Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to identify guidelines for successful co-creation of smart city infrastructures. It is based on the evaluation of a series of techniques and methodologies to enable collaborative design within the smart neighborhood development of Neuaubing-Westkreuz in Munich, Germany.

Paper long abstract:

The promises of smart technologies for a more sustainable urban development and an increasing quality of life within cities are manifold. However, most people do know little about the actual devices to be applied, their purposes and their impacts on i. e. the body, social structures or cultural practices. Also, experts often are still unaware of the actual potentials and consequences of specific technologies.

Looking at these problems of ambiguity, uncertainty and complexity (Renn 2008), there seems to be a need for more than mere citizen consultation. In order to assess, understand and define aspects such as purpose, type, cost and benefit of data collection, and to get to user-centric innovations, it is crucial to involve a broad variety of stakeholders in a collaborative research and design process (Opromolla et al. 2015).

The aim of this paper is to identify principles for a successful implementation of co-design in smart neighborhood re-development, based on the case study of Neuaubing-Westkreuz, Munich, Germany:

From April 2016 onwards a series of workshops and events will be organized in order to achieve co-design of smart city infrastructure. Experts from engineering, IT and urban planning are going to collaborate with stakeholders, local residents and experts form organized civil society. By the end of August 2016, the first phase will be finished and a first evaluation of methods, formats, group dynamics and results will be presented. Themes to be addressed will include activation of different groups and milieus, expert-layperson-communication, and facilitation of the creative process/ prototyping.