The future of mobility right at your doorstep - in Steimker gardens
In south-eastern Wolfsburg a new residential area is being developed on the basis of people’s needs. Here, the new mobility systems will improve the quality of life, providing residents with efficient services and more time to dedicate to more pleasant pastimes.
A real-life laboratory
Over 100 experts have worked on turning an amazing idea into reality: Steimker Gardens, a new 22-hectare residential area designed to accommodate over 2,500 people in Wolfsburg, the Lower Saxony city that is home to the Volkswagen Group.
“Automated driving, electric mobility, connectivity and smart traffic management systems: we will experience all of this here in a modern, comfortable residential area earlier than elsewhere. Steimker Gardens will be something like a real-life lab where the residents and we can jointly gain some experience with new forms of mobility, technologies and services.”
Steimker Gardens is all of this according to Phillip Schmitz who, together with his team from Volkswagen Immobilien (VWI), a Group subsidiary that operates in the real estate sector, is responsible for the planning and development of the residential site.
Vehicles that gather data and communicate with one another will travel down the street. Every owner of an electric car will have a charging option at his or her disposal. And those people who do not own their own cars will simply share one. Or they will hop onto their e-bike because their smartphone has informed them that this is the fastest way to reach their destination. Are we talking here about some distant world of the future? Not really: with Steimker Gardens all of this will soon become reality. In fact, many of the underground structures have already been completed and work is due to finish in just over two years.
What do people expect from the city?
How do they want to live in the future? How should public areas, infrastructure, mobility offerings and services be designed? Volkswagen’s Group Research is providing some valuable insights.
“Colleagues from the Department of Future Research and Trend Transfer have really helped us to better understand people’s future mobility needs and to meet demand in Steimker Gardens”,Phillip Schmitz says. “We will learn a lot from this experience and we will be able to apply our knowledge and share it with others.”
The world may be becoming increasingly more complex: But people should notice as little of it as possible
Steimker Gardens are a key part of the initiative called #WolfsburgDigital, a project being conducted jointly by the City of Wolfsburg and the Volkswagen Group. The aim is to test technologies and services that revolve around people. Quality of life will be improved when connected cars and the smart traffic management system are able to do such things as help drivers find parking spaces in congested areas. And residents will then have more time to savor a cup of coffee in their cozy homes and enjoy the afternoon sun.
Phillip Schmitz: “The world may be becoming increasingly more complex: But people should notice as little of it as possible”.
Source: Volkswagen AG