The sound of the word “Smart City” makes us think of sophisticated infrastructure and flawless networks, cutting-edge digital technology in every single corner – and also of a place elsewhere in the world or at least in the future, in any case far away. But our historically evolved cities and villages are presently becoming gradually digitalised and “smart” under our very eyes. “Digital Cities” show where this process could lead and how closely modernisation can be oriented to the needs of the population, local businesses and regional characteristics.
Klaus Michael Ahrend is a member of the board of HEAG Holding AG, a company that assumes central tasks of the municipal economy for the region of southern Hesse with its headquarters in Darmstadt. The professor of economics knows the requirements and goals in the development of digitality for cities and regions at close quarters and is actively shaping related projects himself. In this episode of Digitalgespräch, he uses the example of the designated Digitalstadt Darmstadt to explain which conditions and values determine the digitisation of a city, what citizens actually benefit from and why the concepts of smart regions might be an even better idea. With the hosts Marlene Görger and Petra Gehring, he discusses how digitisation can be shaped regionally in a democratic process and what role a European perspective plays in this.
Further informationen:
Link to the website of Digitalstadt Darmstadt: https://www.digitalstadt-darmstadt.de
all episodes of Digitalgespräch»
The podcast is in German. At the moment there is no English version or transcript available.