Building the City of Tomorrow together

Today there are already more people living in cities than in rural regions. This trend is set to continue. In 2050, two thirds of the world’s population will be living in cities. Cities throughout the world are facing huge challenges such as climate adaptation, efficient energy supplies, flexible infrastructures, sustainable mobility and urban resilience. How are we dealing with these developments? How can we make our cities attractive and sustainable places to live in?

Answers to these questions concerning the “City of Tomorrow” cannot be found at national level but require international cooperation. This is why the Federal Ministry of Education and Research is focusing its current international research marketing campaign on the “City of Tomorrow”.

The campaign entitled “Shaping the Future – Building the City of Tomorrow” is providing ten outstanding research networks with a platform for presenting their innovative projects for sustainable urban development abroad and for networking with strong partners throughout the world. The planned activities will focus on the key countries China, India, Vietnam, Colombia and the United States.

The urban development projects range from marketing sustainable transport systems in China to presenting system solutions for floating buildings in Vietnam to providing user-friendly software solutions for urban resilience in the United States. The measures are supported by a broad-based umbrella campaign in the five target countries and in Germany.

International networks will already be established at German Science Day in Ho Chi Minh City in March and representatives of the German networks will also take part in leading trade fairs throughout the world such as “Smart Cities NYC” in the United States and “Smart Cities India” in New Delhi.

The kick-off event “Building the City of Tomorrow together” marks the beginning of the BMBF’s international campaign. Numerous urban planning experts from politics, science and research as well as representatives of the ten research networks that are being funded will use this opportunity to exchange views and share their visions for sustainable, energy-efficient and attractive cities of tomorrow.

Research in Germany – Land of Ideas

The campaign is part of the BMBF’s Research Marketing Alliance and is firmly embedded as an important measure in the Federal Government’s Internationalization Strategy. The aim is to further enhance Germany’s reputation as an attractive country for education, research and innovation under the heading “Research in Germany” and to highlight opportunities for partners abroad to access Germany’s strong research base. The DLR Project Management Agency manages the international campaign on behalf of the BMBF.

DLR Project Management Agency

The DLR Project Management Agency specialises in services for the funding of research, innovation and education. As one of Germany’s largest project management agencies, it supports German state and federal ministries in implementing research funding programmes and operates on behalf of the European Commission, foundations and associations.

Contact:
Jennifer Neumann
DLR Project Management Agency
European and International Cooperation
Heinrich-Konen-Straße 1, 53227 Bonn, Germany
Telephone: +49 (0)228 3821 2006
E-mail: shaping-the-future@dlr.de

Further Information:
http://www.research-in-germany.org/shaping-the-future (Homepage)
http://www.research-in-germany.org/shaping-the-future/press-and-media (Press material)