Stefan Carsten

Dr. Stefan Carsten: Future – City – Mobility.

He was project manager in the ‘Society and Technology Research Group’ of Daimler AG in Berlin, where he designed new mobility services such as car2go and moovel. He is currently on the advisory board of the Federal Ministry of Transport for “Strategic Guidelines of Public Transport in Germany”, the IAA Mobility in Munich, the Reallabor Radbahn in Berlin and a member of the design advisory board of HOWOGE Berlin. Since 2019, he has been publishing the Mobility Report in cooperation with the Zukunftsinstitut.

Stefan Carsten Lecture topics

• AI and mobility: When cities think, vehicles negotiate, and people become passengers

Artificial intelligence is changing mobility not only in vehicles, but throughout the entire system: from traffic control and maintenance to platforms and pricing to automated service planning in public transportation. In this presentation, Stefan Carsten shows how “traffic” is becoming a negotiated real-time logic that works with dynamic rules, data-based priorities, and new interfaces between cities, operators, and providers. The beyond of mobility begins where cities anticipate, vehicles prepare decisions, and people are still primarily users and passengers. What is decisive then are not so much technological promises as governance issues: Who sets goals, who owns data, how do algorithms remain transparent, fair, and oriented toward the common good?

• The next mobility: From traffic to networked everyday mobility

The new mobility is less a question of technology than a system change: access instead of ownership, cycling and walking instead of cars, multimodality, sharing, on-demand, platforms, and strong public transport as the backbone. The presentation classifies the change in mobility behavior and shows which services are becoming established in cities and rural regions and how they interact effectively. For companies, municipalities, and associations, it becomes clear which decisions matter now in order to make mobility easier, more reliable, affordable, and climate-friendly.

• Scooter Gene & Mobile Identity: New Mobility Biographies, New Status Logics

A new generation values mobility differently: less about horsepower and ownership, more about lifestyle, time, experience, and digital services. Here, Stefan Carsten shows how e-bikes, sharing, micro-mobility, running clubs, bike events, and digital self-measurement are becoming part of identity and what that means for brands, cities, and services. The presentation combines cultural change, consumer trends, and mobility markets and makes it clear why status today is often created through climate-friendly everyday life and community.

• Energy transition meets mobility transition: When power grids become key infrastructure

The next wave of mobility will be determined by energy: charging, grids, storage, neighborhoods, dynamic pricing, vehicle-to-grid, and the question of how this works invisibly in everyday life. This presentation shows why smart power grids are becoming a basic requirement and how cities, fleets, and real estate are becoming energy platforms. Concrete examples will illustrate which business models are emerging and how companies and the public sector should align their strategies for the coupled energy and mobility transition.

• Circular Mobility & Moveable Spaces: Fewer resources, more use per square meter

The most sustainable mobility is that which uses fewer resources and makes spaces usable for multiple purposes. Stefan Carsten combines the circular economy (repair, reuse, modular systems, second life) with the transformation of streets, parking spaces, and buildings into multifunctional places. The presentation provides a compelling narrative for the future of industry, real estate, and public actors: away from the linear “use-dispose” model and toward cycles that create resilience and enable new value creation.

• Retail in transition: How retail and city centers are regaining their appeal

City centers are being renegotiated: less monofunctionality, more mixed use, more experience – and a retail sector that has to position itself between platform economy, sustainability, and new mobility habits. This presentation will explain why ground floors are becoming a key resource and how retail, gastronomy, culture, services, and mobility offerings are working together to generate new footfall. It will focus on concrete strategies: from “retail as a stage” to neighborhood logic to new collaborations between real estate, cities, and brands.

• Logistics & transport of the future: From delivery traffic to urban supply systems

Delivery traffic has long been part of urban development and determines climate, spatial quality, and acceptance. The presentation classifies the major drivers: e-commerce, same-day expectations, skilled labor shortages, regulation, zero-emission zones, and new technologies. Stefan Carsten shows how micro-hubs, bundling, cargo bikes, electric fleets, digital slot control, and new standards are turning the “last mile” into a reliable supply system and what roles cities, operators, and companies must play in this.

• City of the future: Adaptive cities between climate stress, spatial and mobility change

How are climate change, densification, new ways of working, and digital control changing our cities, and what does this mean for space, real estate, and mobility? This presentation shows why the “adaptive city” is not only smarter, but above all more resilient, fairer, and more livable. With international best practices.

Stefan Carsten works with various international players in the mobility world: with the bicycle industry, public transport companies, the automotive industry as well as cities and municipalities.

Dr. Stefan Carsten was born 1973 in Lisbon. Stefan Carsten is a Futurist and Urban Geographer and a global leader in Mobility and planning new city models. He is married, has two children and lives and works in Berlin.

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