POC Card4all, Gijón- ES
One access card for all city services
Every day, citizens, tourists and enterprises access a range of city services and resources and, in some cases, pay for them. Meanwhile, city councils develop policies to boost healthy habits and social behaviours that improve life quality.
Gijon’s City Council in Spain fulfils both these actions with a smart card, the Gijon Citizen Card, that gives citizens access to the city’s services and public facilities, such as shared transport, cultural activities and digital services. It also sets up citizenship profiles in order to match better citizens’ needs with public policies. The Citizen Cardhas become both an integrated tool for public services and a coordination and loyalty mechanism. Launched in 2002, the Citizen Cardis now used by more than 270,000 people to access and pay for municipal services and activities.
Encouraging sustainable behaviours
The Citizen Cardcontributes to sustainable urban living since it promotes and facilitates the use of public transport and other sustainable ways of transportation, such as car sharing or electric vehicles. Other uses linked to the promotion of sports and cultural activities are very important to foster integration, good health habits and to avoid social exclusion. The Citizen Cardalso contains details about users’ socio-economic situations, which allows the city to adapt the rates of the different services, contributing in this way to the reduction of poverty.
Inclusion through digitalisation?
One of the aims of the Citizen Cardis to work within a holistic and participative approach, given that it combines different services that are interconnected and share relevant information. It also allows citizens to participate and use the services through different tools (Citizen Terminals, online, etc.). Additionally, a free training session is offered on how to use the Citizen Card, favouring digital inclusion of some groups and connectivity, while minimising unnecessary trips.
To sum up, the Citizen Cardplays a key role in the development of sustainable mobility by encouraging healthy behaviours and habits, promoting a culture of energy efficiency and sustainable growth.
- Project holders : city of Gijon – ES
- Stakeholders : This case comes from the Card4all network co-financed by the European Union through the URBACT programme.