Citylab: “Smart City” in der Siemensstadt

Auch im Ausland ist das Interesse an dem neuen Siemens-Campus in Spandau groß. Im Magazin Citylab fordere ich erneut, dass das Projekt nur mit wirklicher Beteiligung der Siemensianer und Siemensstädter gelingen kann. Bisher macht Siemens nicht den Eindruck, die Wünsche der Anwohnerinnen und Anwohner aufnehmen zu wollen. Dabei hat zum Beispiel die in meinem Büro tagende Planungswerkstatt wirklich hervorragende Ideen gesammelt und in den Prozess eingebracht. Siemens wäre gut beraten, diese Ideen zu berücksichtigen. Siemensstadt 2.0 darf auf keinen Fall zu Verdrängung der umliegenden Bewohnerschaft, einem Anstieg privater Verkehrsformen und Überwachung führen.

Berlin’s Take on a High-Tech ‘Smart City’ Could Be Different

CATHRIN SCHAER, SEP 19, 2019

The German company Siemens is launching an ambitious adaptive reuse project to revitalize its historic corporate campus, with a modern data-collecting twist.

BERLIN—Right now, it’s hard to imagine what Siemensstadt will eventually look like. Surrounded by old brick factory buildings and shuttered offices, the area sits at the intersection of two large roads in a neglected northern outskirts of Berlin. Cars speed by faster than they should; every now and then, a solitary traveler emerges from the underground train station. Owned by the industrial giant that gave the suburb its name, Siemens, the 50-acre site doesn’t give off much of a sense of community.

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It’s early in the process, but some locals are not fully convinced that the company will live up to its promises. “Only time will tell whether Siemens really is interested in cooperating. Up until now, that’s not the impression we have had,” said Helin Evrim Sommer, a member of the federal parliament for Spandau and a spokesperson on urban development for the Left party. A group of concerned citizens established a planning workshop in March and it has been meeting regularly at her office since then. But so far, she points out, “there’s only been one public information evening organized by Siemens.”

If the company really wants to open up the site, they need to integrate into the community, not just expect the community to integrate with them, she stresses.

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