The initiatives of the Smart City Dialogue

The Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building (BMWSB) is currently funding 73 model projects, which have been selected in three phases since 2019, with a total of 820 million euros in the "Smart Cities Model Projects" programme. The aim of the Smart Cities Model Projects funding programme is to test and implement practical solutions for shaping sustainable urban and municipal development geared towards the common good in the age of digitalisation and to contribute to their dissemination in Germany.

The central point of contact for the pilot projects and all municipalities in Germany is the KTS, which was set up by the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building. It organises the inter-municipal exchange of experience, advises municipalities (project office) and "translates" the practical and specialist knowledge gained into knowledge transfer for the public, in particular for the specialist community. To this end, the strategies and implementation concepts of the pilot projects are systematised by means of accompanying research and new findings and needs-based solutions are derived for broad municipal practice.

The International Smart Cities Network (ISCN) promotes the integration of digital solutions into citizen-centred urban development processes and facilitates the exchange of good practices and experiences between urban development stakeholders worldwide.

The ISCN currently consists of the core member countries Brazil, Mexico, Peru, India and Germany. These are each involved in the network activities at national and municipal level. Through the ISCN, the partner countries have the opportunity to continuously exchange their expertise and experience in the field of smart cities. The constant "learning from each other" should make it possible to jointly shape the digital transformation of cities in terms of sustainable and integrated urban development.

In the coming years, the European Green Deal and the Digital Europe programme will play a central role in the implementation of European regulations and the design of funding instruments. One of the aims is to develop European municipalities into smart cities. This requires a European exchange between institutional players and municipalities on how the digital transformation can contribute to realising the goals of sustainable, integrated urban development that is oriented towards the common good at European and national level.