District Innovation Ecosystems

What technologies, business models and innovative solutions will the urban district of tomorrow need?
Our cities are facing complex challenges: New and growing demands on urban life and mobility must be reconciled with increasing land and resource scarcity, as well as combating climate change. To create an environment in which we can work and live in a future-oriented way, the Fraunhofer IAO in Munich is developing holistic and flexible solutions that address these pressing issues. The district level offers an optimal space for testing innovative concepts to increase innovative strength, optimized resource use, resilience, economic efficiency and social inclusion. As a result, scalable solutions can be developed that can make urban spaces more attractive, sustainable and efficient in the future. The PionierHUB in the Werksviertel-Mitte is in line with this principle and is used as a research and pilot environment for future-oriented technologies and fields of research.

How can districts adapt in response to future needs and changes?
For districts to be able to react to changes in the areas of housing, work and mobility in a timely manner, interdisciplinary approaches and close cooperation between various regional and local actors such as municipalities, industry and politics are required. Our team acts as an intermediary between research and practice and promotes a collaborative approach among stakeholders through innovative and creative formats such as workshops, exhibitions and events. We also offer detailed requirement and feasibility analyses as well as comprehensive sustainability assessments to derive individually aligned measures and to support their practical implementation.
Through proactive action, local potential can be unlocked, regulatory and social hurdles can be overcome, and a viable district development can be achieved in the long term.

Let's turn the challenges of today into opportunities for tomorrow and work together to make districts future-proof. 

Overview of services:

• Demand analysis, application of scenario techniques
• Development of conceptual solutions, action plans and scaling concepts
• Technology, economic viability  & sustainability assessments
• Piloting and transferring innovations