UrbanistAI – Our AI tool for visionary urban design
With experience and method towards better participation
The Kiezlabor offers a wide range of opportunities for participation. Depending on the location, we bring along different elements of our equipment.
Here you can find out what these are – and how we can design formats and locations together.
Our Formats
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Workshop
Co-develop and implement ideas together – from planter bags to heat protection concepts. Residents actively shape their neighborhood.
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Discussion
We bring residents, politics, and administration into conversation to tackle challenges together.
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Neighborhood Meet-up
A local gathering place that strengthens community through encounters and exchange.
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Meet & Greet
An interactive way to get to know our work – embedded in the everyday life of the neighborhood.
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Walkshops
We offer guided tours where residents can rediscover their own neighborhood – often together with local partners.
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Makerspace
Here, simple prototypes can be built with LEGO, sensors, or even just paper and pen – making ideas tangible and hands-on.
Exhibits and Tools
How might that look in practice?
Mobile Citizens’ Office
A highlight of our program is the mobile training citizens’ office: the citizens’ office comes directly to the Kiezlabor to offer services such as applying for an ID card or registering a change of address – no appointment needed, just bring the required documents. At the same time, residents have the chance to engage in dialogue and share feedback. This creates a straightforward, local connection between administration and civil society.
Neighborhood Visions with AI
With the AI tool City Visions, creative ideas for streets, squares, and parks can be visualized in a playful way. In a joint workshop with school classes, for example, we explored what changes students would like to see in their surroundings. The resulting visions serve as inspiration and can be shared with local stakeholders.
Coffee, Cake & Kiezlabor with the Senior Network
Together with the Senior Network Berlin, we show seniors how to use tablets to explore the internet. We also visit the online platform of the same name, which lists leisure activities, events, and places specifically for older people. In addition to the Senior Network staff, the team from Care 4.0 is also on site to demonstrate how technology can support everyday life – with various smart home applications available to try out directly.
Maker Space – Our Hands-on Format!
We bring CityLAB’s Maker Space into the Kiezlabor: whether it’s environmental sensors, LED blinkers for better visibility in the neighborhood, or automatic watering systems for windowsills – with our well-equipped hardware kit, we can respond directly to local needs and challenges.
From poor air quality to noise pollution or drought – the applications developed in our workshops empower residents to take action themselves. In the spirit of citizen science, we want to enable people to design their own solutions and tools with open hardware. That’s how city-making works from the bottom up!
Analog Mapping for Citizen Participation
Creative participation needs the right tools – whether sticky notes, clay, drawings, or photos, we use analog methods to make ideas tangible. During the participation process at Alice-Salomon-Platz in Hellersdorf, we visualized the square on a large rolled-out construction tarp to make ideas spatially experienceable. The suggestions collected were then fed directly into the official planning process.
Contact
Julian Zefferer & Henriette Närger
Co-Projectlead
Tel.: 030 95 99 96 410
E-mail: hallo@kiezlabor.de