three urban nodes, internal capacity building, and mutual exchange and learning.

A sixth strategic objective (TAKE-UP) defines how the project delivers evidence of the effectiveness of the different actions in relation to EU climate and transport targets, and how it accelerates the take-up of these solutions amongst and beyond SCALE-UP urban nodes.

The main outcome of the Research & Innovation project are at least 28 newly developed innovative mobility measures to ensure the vertical (governmental) and horizontal (dimensional) upscaling of urban mobility.