The world population is growing and growing. More and more people are living in cities. The issues this raises for the future are already all too clear today: traffic jams and congested transport systems in major cities lead to increased particulate pollution. Further development towards intelligent, environmentally friendly mobility and liveable cities using modern, digital concepts are important social and technological challenges.

Technical innovations, also in the field of photonics, and people's changing needs are becoming the driving force behind new networked and digital forms of mobility. These include autonomous driving, e-mobility and micromobility, for example car sharing, autonomous shuttle vehicles, or electric scooters. Air taxis can also play a role in the city of the future. The Corona crisis in particular has strongly influenced and changed the topic of "mobility". Public transport and car sharing have declined sharply in favour of the "bike boom" and "germ-free mobility" plays an increasingly important role.