Fundación Ibercaja opens the emblematic Zaha Hadid Bridge in Zaragoza, converted into a Mobility City, an international benchmark for sustainable mobility for the future

Source: Mobility City

The avant-garde space will house the Mobility Museum, the first technological mobility museum that will offer visitors experiences, discoveries, interactive activities, exhibitions and the most striking proposals.

Fundación Ibercaja has announced this morning the inauguration of this timely project and the opening of the Zaha Hadid bridge, the work of the renowned Iraqi architect and the only bridge she designed in Europe. The initiative, promoted by the Foundation together with the support of the Government de Aragón, aims to become the main technological and informative platform around sustainable mobility, as well as its development and innovation at an international level. Starting in March, you can enjoy this space and discover the importance of mobility for the future of humanity.

Mobility City responds to Fundación Ibercaja’s commitment to return the Zaha Hadid Bridge, built for the 2008 International Exposition, to the public. “We have transformed an architectural icon into a unique element in the world, combining the aesthetic with the intellectual. Mobility City is going to be a place to look to, a prescriptive environment that will be listened to internationally and that will contribute to elevating Zaragoza and Aragón to the forefront of the mobility sector”, indicates Amado Franco, President of Fundación Ibercaja. 

A space that is returned to the citizens

For the last 5 years, the entity has carried out meticulous work both to recondition the space, always hand in hand with Zaha Hadid’s architecture studio, and in collaboration with the Government of Aragon, with the goal of creating content and a unique, distinguished place open to the general public and society. 

With a covered area of ​​2,700 m2, Mobility City has 4 different spaces: 

• The future of mobility: publicly accessible, it will show the progress and potential in terms of products and services of associated companies. An exhibition of innovative proposals will star in the next steps of mobility.
• Temporary exhibition: with a surface area of ​​1,100m2, it is an area to represent the mobility of yesterday, today and tomorrow. The first exhibition shows the evolution of the automotive world, from the unique pieces its early days, to futuristic concept cars, without forgetting the offer of the current market.
• Space Experiences: an entertainment area that will directly impact visitors’ emotion and awareness, it will house interactive activities aimed at transmitting messages of responsibility and respect for the environment through dynamics that measure the power of their decisions in the future of cities and the environment that surrounds them.
• Multifunction space: a public access area aimed at carrying out activities and events of all kinds, both at a professional and popular level, from family workshops, idustry presentations, to awards or presentations by associates.

“We want to make Mobility City a multidisciplinary space. A place of conversation, dissemination, challenges and tests. An entity that empowers the awakening of a real mobility transition, expressing interest and solutions that invite society to embrace change. For this reason, we are working to create a complete content offer that generates interest at all levels in order to permeate the roadmap and the commitment to build an evolved and environmentally responsible mobile environment”, indicates José Luis Rodrigo, Director General Fundación Ibercaja.

Mobility City, a project to lead the mobility of the future

The Mobility City initiative has the support and drive of more than 50 collaborating entities both related to mobility (automotive, telecommunications, energy, logistics, etc.), as well as local and state institutions (research institutes, associations and universities).

“Mobility City will be the agent that drives the conversation about the mobility of the future. A space from where strategies and plans will be pushed for the sake of sustainable urban development, a space for coexistence and dialogue to show what the cities of the future will be like, and the movement of people through them” indicates Jaime Armengol, Coordinator of Mobility City. The venue is “aimed at both the general public, with an experiential content that will raise awareness of the impact of personal decisions on the future of our environment, and the professional public, promoting a meeting place for experts in the sector. In short, Mobility City is a space to inspire, identify, solve, design and build the needs of mobility that is respectful of the environment in a connected and safe way”, continues Armengol.

Zaragoza and Aragón: the epicenter of new mobility

The city of Zaragoza presents many reasons why it is destined to be the international mobility capital of the future, and which make it the perfect setting for a project like Mobility City:

• Strategic geographical position: crossing point for the itineraries that cross the peninsula from north to south. In addition, its proximity to the border with France favors connections with the rest of Europe.
• Industrial activity: companies in the automotive sector, smart cities or logistics, bet on the Aragonese territory as a base of operations.
• Center of tourist interest:  the infrastructure of the 2008 Zaragoza International Exposition adds to the traditional axes of interest in Zaragoza. The quality of its current tourist offer provides an incomparable framework for the development of the Mobility City project.

“Aragon has a privileged location, highlighting its strong commitment to logistics and the establishment of companies related to automobiles, rail and other means of transport. In Zaragoza, in addition, there is a wide presence of projects on smart cities and a growing involvement in the future of personal mobility. It is, therefore, the place where a large number of interactions between cities and companies come together at a national and international level that foster the perfect germ of the international success of Mobility City”, concludes José Luis Rodrigo, Director General of Fundación Ibercaja.

Ibercaja Foundation

Fundación Ibercaja is a private non-profit organization resulting from the transformation of the Caja de Ahorros y Monte de Piedad de Zaragoza, Aragón y Rioja (currently Ibercaja Banco), dedicated to the creation, implementation and promotion of social and cultural works to promote the development of people and companies generating actions to improve the territory. It is also committed to the sustainable mobility of the future, with Mobility City. Its values ​​and actions are aligned with the United Nations 2030 Agenda, disseminating the SDGs and developing actions for their implementation. At Fundación Ibercaja, innovation is promoted in programs and activities, responding to new needs within its field of action with four values ​​as fundamental pillars: commitment, transparency, professionalism and dynamism.

About Mobility City

Mobility City is an initiative of Fundación Ibercaja supported by the Government of Aragon with headquarters in the Zaha Hadid Bridge. The work that the renowned Iraqi architect in the city of Zaragoza houses the Mobility Museum, the first museum on international mobility. Its objective is to become the world epicenter in terms of avant-garde, technology demonstration and learning, for the promotion of sustainable mobility, its development and innovation.

The Mobility City initiative began in June 2018, supported by partners from different sectors related to mobility, including automobile, telecommunications, energy and infrastructure companies, as well as regional and state institutions, research institutes, associations and universities.