The state capital of Munich, the universities and the UnternehmerTUM start-up center, which is closely connected to them, are taking a new path to promote the expansion of intelligent and networked structures in metropolises (Smart City) for the Isar metropolis.

The Munich Urban Colab started on Monday.

It should become a melting pot in which start-ups, established companies, science, creative people and artists develop concepts for the intelligent city of the future.

Rudiger Koehn

Business correspondent based in Munich.

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    The special thing about it: the city administration is closely involved as an active partner.

    The public is also consciously included in the model, for whom a transparent building with 11,000 square meters of usable space in a central location is accessible, which was opened after two years of construction.

    The project is about building, climate protection, sustainability and mobility in cities.

    Solutions for urban life and living as well as for the use of public space are to be found - all under the aspect of a sustainable way of life that also harbors economic potential.

    Colab is to contribute to the EU initiative “New European Bauhaus” in order to become part of the European “Green Deal” with design, sustainability, inclusion and innovations.

    According to the initiators, the Munich Urban Colab is “an internationally unique place for smart city solutions”. This has not yet existed in this form. It consists of an extensive network that is otherwise hardly available and that connects the most diverse worlds with one another. UnternehmerTUM as a start-up center supports young companies; Behind him is the BMW heiress Susanne Klatten, who is the financier and chairman of the supervisory board of the non-profit organization that cooperates closely with the Technical University of Munich.

    This also includes experts from technology and science. Numerous faculties of the Technical University of Munich, the Ludwig Maximilians University and the Munich University of Applied Sciences are in the immediate vicinity. Established companies such as BMW, Siemens, SAP and Infineon have access as well as financial investors, especially venture capitalists for start-ups in the early stages (venture capital).

    For Susanne Klatten, interdisciplinary cooperation should be lived there.

    "City, research, business and citizens are united," she said on Monday.

    “The architecture of the building deliberately radiates transparency.

    We invite all Munich residents to visit us;

    Have a drink in the café, take a look at the workshops. ”Prototypes are being built in the middle of the city.

    "Livable, sustainable cities need concepts in which the citizens can participate."

    For the first time, with “Smart City”, the start-up center has concentrated on a key issue in funding and interdisciplinary cooperation.

    UnternehmerTUM assumed the construction costs of 30 million euros, and the state capital made the property available.