Audi 2015 Annual Report Download - page 51

Somerville, just a couple of minutes by
car from Boston, Massachusetts. With
the vision in his head and the plan in his
hand, Audi pre-development engineer
Christian Feist stands at the large con-
struction site in the new Assembly Row
neighborhood. “Drivers could soon exit
their car here and walk directly into the
o ce. In the meantime, their car would
look for a parking space,” he says.
Where the cranes and excavators are
now working, a testing ground is being
developed for the future of urban mobili-
ty. United States real estate developer
Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRT) is
building a neighborhood covering up
to  blocks in Assembly Row. Four
blocks have been completed and are al-
ready bustling with activity. More than
 apartments, over , square
meters of o ce space, a hotel and other
businesses are to be added. In these
surroundings, Audi and its project partner
FRT are studying how piloted parking
and intelligent car fl eets can enrich the
lives of the people who live here.
The future is urban. By the year ,
up to  percent of the world’s popula-
tion will live in cities. The booming
region around Boston is emblematic of
this development. Somerville is one part
of that and is an ideal testing ground
for learning how urban technologies and
services can become a premium experi-
ence that fi ts seamlessly with the digital
lifestyle of tomorrow’s customer. The
percentage of Generation Y in Somer-
ville is greater than in almost any other
U.S. city. Harvard University, the Massa-
chusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
and countless tech companies are at-
tracting well-educated young employees.
“In Somerville you can already see
what the trends of tomorrow will be,”
says Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone.
In Assembly Row, Audi and FRT are
working toward a so-called Urban Future
Partnership. Audi works together in
these new partnerships with public
and private business partners. The Urban
Future Partnerships are a result of the
Audi Urban Future Initiative, which
the company has developed since 
as a way to advance interdisciplinary
discourse
about the future of mobility in
cities. “We have learned that the break-
through for innovative technologies in
urban spaces succeeds more easily when
we include the surrounding environment,”
says Prof. Rupert Stadler, Chairman of
the Board of Management of AUDI AG.
“We call this context-driven innovation.”
When mobility functions seamlessly,
it makes cities attractive. The com-
panies and cities working together in
Urban Future Partnerships therefore
have a shared interest : using intelligent
mobility solutions to improve the
local quality of life and working
conditions for people.
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