Cities of the future in the age of digitalization: Berlin as an example
Introduction:
Cities of the future , As the world becomes increasingly interconnected and technology continues to advance, cities are undergoing a transformation to adapt to the digital age.
These cities of the future are leveraging digitalization to enhance efficiency, sustainability, and the overall quality of life for their residents. One such city that stands out as a prime example is Berlin.
In this blog, we will explore how Berlin is embracing digitalization and shaping itself as a city of the future.
Berlin: Cities of the future
Is it right to be jealous of cities? I had such a feeling in my first meeting with the city of Berlin and I wrote at the time about those feelings that invaded me on the last day of the year 2012.
And the Syrian people’s uprising had not yet completed its second year, that is, it had not descended significantly into the war that killed With everything, it left behind a huge amount of destruction in cities and villages, displacing people, impoverishing those who remained inside, and pushing them into a life that does not belong to this era, the era of the digital revolution and the era of human rights.
1. Smart Infrastructure:
Berlin is at the forefront of implementing smart infrastructure to optimize various aspects of urban life. The city has invested in advanced transportation systems, including intelligent traffic management, electric vehicle charging infrastructure, and smart parking solutions.
These initiatives not only reduce congestion and improve air quality but also enhance the overall mobility experience for residents and visitors.
2. Sustainable Energy:
In its pursuit of becoming a sustainable city, Berlin is harnessing digitalization to revolutionize its energy sector. The city is actively promoting renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind power, and implementing smart grids to efficiently manage energy distribution.
Through the use of smart meters and real-time data analysis, Berlin is able to optimize energy consumption, reduce waste, and lower carbon emissions.
3. Citizen Engagement:
Berlin recognizes the importance of citizen engagement in shaping the city’s future. Digitalization has enabled the city to establish platforms for citizen participation and collaboration.
Through online portals and mobile applications, residents can provide feedback, report issues, and actively contribute to decision-making processes.
This inclusive approach fosters a sense of ownership and empowers citizens to actively shape the development of their city.
4. Digital Innovation Hubs:
Berlin has emerged as a thriving hub for digital innovation and entrepreneurship. The city’s vibrant startup ecosystem attracts talent and fosters innovation in various sectors, including technology, e-commerce, and creative industries.
The presence of numerous incubators, accelerators, and co-working spaces provides a fertile ground for collaboration and the development of cutting-edge solutions.
5. Data-driven Governance:
Berlin is leveraging the power of data to drive evidence-based decision-making and improve governance. By collecting and analyzing data from various sources, such as sensors, social media, and public services, the city can gain valuable insights into urban trends, optimize resource allocation, and enhance service delivery.
This data-driven approach enables Berlin to address challenges proactively and create a more responsive and efficient city administration.
Syrian cities
In fact, I did not take long to learn that our Syrian cities were not fine, and that our love for them was not due to their unique aesthetics and history, which were surrounded by popular imagination and self-inflated feelings with great auras, while if their residents had looked at other cities, they would have known that they were living in an environment whose identity had been erased.
With the passage of time, they almost became devoid of features that would refer them to an era, whether past or present.
Our cities, which grew and swelled like tumors, no longer had a shape that would give them an aesthetic touch, nor structures and facilities that would make their residents live comfortably.
Cities in crisis
They were cities in crisis, and their crises affected their souls, their creativity and their lives. It was not a love for the homelands, as was implanted in the souls of generations, generation after generation, but rather an attachment to the past in the face of a fleeing age and a future that does not call for dreaming or hope.
Berlin is not one of the cities that dazzles a person like a beautiful singer like some cities do. Rather, it lures him into its secrets, like the maze game.
Whenever secrets are revealed to him, he will search for what is hidden from them, to discover its many treasures. Ten years later, that distant feeling returns to me.
Despite the familiarity and intimacy that Berlin gives to the expatriate or resident, it is present as a comparison in the face of the horror of the disasters that befall our countries, from Syria to Yemen to Lebanon to Sudan to Libya, and perhaps the counting does not stop.
World War II
The extent of the destruction that occurred in our cities raises questions that reach deep into the soul. Our cities are present as a comparison between the ugliness they were and the collapse they have become compared to Berlin.
The city that World War II destroyed much of it, but it rose like the rest of the German cities, and even like the rest of the corners of Germany. A country that has created its experience and stands firmly among the powerful countries in our world today.
Berlin is not one of the cities that dazzles a person like a beautiful singer like some cities do. Rather, it lures him into its secrets, like the maze game. Whenever secrets are revealed to him, he will search for what is hidden from them, to discover its many treasures.
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Earthquake in Turkey and Syria
Before the earthquake in Turkey and Syria on February 6, images of destroyed Syrian cities occupied screens over the years of war. Then the earthquake came, and now it is being repeated in Libya with another disaster after years of fighting.
