Katowice, Poland, 28 September 2026 — On 24 September, five Central and Eastern European cities were recognised for innovative smart mobility solutions following the launch of the CEE Smart Cities Mobility Sprint 2026 at the New Mobility Congress 2026 in Katowice.
Rzeszów, Prague, Bratislava, Ljubljana, and Riga received recognition across five areas of smart mobility transformation:
Governance and society
Data, digital and AI
Funding and financing
Competitiveness, resilience and security
Environment.
Rzeszów’s award was presented at the event and accepted by Krzysztof Stańko, Deputy Mayor of Rzeszów. The remaining cities will receive their awards locally.
The Sprint aims to showcase innovative solutions across the region and encourage cities to learn from one another to accelerate the transition to smarter mobility.
“I was honoured to contribute to this important regional effort culminating in the New Mobility Congress. The CEE Smart Cities Mobility Sprint 2026 shows that cities across the region have strong smart mobility solutions with the potential to create impact beyond their local communities. Rzeszów, Prague, Bratislava, Ljubljana, and Riga demonstrate the value of sharing practical knowledge across the region.”
Five city practices recognised:
Rzeszów—Enhancing urban parking through smart technology
Rzeszów has implemented Metropolis.ISPP, an intelligent parking management system that uses cameras, ground sensors, neural network-based image analysis, and a mobile application to provide drivers with real-time information about available parking spaces. The system enables more efficient parking management, reducing the time spent searching for parking and the resulting vehicle traffic.
Prague—Improving energy efficiency in public transport infrastructure
Prague launched an initiative led by the Prague Public Transit Company (DPP) and its partners to improve energy efficiency by modernising selected transport facilities and installing photovoltaic systems. The project is expected to reduce energy consumption at these facilities by approximately 30%, while increasing energy self-sufficiency and the use of renewable energy across the city’s transport infrastructure.
Bratislava—Co-creation of sustainable mobility through SUMP
Bratislava initiated the development of a joint Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan for the Bratislava Metropolitan Region. The process brings together municipal, regional, national, transport, and cross-border stakeholders to create an integrated strategy for transport development, daily commuting, and the sustainable development of the region.
Ljubljana—Public-private partnership model for shared electric mobility
Ljubljana has entered a 20-year public-private partnership to establish and operate a public electric vehicle rental and car-sharing system across the municipality. The initiative aims to expand access to shared electric mobility, support a shift away from private vehicle ownership, and contribute to the city’s climate-neutrality goals.
Riga—Engaging citizens in local air quality monitoring
Riga launched the “Breathe, Riga!” citizen-science initiative, equipping students and daily commuters with portable sensors to measure local exposure to particulate pollution. More than 696,000 measurements were collected, providing evidence to support smarter decisions and guide targeted measures to improve air quality across the city.
“The initiatives recognised through the project show the many ways cities can improve urban mobility. From smarter parking to public involvement in data collection, they demonstrate how ambitious strategies can become practical solutions that respond to the everyday needs of cities and their residents. They also show that the slower dynamic of the CEE is becoming an element of the past.”
“It has been a great pleasure to work on the CEE Smart Cities Mobility Sprint 2026 in partnership with EIT Urban Mobility and PSNM. Throughout the project, we received an impressive number of best practices from cities across the region, which made selecting just five for special recognition particularly challenging. While these five initiatives stand out, they are only part of the remarkable work taking place across CEE. Cities are making significant efforts to create smarter, more sustainable urban spaces.”
About the CEE Smart Cities Mobility Sprint 2026
This is a follow-up project to the CEE Smart Cities Mobility Index 2024, which was intended to be a starting point for collective regional action. The 2024 Index was an assessment of the smart city thinking and activities across urban mobility stakeholders in the region.
The CEE Smart Cities Mobility Sprint 2026 is a qualitative research and engagement initiative conducted by PwC CEE to assess the state of smart mobility in 18 cities across Central and Eastern Europe: Belgrade, Bratislava, Bucharest, Budapest, Gdańsk, Katowice, Košice, Ljubljana, Łódź, Lviv, Ostrava, Prague, Riga, Rzeszow, Tallinn, Warsaw, Wrocław, Zagreb.
It focuses on how cities incorporate data-driven decision-making, funding and financing mechanisms, and security, environmental, governance, and social aspects into their urban mobility planning, and how these efforts align with SUMPs and other evolving policy frameworks (such as The European Green Deal, Ambient Air Quality Directive, Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy). The Sprint also examines the ways cities address and mitigate negative economic, social, and environmental impacts of the energy and supply chain disruptions via interventions in their urban mobility systems.
The report was launched on 23 September 2026 at the New Mobility Congress in Katowice.
Sign up to get the full CEE Smart Cities Mobility Sprint 2026 report to discover the regional findings, city practices, and partnership opportunities shaping the next phase of smart, sustainable, and resilient mobility across Central and Eastern Europe: CEE Smart Cities Mobility Sprint 2026
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