Urban Innovation & Research

UrbanLabs.info — Urban Innovation & Research

Exploring Urban Transformation, Smart Cities, Living Labs, eCulture, New European Bauhaus, and Young Citizens Engagement.

10+
Innovation & Research Projects
25+
Partner Institutions
15+
Cities Engaged
20+
Years of Digital Transformation

Innovation & Research Focus

Our work bridges the gap between urban development, digital technologies, and cultural heritage to create more inclusive, sustainable cities.

Urban Living Labs

Designing and managing experimental urban spaces for innovation and research

Smart to Wise Cities

Developing new services and methodologies for smart city applications

Young Citizens & Future Cities

Empowering young people to co-create solutions for sustainable urban futures

eCulture

Using technology to bring cultural heritage and urban narratives to life

Projects (Excerpts)

A portfolio of urban innovation and research initiatives exploring the intersection of culture, technology, and urban life.

UrbanTestbeds.JR project thumbnail

UrbanTestbeds.JR

Baltic Sea Region (Germany, Denmark, Sweden, Latvia)

AI-supported urban testbeds identification, co-design and data-driven storytelling with and for Young Citizens

UrbanTestbeds.JR helps public authorities use AI and storytelling to create, together with the youth, sustainability plans for urban spaces. Focus is on the co-design of urban testbeds for tangible experiences in sustainability and climate mitigation action.

Young CitizensAICo-DesignStorytellingUrban Testbeds

Interreg Baltic Sea Region

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ANN RADAR

Hamburg, Germany

A New Normal - Urban Testbed Identification for Climate Action

ANN RADAR supports both the interactive data-based identification of Urban Testbeds and the documentation of the selection process. Through a data-driven evidence base, it aims at identifying areas suitable for sustainability and climate action pilots.

Urban TransformationEvidence-basedAI-supportedClimate ActionDecision Support

ICLEI Action Fund / Google.org

NEB for Smaller Communities project thumbnail

NEB for Smaller Communities

European Union

Technical Assistance Programme for Local Initiatives

Supporting smaller cities and communities in implementing New European Bauhaus principles through technical assistance, helping transform local spaces with sustainable, beautiful, and inclusive design.

New European BauhausTechnical AssistanceLocal InitiativesCo-CreationCapacity Building

European Commission - Regional Policy

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NEB Conversations

Europe

Dialogues on sustainable, inclusive and beautiful futures

Facilitating conversations and knowledge exchange around the New European Bauhaus initiative, exploring how sustainability, inclusion, and aesthetics can transform our built environment.

New European BauhausKnowledge ExchangeSustainabilityInclusionAesthetics

European Commission

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SmartSquare

Domplatz (Cathedral Square), Hamburg, Germany

An interdisciplinary guided tour of an urban testbed

SmartSquare is an urban testbed in the emerging domain of "Smart Culture in Smart Cities". The square is the so-called Domplatz (Cathedral Square), the location of the founding fortification Hammaburg, in the middle of Hamburg's inner city.

Smart CultureUrban TestbedDigital StorytellingData AnalyticsService Innovation

German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)

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SmartQuarters

Auckland (New Zealand), Melbourne & Sydney (Australia)

Smart Cities - Urban Testbeds International Knowledge Exchange

International travelling conference to Australia and New Zealand fostering cooperation on urban testbeds, visualization and simulation of urban data, and stakeholder engagement in smart city development.

International CooperationUrban TestbedsCity LabsKnowledge ExchangeSmart Cities

German Federal Ministry for Education and Research (BMBF)

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eCulture Innovation Forum

Hamburg, Germany (with international partners)

eCULTINNO - Digital Cultural Innovation Network

The eCulture Innovationsforum connects interdisciplinary experiences in research, development and application of novel technologies for digital cultural storytelling, especially in the archaeological domain.

eCultureDigital InnovationCultural HeritageStorytellingArchaeology

Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy

"UrbanTestbeds.JR is about building capacity for young citizens' engagement in urban futures scenarios and sparking meaningful conversations with the support of artificial intelligence, urban data and urban ideation."
— Jens Bley

Key Partners & Funding Sources

HafenCity University Hamburg
Archaeological Museum Hamburg
German Federal Ministry (BMBF)
Interreg Baltic Sea Region
Hamburg@Work
European Commission
ICLEI
Europeana Network

Interested in Collaboration?

We're always looking for partners to explore new frontiers in urban transformation and digital cultural innovation.

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