Recorded live during Las Rozas’ hosting of the ICF Top7 Intelligent Communities event and produced within the CIVINET Iberia project, this episode features Cristina Álvarez Requena, CEO, and Nuria Blanco, Mobility Manager at Las Rozas Innova. They trace their journeys from multinational engineering and regional transport planning into public service, showing how the four-year-old municipal innovation company has already secured €24 million and joined 14 European consortiums. The pair explain how AI-assisted urban design, subsidised car-sharing and a citizen-co-created Sustainable Urban Mobility Plan help a dispersed Madrid suburb overcome road barriers, behaviour change and multi-level governance. Above all, they argue that passion, trust and resident-centred planning – not technology alone – create a truly smart, inclusive city.

Episode Overview:

• [00:00:03] Teaser: “Describe Las Rozas in three words.”

• [00:01:48] Guest backgrounds: shifting from private sector & regional transport to municipal innovation.

• [00:04:57] Growing European-funded portfolio: 14 consortiums & €24 million won.

• [00:07:59] New strategy: data platforms, digital twin & GovTech beyond mobility.

• [00:08:28] AMIGOS pilot: AI box measures pedestrian–car interactions at a multimodal hub.

• [00:10:44] Keeping creativity alive amid EU bureaucracy.

• [00:13:51] Why a public-company model speeds implementation.

• [00:15:11] Aligning strategy before chasing grants.

• [00:16:48] Citizen engagement: surveys, workshops & co-creation sessions.

• [00:20:58] From pilot to scale: subsidised car-sharing becomes permanent service.

• [00:23:39] Advantages & pitfalls of an agile, talent-driven innovation office.

• [00:26:50] Biggest challenges: geography, governance layers & mind-set change.

• [00:31:54] Career advice: results focus, serve real needs, lead with passion.

• [00:32:29] Trial & error: on-demand transport stalled without early multi-level buy-in.

• [00:34:10] “To you, what is a smart city?”

• [00:35:24] Closing & invitation to revisit results.

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