From the exhibition to the city and back: measuring visitor presence, mobility flows and urban impact during Salone del Mobile.Milano
CASE STUDY
, with the support of Motion Analytica, mapped urban mobility during Salone del Mobile.Milano 2025, using aggregated and anonymised mobile network data to objectively and comparatively analyse the movement flows generated by the Exhibition and by Design Week.
The project is part of the second edition of the , a research initiative launched in 2024 by Salone del Mobile.Milano, the first trade fair to promote a permanent scientific observatory.
The Report, presented at the Piccolo Teatro Studio Melato in Milan, is structured into six sections combining data and reflections on the key themes related to the Milan Design System and the urban impact of a one-of-a-kind global event.
MAIN RESULTS
The integration of mobile network data made it possible to objectively describe the urban mobility generated by Salone del Mobile. The main findings include:
01.
+51.9% Increase in attendance in Brera
Increase in attendance compared to the control week, confirming the district’s central role during Design Week.
02.
More than 3.5 million visits in Duomo
Confirmation of the city centre’s role as the main urban hub and connection point between different mobility flows.
03.
Predominance of the 25–39 and 16–24 age groups
Significant participation from professionals, creatives and young visitors involved in the week’s events.
04.
A Polycentric Yet Compact City
Spontaneous routes between neighbouring districts and the distribution of flows across multiple attractive hubs within the urban area.
THE ANALYSES
Within the Report, the analysis of urban mobility is presented in Chapter 2.4 – The City in Motion and is based on the integration of mobile network data, introduced for the first time in this edition thanks to the scientific partnership between Salone del Mobile.Milano and Fastweb + Vodafone.
The technology used is , a solution that collects and analyses aggregated and anonymised mobile network data, providing high-precision temporal and spatial insights in full compliance with privacy regulations. The data are used as a proxy for overall urban mobility flows and not as a direct count of visitors.
The analyses were carried out with the support of Motion Analytica, which contributed to the structuring of the dataset and to the interpretation of urban mobility patterns.
The dataset covers the entire two-month period of March–April 2025, with a focus on the comparison between:
- a control week (31 March – 6 April), representative of ordinary urban behaviour;
- Design Week (7 – 13 April), characterised by an intensification of events and mobility flows.
This approach makes it possible to assess the net effect of Design Week on urban dynamics, while keeping other contextual conditions constant.
These results provide a solid basis for planning complex events, assessing urban impact, and designing services and infrastructure, further reinforcing the role of Salone del Mobile.Milano as a cultural and urban infrastructure.
To discover all the details of the urban mobility analysis during Salone del Mobile, click here:
