MAtchUP will deploy large scale demonstration projects in three Lighthouse cities namely, Valencia
(Spain), Dresden (Germany) and Antalya (Turkey), and support the development of replication and
upscaling plans in four Follower cities namely, Ostend (Belgium), Herzliya (Israel), Skopje
(Macedonia) and Kerava (Finland). Led by the City of Valencia, the consortium is composed of 28 partners across 8 different countries, each one contributing through their specific knowledge and expertise to meet the said MAtchUP objectives.
MAtchUP – Maximizing the Upscaling and replication potential of high level urban transformation
strategies – is a 60 months long project funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Smart
Cities and Communities programme. It addresses the issues that constrains a better and wider
development of the urban transformation of the cities through the use of innovative technologies in the
energy, mobility and ICT areas and through the direct engagement of citizens in the co-design of their
future smart cities.
In this project, the following activities will be executed: (i) smart technical and non-technical solutions
will be adopted and monitored in the large scale demonstration activities; (ii) urban planning
processes will be strengthened,(iii) innovative business models will be developed to ensure the
bankability of the deployed solutions, and (iv) citizens and stakeholders will be involved as active
players of their urban transformation process. Expected impacts are as follows: (i) increased energy
efficiency, (ii) reducedCO2 emissions, (iii) improved local air quality, and (iv) enhanced sustainable
mobility and ICT integration
The entire project is aligned with the Covenant of Mayors’ Sustainable Energy and Climate Action
Plans (SECAP) and their former version, Sustainable Energy Action Plans (SEAPs) and Adaptation
Plans, thereby stressing the project’s importance of creating smarter, cleaner cities that are resilient
enough to combat the impacts of climate change while providing the people easier access to secure,
sustainable and affordable energy. The urban regeneration plans deployed in the lighthouse cities will
be further developed and will be evaluated simultaneously over time based on the SEAPs/SECAPs
while they will be referred to in identifying the barriers that hinder the continuous urban transformation
of these cities and seeking out a cooperation from both the public and private sectors. With the direct
assistance and capacity building activities coming from the lighthouse cities, the four follower cities
will also be able toplan and later on complete their urban transformation according to the
SECAPs/SEAPs.
Furthermore, as part of the European Smart Cities and Communities Innovation Partnership and of
the collaboration framework with the other Lighthouse projects and initiatives, MAtchUP will be at the
forefront of the European smart cities’ transformation process
