As you probably know, some months ago MAtchUP celebrated its first birthday, but the pace is certainly not slowing down! Looking back at the past year, I’m proud to see that so many things have happened: our cities are doing their best every day and works are on track. We have also successfully overcome our first review and now we’re ready for new challenges.
After visiting the three Lighthouse cities (Valencia, Dresden and Antalya) and reaching the first goals, partners share a common sense of belonging to a TEAM, which in MAtchUP became a kind of a motto: Together Everyone Achieves More!
Over the last year, we’ve have also enhanced the cooperation with the Smart Cities’ Network and participated jointly in some international events such as the Nordic Edge Expo and the Smart City World Congress, major visibility platforms for MAtchUP.
Going back to our lighthouse cities, I’m proud to share with you our fruitful results: in September the city of Dresden opened its first multimodality hub and improved its district heating system. Valencia is working hard on several fronts: the Poblats Maritims district restoration is ongoing, the city’s drafting an electromobility plan, the integration of information in the urban platform is in progress and social partners have designed dedicated activities to engage citizens. In Antalya, the New Kepez Santral district is quickly improving the city landscape and the open data portal is expected to be released soon.
We cannot forget about our follower cities! Their role is key for the MAtchUP strategy, and their engagement started from the very beginning. Some of them are implementing relevant actions like the Skopje municipality which is replacing the old bus fleet with a new eco-bus one.The second year will be very intensive in terms of activities and results to achieve, but the great enthusiasm and the positive attitude of partners are very inspiring. Thus, don’t miss any update, follow our Twitter and LinkedIn accounts!
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Ernesto Faubel
Municipality of Valencia
MAtchUP Coordinator
