Seeking European Partners for AI-Powered Sustainable Urban Planning

UrbanEdge Innovation – AI-Powered Urban Intelligence for Sustainable Cities

Organisation Overview

UrbanEdge Innovation is an early-stage startup initiative founded by Khaled Bayoumi, currently based in Egypt and preparing for establishment in Flanders, Belgium. The company aims to develop AI-powered urban intelligence and decision-support tools that help municipalities, urban planners, developers, and research institutions make more informed, data-driven decisions about urban development.

The initiative combines urban planning, GIS, spatial data analysis, urban mobility, and emerging AI technologies to support more sustainable, accessible, and human-centred cities.

Our Solution

UrbanEdge is developing an urban intelligence platform that integrates spatial and planning information into a structured decision-support environment. The platform aims to help users explore locations, understand urban conditions, compare areas, and assess potential development opportunities.

The planned platform combines:

• Urban and spatial analysis: Integrating GIS layers, land-use information, buildings, parcels, and planning data.

• Accessibility and mobility: Supporting analysis of neighbourhood accessibility and connections between urban functions.

• Human-centred urban indicators: Exploring quality of life, environmental conditions, green and blue infrastructure, and urban accessibility.

• Development potential: Supporting the initial assessment and comparison of sites and neighbourhoods.

• Decision support: Translating complex urban data into understandable indicators and insights for planning and development.

UrbanEdge is at an early development stage. Its initial MVP uses Hasselt, Flanders, as a pilot context. The product remains under development, and its analytical methods and indicators require further testing and validation.

Relevance to the DUT Call 2026

UrbanEdge is particularly interested in the 15-minute City theme, especially urban accessibility, neighbourhood analysis, sustainable land use, and data-driven planning. We are also interested in exploring connections with Circular Urban Economies where appropriate to the project's objectives.

We aim to investigate how integrated spatial data and urban intelligence can support municipalities and research partners in understanding neighbourhood conditions, identifying development opportunities, and evaluating more sustainable urban planning scenarios.

Collaboration Interests

UrbanEdge seeks collaboration with:

• Belgian and European municipalities and local authorities.

• Universities and urban research institutions.

• GIS, geospatial analytics, and urban technology organisations.

• Researchers working on the 15-minute City, sustainable mobility, accessibility, and urban sustainability.

• Potential consortium partners interested in developing a joint DUT Call 2026 project.

We are particularly interested in finding a suitable Belgian research or municipal partner and complementary European partners to develop a focused project proposal.

Establishment in Belgium and Current Status

UrbanEdge Innovation is currently based at the initiative level in Egypt and is preparing for establishment in Flanders, Belgium. Its Belgian legal entity has not yet been formally established. The startup is pre-revenue and is exploring appropriate establishment, research collaboration, and funding pathways in Belgium and the wider European innovation ecosystem.

The founder, Khaled Bayoumi, holds a Master's degree in Urban Studies from Malmö University, Sweden, and has experience and academic interests in urban development, mobility, GIS, and spatial analysis.

UrbanEdge also engages with L.A.B.S. Mumbai, a research group contributing to technical and research development. Any formal consortium participation, funding arrangements, or institutional roles would need to be confirmed with the relevant organisations and according to the DUT Call 2026 eligibility requirements.

Our Objective

Our objective is to build UrbanEdge into a European urban intelligence initiative that connects urban research, spatial data, and practical planning needs. Through the DUT Call 2026 matchmaking platform, we hope to identify partners in Belgium and across Europe to explore a focused, collaborative research and innovation project that supports more accessible, sustainable, and liveable cities.