Smart City Strategy

A compass for the digital future of Dresden: scientifically created and accompanied during implementation

For the citizenFor the economy
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Introduction

The development of Smart City is a complex municipal task. The city administration must identify relevant problems and find appropriate digital solutions. It must record the current situation and examine the technical possibilities, set priorities, plan for the long term and keep an eye on the overall impact. In addition, there are many, sometimes conflicting, expectations from urban society and demands from interest groups.

WISSENSARCHITEKTUR - Laboratory of Knowledge Architecture (TU Dresden) has therefore developed a Smart City Strategy with the Dresden city administration.

The goal

The Smart City Strategy is intended to serve as a compass for the digital future of the city of Dresden. Under scientific leadership and with extensive participation formats, a vision and fields of action for a comprehensive transformation were formulated.

Doing instead of (just) dreaming: The Smart City Strategy combines positive guiding principles of sustainability and participation with a system of concrete options for action. The strategy is constantly being developed through participation and testing. For a sustainable digital Dresden with a high quality of life for all people!

Smart City Research

Focus

in implementation

Project status

2022-2026

Runtime

Entire city

Place of application

Document

PDF-Download

Smart-Citystrategy
The most important information

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What are the benefits of the Smart City Strategy for citizenship?

The strategy gives citizens a voice in the development of Smart City Dresden. They were able to contribute their perspectives and points of view in participation formats such as an online survey and activities in the "Zukunftsbahn" (Future Tram).

How does the Smart City Strategy improve everyday life?

The strategy is an effective tool for the city administration to evaluate which Smart City solutions noticeably improve everyday life. Citizens gain an insight into the objectives and guiding principles of life in a Smart City Dresden .

What new opportunities does the Strategy describe?

The scientific team has precisely defined the term "Smart City" for the strategy and, together with various stakeholder groups, worked out what expectations and wishes are associated with the smart technology in the city of Dresden.

How can I participate?

The Smart Participation project continues to conduct regular surveys in the "Bürgerlabor" (Citizen Lab), with the citizen participation kiosks and special online or presence events. The results are used to update the Smart City Strategy.
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Strategic vision and guidelines

Our vision of the Smart-City strategy: "Creating new resources for a socially just and climate-neutral Dresden - through experimental participatory urban development, digital urban infrastructures and communicative administration!" It is based on overarching urban planning objectives, for example in the Integrated Urban Development Concept (INSEK), and the most important guideline documents such as the Smart-City charter.

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WISSENSARCHITEKTUR TU Dresden

Participation with smarten tools

A successful Smart-City strategy depends on the "swarm intelligence" of citizens. The needs expressed in the surveys for the city and district, as well as creative ideas and the view of a problem from the citizens' own role as stakeholders, help Smart City to move forward. The Smart Participation toolbox project is developing digital solutions for flexible use and differentiated evaluation.

View toolbox Smart Participation

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Testing and successfully transferring pilot projects

Ten projects that pursue the objectives of the vision (for example in the areas of energy, environment and transport) are being developed in the model project Smart City Dresden and tested in the so-called "intelligent districts" of Johannstadt, Friedrichstadt and Dresden Ost/Prohlis. Successful models can be applied to the whole of Dresden. The Smart-City network of 73 German model municipalities is also exchanging information on Smart-City solutions.

Diagram of the smart city strategy roadmap: agile quadruple helix
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Strategy document and research updates

The strategy document is available as a PDF download. On the website of WISSENSARCHITEKTUR - Laboratory of Knowledge Architecture (TU Dresden) you will find further information on the scientific basis and results as well as updates on the strategy.

  1. Downloads and links
    Smart -City strategy (PDF document)
    (as at June 2023)
    Summary of the Smart -City strategy (PDF document)
  2. (as at June 2023)
    Scientific website of the WISSENSARCHITEKTUR - Laboratory of Knowledge Architecture (TU Dresden )

Smart-Citystrategy
Benefits for the economy

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WISSENSARCHITEKTUR TU Dresden

How does the Smart City Strategy help the economy in Dresden?

The strategic reflection and participation of relevant stakeholder groups are important factors in the prioritization and risk assessment of urban planning decisions. In addition, a successful process of participation releases innovation potential. Smart infrastructures and process satisfaction make the city an attractive location.

What methodology ensures the effectiveness of the strategy?

For the Smart City Strategy, the WISSENARCHITEKTUR team designed a concept that combines elements from design thinking and IT and software development. Thanks to agile experimental methodology and the real world laboratories of the "Intelligent Quarters", the effectiveness can be assessed more precisely and adjusted.

How can companies benefit from the Smart City Strategy?

Sustainability is at the heart of the strategic Smart City vision. Dresden is involved in the EU mission "100 climate-neutral and smart cities by 2030" and is implementing an "integrated energy and climate protection concept". The Model Project Smart City Dresden promotes projects such as an energy self-sufficient residential district and the smart energy model of a hospital.

What networking opportunities does the Smart City Strategy offer?

The results of the projects and strategy implementation are to be consolidated through methodical knowledge management. With the help of regional and supra-regional networking, an innovation ecosystem is being created: with other model municipalities, the civil society and academic Smart City community as well as institutions and companies in the city.
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Involvement of the business community in the strategic process

In the research design of the Smart-City strategy, the business community was defined as an important stakeholder in Dresden's Smart-City landscape. Accordingly, the economic perspective was included in the participation formats from the outset. In the strategic process, it is linked with the perspectives of science, politics/administration and civil society, making connections and synergy effects recognizable. The scientific management also works closely with the Office for Economic Development during the implementation phase.

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Resource creation and knowledge management

The strategic goal of creating resources relates to tangible values such as climate neutrality through energy self-sufficient models or the optimization of administrative processes through smarte infrastructure. However, the Smart-City strategy also generates the intangible value of knowledge: opinion patterns of stakeholder groups, potential for the expansion and networking of Smart-City initiatives. The WISSENSARCHITEKTUR team systematically records the Smart-City activities in Dresden, stores and communicates the evaluations of interviews, workshops and other formats.

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Network and innovation ecosystem

Networking activities to develop an innovation ecosystem are part of the strategy. Dresden is involved in the Smart-City dialog of the 73 German municipalities in the Smart Cities model project. The WISSENSARCHITEKTUR team is regularly present at specialist conferences and trade fairs, such as the EXPO World Congress Barcelona. Synergies also arise from our own urban development projects such as the EU Horizon project "U_CAN. Ukraine towards Carbon Neutrality". Several institutes of the synergetic research network DRESDEN-concept are involved in Smart-City cooperation projects.

Our Smart
City team