As a property developer, Weilminster sees the reduction of parking surface and thus costs achieved through self-parking cars and intelligent fleet management as a model idea for many mixed-use developments in the USA: “Not only could we substantially reduce our costs, but, first and foremost, we could also use the available space for apartments, shops or leisure facilities, i.e. things that raise the residents’ quality of life – and that ultimately gives us a real competitive benefit in the marketplace.”
Piloted parking is just one of the technologies with which Audi is seeking to support the smart cities of the future. As of 2016, a dedicated in-house team will push forward cooperations with cities and sound out where and how these technologies can be used most efficiently within metropolitan environments. The team members are contact points for decision-makers from the urban context, such as mayors, city and traffic planners, property developers and architects. “Some say that urbanization marks the end of individual automobility. For us, it’s a major source of future business models and therefore a core element of our corporate strategy,” says Audi CEO Rupert Stadler. Decisions are already being taken now that impact urban development plans for the year 2030, which is why now is the time to act.