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Smart City Berlin

Berlin is responding to the environmental, social, economic and cultural challenges of a growing metropolis with modern smart city solutions.

Worldwide, cities are developing smart city strategies to respond to demographic and structural changes in an environmentally and citizen-friendly manner. Increased demand for housing as well as growing demands on urban infrastructure, power supply and waste disposal systems are just some of the challenges that cities have to face in order to ensure their future viability.

Integrating digital information and communication technologies (ICT) as well as taking into account sustainability and the common good can contribute significantly to resolving these issues. New ICT technologies increase the efficiency of systems and reduce the consumption of resources.

In order to preserve its attractiveness and quality of life, Berlin started developing, testing and implementing innovative solutions early on. An important prerequisite is that actors from public administration, business and science work closely together.

Berlin is smart:

  • The networking of public administration, business and science provides an excellent environment for the development of smart technologies.
  • Berlin has room for ideas: Berlin's future places (Berliner Zukunftsorte) provide technology and knowledge-oriented companies with attractive spaces that are centrally located, have excellent infrastructure and feature close links between science and industry.
  • With more than 150 companies, academic and research institutions, the Smart City Berlin Network is committed to the future city of Berlin and involved in the smart city strategy of the state of Berlin.
  • Spin-offs from institutions of higher education as well as the highly technology-oriented start-up community in Berlin represent a high potential for innovation.
  • Numerous conferences and trade shows taking place in Berlin address Smart City topics. Berlin presents itself in numerous formats with its innovative eco-system.

In December 2022, the second smart city strategy ”Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin” was adopted, which was developed in participatory cooperation with urban society as part of the model project funded by the federal government. Part of the strategy are 5 pilot projects in different subject areas, which will be implemented in Berlin until the end of 2026.

Berlin's smart city strategy is a "learning" strategy:
In addition to the 20 measures already named in the document, new ideas are being sought that contribute to Berlin's value - sustainable, public welfare-oriented, resilient and cooperative city and fields of action - regenerative economies, future opportunities for all, inclusive urban design and enabling administration.

The five pilot projects:

Smart Space Hardenbergplatz:
Hardenbergplatz in Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf, as a typical station forecourt with high use, is being redesigned smartly and flexibly – that is, depending on the event, day, weather and season – for all forms of mobility.

Data & Smart City Governance:
The starting point of the pilot project is the question of how municipalities and technology companies can work together in the public interest and on an equal footing when using and processing data. The objective is to balance different interests in the collection and use of data.

Participatory Budgeting and Smart Participation:
In the context of the participation process, interests tend to be distorted by the low levels of participation. Activating, digitally supported participation methods and new forms of interaction that are designed without discrimination help to reach a diverse spectrum of people. The pilot district is Treptow-Köpenick.

Smart Water – Modeling and Governance:
The effects of extreme weather events are obvious, but difficult for decision-makers and the public to understand. Using agile planning of rainwater management, options for action for climate-friendly urban planning are to be piloted and visualized.

Data in everyday life and crisis – Kiezbox 2.0:
Local data on the climate, air quality, etc. is generally obtained during regular operation. In the event of a crisis (e.g., power failure), for example, solar or battery-operated hotspots can form an emergency WLAN, which informs the local population. The effectiveness of such measures should first be tested in the Tempelhof-Schöneberg district.

Smart City Berlin - Projects for a sustainable city

In recent years, Berlin has developed and implemented numerous projects that will accompany the city into the future and generate added value for society as a whole. They thus pay tribute to the priorities defined in the smart city strategy "Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin" and offer scope for participation by business, science and startups:

Participation and co-determination

The citizen participation platform mein.berlin.de enables Berliners to participate in the participation processes in the State of Berlin. Since 2018, innovation and participation have been thought of together in the CityLAB Berlin. Administration and urban society work together here on solutions for the digital Berlin of tomorrow.

Inclusive urban development

In the coming years, a new, smart residential area in wooden construction will be built on the site of the former Tegel Airport: the Schumacher Quartier will be Berlin’s reference project for climate-adapted and water-sensitive urban development. Cross-industry and cross-manufacturer solutions for intelligent buildings and home networking are being developed in the smart Future Living Berlin district.

Business as a part of solutions

Smart Berlin offers many opportunities to accelerate cooperation between research institutions, universities, and companies. Successful innovation can best be achieved at a cross-sectoral level, especially at the interfaces of ICT, energy technology, health, and transport/ mobility. Targeted funding policy is intended to bring together sectors and companies that usually do not work together, but that benefit from cooperation. This creates a smart link between different domains. An example of this is the Smart City Berlin Network, an association of business, science and administration that has been cooperatively discussing current topics, jointly developing project ideas and playing a significant role in the smart city discourse for 10 years.

For the mobility of tomorrow

The capital region is a test market for various mobility solutions, such as sharing services, mobility as a service, and autonomous driving. Here new and innovative solutions for the mobility of the future are developed and tested, from operational mobility management for Berlin companies and institutions to projects for automated and networked driving such as Shuttles&Co. to Micro-Hubs in districts as well as mobility hubs and the Jelbi app. The Berlin Agency for electromobility eMO supports the piloting and dissemination of sustainable mobility solutions and the ramp-up of electromobility.

Infrastructures for the city of the future

At the InfraLab Berlin, the city's utilities and waste management companies are working on projects for the city of the future.
In the ”Smart Business District” project, Berliner Stadtreinigung (BSR), Berliner Wasserbetriebe (BWB) and Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe (BVG) identify the joint use of company infrastructures to optimize building and parking space requirements and make optimum use of existing resources. The aim is to build a climate-friendly infrastructure using synergies, which result from the proximity of company locations.
With the FUTR HUB for the smart districts in Berlin TXL, the digital infrastructure for the German capital is to be developed and tested as an example.
At the same time, a unique place for innovations is being created in the Urban Tech Republic

Public Safety

The Berlin fire department is a pioneer in researching and testing new technologies: from the electrically-operated fire engine and auxiliary vehicle “eLHF” to the first aid app Katretter, and to the development of an interactive training platform for emergency services. The capital fire department is dedicated to and thus creates the basis for public safety in Berlin and is a role model for fire departments throughout the country.

Your contact

Beate Albert

Beate Albert

Coordinator
Smart City Unit
Berlin Partner for Business and Technology

beate.albert@berlin-partner.de
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