In front of these images, questions of the future and fate in general attack. The face of every individual belongs to these countries, and to other countries or regions in the world that have similar circumstances, and the question of the future cannot be far from imagining a new form of cities that will rise again and build themselves, or be built by those who remain alive, but what will the form be?
Regimes that will rule in the future
These cities? This is undoubtedly linked to the type of regimes that will rule in the future, and the type of societies that will be formed on the ruins of wars and disasters. The greatest catastrophe would be if cities were reshaped under the previous conditions, under regimes of corruption, oppression, and ignorance.
ShutterstockBerlin
In an article on the page of the German Information Center of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with a striking title: “Reinventing Cities Again,” written by Manfred Runzheimer.
He considers that the greatest migration movement in human history has begun, as such a large number of people have never lived in the country. Urban centers.
Increase in population
These words seem to be true to a large degree, as the expansion of cities and the increase in population density therein is a merciless requirement for providing housing, public facilities, infrastructure, and services that increase and become more complex with the development of humanity in the digital age and the increase in its special needs.
It is known that the phenomenon of displacement from the countryside towards the cities has increased in most countries of the world. Even in Syrian cities, this phenomenon has worsened in the last fifty years, and the slums surrounding large cities have formed like a wall of misery.
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Multiple centers
It seems that the polycentric city plan is the desired model for future cities, rather than the “giant” city, as the author of the article describes, that swallows its residents.
We see this feature in Berlin, as its neighborhoods seem almost self-sufficient in terms of social and governmental services, and in terms of neighborhood organization, and are accompanied by a transportation network that connects parts of the city extending horizontally, which governments always seek to develop and make them keep pace with the digital age.
Vision of a city
However, there are problems that always stand in the way of governments, and governments in turn always seek to pay attention to them and seek solutions for them.
However, there remains a vision of a city model that must be similar to the “exemplary image” of the European city that must be taken into account in various future developments, as well.
Says, in the same article, the Executive Director of the Urban Planning Institute in Berlin.
Executive Director of the Urban Planning Institute in Berlin
This ideal image requires the availability of elements to achieve it, including the city’s historicism, the tendency toward liberation, the urban lifestyle, the quality of architectural design, and good organization.
In addition, turning to society and participating in decisions, solving problems and visions is a policy adopted by governments. Those in charge of affairs always declare that the residents themselves are the ones who should occupy the central position in the city of the future.
City’s Relationship With Nature
This is in addition to the focus on the city’s relationship with nature, and this is what the visitor to Berlin senses in the vast green spaces, forests and gardens therein, and the search for factors of sustainability, manifestations of social separation and integration, cultural civility, and the relationship between man and technology.
Achieving smart cities, as the world aspires to, is not that easy, even with the tremendous progress of artificial intelligence, as the speed of digital and information development has not kept pace with the speed of human transformation towards it and dealing with it easily.
Housing and freedom of movement are a basic human right, recognized by international conventions and state constitutions, and this constitutes the main focal point with regard to organizing cities and providing these rights to their residents.
City Planner: Cities of the future
City planner Philippe Boutilier says he aims to build in the Berlin way: “In Europe we have another culture. I am wary of comparing this project to Silicon Valley, because we have another culture.
We are not seeking to build Disneyland, but rather we are trying to preserve the famous mixture of Berlin.”
Through social structure, microdivision and pluralism, with the use of new technology in order to raise the standard of living and not just the use of technologies. The goal of the discussions is how to provide a city with a decent standard of living.”
“How to provide a city with a decent standard of living” is the hurtful point of an individual who belongs to those dilapidated countries, specifically Syria, whose main goal is not the human being, as should be done by regimes that claim to be elected by the people and work for the people.
Cities of chaos and ugliness
Our cities before the war bear witness; Cities of chaos and ugliness that those in charge of them compete to achieve, to the point that urban expansion and dealing with the encroachment towards cities and the increase in population density in them has destroyed what remained of the identity of those cities:
ShutterstockBerlin
Housing and freedom of movement are a basic human right, recognized by international conventions and state constitutions.
Totalitarian and dictatorial regimes in dilapidated countries disregard the interests of their residents, resulting in the waste and violation of fundamental rights, including the organization of cities and the provision of these rights.
Its rule, rather, its goal is to hold onto the position for its own sake, making way for a few corrupt inner circles to control the country’s economy, its resources, and the destinies of its people.
Added to it is a class of war merchants without any project, knowledge, or legal or moral regulations. Most of what they do is projects to sabotage cities.
I’m Hassan Saeed, a Clinical Psychology graduate deeply engaged in the realms of WordPress, blogging, and technology. I enjoy merging my psychological background with the digital landscape. Let’s connect and explore these exciting intersections!
