Innovative Street Furniture Supporting Electric Micro-mobility for Active Aging

The promotion of active aging and healthy mobility among seniors is a global challenge. The recent diffusion of e-bikes, mobility scooters, and electric tricycles has disclosed new opportunities for older adults to get around with less effort and much later in life than they previously imagined. As electric micro-mobility makes it easier for older people to stay active and reduce isolation, they might, in turn, require cities and communities to implement better, more people-centric infrastructure to support them, delivering great benefits for residents and commuters of all ages, as well. Within this framework, this chapter presents objectives and preliminary outcomes of an applied research on IoT-based urban services, commissioned by one of the leading Italian utility operatings in environmental field, and dealing with the design and installation of a network of Smart Hubs, accessible and versatile street furniture combining electric charging station with a wide range of other urban services. Smart Hubs’ network represents a cutting edge IoT application providing a smarter user experience for all city users, especially the elderly. The inclusive design approach combines physical and digital elements to improve well-being and offers innovative urban services. The chapter will point out how brand new IoT-based solutions and the global diffusion of electric micro-mobility have the potential to rewrite the consolidate distribution, density and features of services found in a traditional bike-friendly city, as they enable commuters and citizens, even those that can no longer cycle on a regular bike or comfortably moving around by foot, to reach longer distances in a shorter amount of time. Beyond the design of a new street furniture supporting personal electric vehicles, the research investigates the most effective aggregation of different public amenities and facilities (public restrooms, hydration stations, benches and others) and figures out the possible impacts of these smart living environments throughout the city on seniors’ mobility and autonomy.