„The citizens of a smart city can not be fobbed off with decisions „from above“ without further ado. And this brings me to the perhaps most difficult challenge: the civic city.
The calls for new, transparent and participatory forms of controlling and shaping the urban living environment, shortly Urban Governance.
With the establishment of the city workshop we make citizen participation a normal component of urban development and planning. The Stadtwerkstatt to intensify information and participation and ultimately contribute to the development of better planning culture in Hamburg.
Cities are the way of life of the future. Already, 50 percent of the world population live in cities. By 2050, the proportion is likely to increase to two-thirds or more. So it makes no sense to see the trend towards town something that applies braking to avoid or prevent. Urbanization is an inevitable consequence of economic development. And one that can be called good – the word sounds rather negative. Wrongly, because cities are also places of hope.“