On Wednesday, October 18, 2023, Prof. Jörg Rainer Noennig of TU Dresden was invited as an expert to the German Bundestag. He spoke about fundamental research in smart cities at a public hearing of the Committee for Housing, Urban Development, Building and Local Government, which focused on the current status and future prospects of the German government-funded “Smart city pilot projects” (MPSC) initiative.

As part of “WISSENSARCHITEKTUR– Laboratory of Knowledge Architecture,” Prof. Noenning heads the scientific management of the smart city pilot project in Dresden. The aim of the pilot project (2022-2026) is to develop digitalization strategies for the Saxon state capital with a view to sustainable, integrated, and community-oriented urban development.

“We have no blueprint for smart cities”

In his statement, Prof. Noennig emphasized the utmost importance of fundamental research on smart cities. He explained that there is no “smart city science,” we still don’t know how digital cities work, and how they can be designed. He also stressed that we lack the fundamental understanding of how to integrate digital urban systems, and what the long-term effects of digital transformation might be in an urban context. “We live in digital cities, but we have no blueprint for smart cities,” said Noennig.

We will be able to glean a lot of knowledge from the pilot projects – but it's not the job of the municipalities to generate knowledge, that's the job of researchers. Fundamental research is required so that we can understand how digital cities work. This fundamental knowledge must be made transferable to the reality of planning, so that digital cities can then be equipped with competent experts, Noennig said. (Source: Parliament news from the German Bundestag, hib/VOM)

Smart city pilot project Dresden

WISSENSARCHITEKTUR – Laboratory of Knowledge Architecture has been in charge of the scientific management of the model project since its inception and has developed the smart city strategy together with the state capital of Dresden. During the implementation phase, the interdisciplinary working group will evaluate the course of the project.

The group will use comprehensive participation formats (known as “smart participation”) to gather and evaluate feedback from civil society, politics, business and science. Workshop formats and networking with the national and international smart city community will result in expertise at the cutting edge of research flowing into the project.

More information

Report on the public hearing including video (Prof. Noennig’s contribution can be seen at about 13.55 minutes into the video)
Smart city pilot project Dresden

Contact

Markus Jüngling
Communication Manager / Press Office and Public Relations
WISSENSARCHITEKTUR