Technologies for the city of tomorrow – Morgenstadt

Technologies for the city of tomorrow – Morgenstadt

Press Release Oct 19, 2011

A city that obtains its power from renewable resources, where electric cars move quietly along the streets and which emits almost no carbon dioxide – German federal minister Mrs. Schavan and the president of Fraunhofer, Hans-Jörg Bullinger, shone a spotlight on the scenario of a sustainable city of the future in the vision of “Morgenstadt“. At the UrbanTec Trade Fair in Cologne from October 24 -26, 2011 in Hall 7, Booth A029. Fraunhofer researchers are demonstrating which of the technologies shown can already be implemented today.

It has become quieter on the streets of Morgenstadt: electric cars are now the masters of the road. And quite a bit has changed where housing is concerned: ecological rent guidelines provide landlords with an incentive to restore their houses with energy efficiency in mind. Local heating supply with combined heating and power, as well as solar energy, are systematically expanding into large areas of the city, and Morgenstadt managed to occupy first place in the category of major cities in the federal solar league. Old houses have been completely renovated where energy is concerned – even in the deepest winter they only need little heating to be comfortably warm. Last, but not least, new safety and security concepts ensure a resilient infrastructure such as railway stations. Plazas and city centers afford a high quality of life and comfort. And washing machines and dish washers run predominantly when electricity is most affordable. In their publication “Morgenstadt – An answer to climate change“, German federal minister Annette Schavan and the president of Fraunhofer, Hans-Jörg Bullinger, supported by nineteen researchers from business, science and politics, describe this vision for the high-tech strategy of the German federal government.

“Morgenstadt“ is one of the lighthouse projects adopted by Fraunhofer in the course of the high-tech strategy of the German federal government: “The sustainable restructuring of our cities creates new challenges in the areas of power supply, water supply, infrastructure, waste removal and mobility“, says Bullinger. “Despite the varying speeds of innovation in terms of information and communication technologies and supply networks, new solutions must be found and the existing substance must be taken into consideration for the long term“. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Dieter Spath, Director of the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO in Stuttgart is also convinced by the project: “The opportunities afforded these days in the areas of renewable energies, electro mobility, urban production or mobile information and communication technologies are of immense importance for the cities of the future in their function as central living areas for our society. We must research all city-relevant technological fields in an integrated and systematic manner in order to identify the synergies and interrelationships of both today and tomorrow and to make them available for the vision of a sustainable and positive urbanity.

Just how long is the path to this vision of the future? What about the technologies that have been described? Fraunhofer researchers show some of the research results at the UrbanTec Trade Fair in Cologne from October 24 - 26, 2011. In Hall 7, Booth A029 they are presenting new demonstrators and developments that could be part of Morgenstadt.

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