Europe’s leading parking space operator, APCOA Parking Group, announced it has launched the APCOA Urban Hubs brand to create an integrated ecosystem for the future-ready and sustainable use of parking spaces. The company will help its strategic partners develop and implement their own business models by providing access to its physical and digital infrastructure.
The new offering will essentially expand the functionality of the company’s parking facilities across Europe, transforming them into potential hubs for a broad range of sustainable services and integrating them into a dedicated digital ecosystem based on its scalable digital platform, APCOA Flow. Launched in 2018, that platform provides the company’s strategic partners with integrated, contact-free access to inner-city car parks via individual interfaces. Based on this technology, it is transforming its car parks into Urban Hubs, providing the infrastructure for mobility, logistics, e-charging, and technology-based services.
“The digital and on-demand economy, especially in the field of mobility and logistics, needs a physical basis and a smart and flexible infrastructure,” said Philippe Op de Beeck, CEO of APCOA Parking Group. “With more than 11,000 sites, we have created Europe’s largest network of digitally connected car parks. Our hubs combine parking with logistics and technology services, shared mobility platforms, and charging infrastructure for electric vehicles—and are already making a major contribution to creating the Smart Cities of the future.”
APCOA’s initial focus is on city dwellers and commuters who use multi-level parking garages in inner-city areas. According to the company, these locations offer the greatest potential for improving the efficiency of last-mile logistics, reducing inner-city logistics traffic, and, as a result, achieving substantial reductions in CO2 emissions. By expanding the electric charging infrastructure, the Urban Hubs will also actively support the transition to electric mobility. The company also believes that guaranteed access to electric charging facilities will enhance the appeal of EVs to consumers.
A 50-year-old company, Stuttgart-based APCOA Parking Group manages about 1.5 million individual parking spaces at more than 11,000 locations in 13 European countries. These include parking spaces at 1800 city and shopping center locations, 400 hotels, 250 railway stations, 150 hospitals, and more than 60 European airports.
