“People-Centred Smart Cities” in the focus of World Cities Day 2025
The motto of the World Cities Day on October 31 2025 is “People-Centred Smart Cities”. It aims to highlight the potential of data-supported decision-making, technologies and artificial intelligence for urban life. The focus is on smart city initiatives that put people at the centre to foster inclusion and accessibility.
The USLL is taking World Cities Day as an opportunity to reflect on “People-Centred Smart Cities” and to position our work in this context. How can transdisciplinary research and Urban Labs contribute to making cities more “people-centered”? And what role do “smart” approaches play in this regard?
The background to this year's motto
The world is characterized by rapid urban and digital developments. The majority of the world’s population lives in cities and technological progress is changing all aspects of human life (UN-Habitat, 2025). This year’s theme of the World Cities Day addresses the potential of digital technologies and smart city strategies for the design, planning, management and governance of cities to tackle major urban challenges and promote sustainable development (United Nations, 2025) . However, technological progress and smart city strategies also run the risk of generating negative environmental impact as well as failing to recognize the needs of urban inhabitants.
The objectives of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) emphasize the importance of participatory processes for democratic governance and sustainable smart cities. People-centred smart city projects should focus on the perspectives, experiences and needs of a range of stakeholders from civil society to community organizations (UN-Habitat, 2021). SDG 11 aims to make settlements “inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable” and to improve participatory, integrated and sustainable planning (UN-Habitat, 2021).
Accordingly, sustainable urban development requires putting people at the center and combining technical innovation with social inclusion and participation in order to design smart city strategies that are sustainable, inclusive and focused on the common good.
To this end, UN-Habitat developed recommendations in its “World Smart Cities Outlook 2024” for integrated solutions to promote people-centered smart city strategies. The report emphasizes the importance of strengthening participation and collaboration in the context of smart city strategies (UN Habitat, 2024).
Karen Laßmann, Head of Smart City and Data Management at the Berlin Senate Chancellery and member of the expert group for the creation of guidelines for people-centered smart cities, also emphasized in an interview: “The people-centered smart city must be designed with the people who live in it.” This means involving a range of stakeholders, such as local civil society organizations and the business community, into the design and implementation of smart city strategies (Smart City Dialog, n.d.).
Photos: K. Krellenberg, 2025
Urban Labs and transdisciplinary research as contributions to people-centred smart cities
World Cities Day addresses the fact that cities are essentially living environments for people and that smart city strategies should therefore place people at the heart of technological development.
Transdisciplinary research approaches and Urban Labs offer the opportunity to co-produce solutions to urban challenges with stakeholders from research, city administration, the private sector, NGOs and civil society. In these processes, knowledge is generated jointly and different perspectives on sustainable urban development are discussed and integrated. Horizontal collaboration and mutual learning are key principles. Transdisciplinary research and Urban Labs therefore also offer important insights for shaping smart city strategies in a participatory, people-centered and sustainable way.
Our Urban Sustainability Living Lab (USLL) understands sustainable urban development as a joint and inclusive process with local stakeholders. Urban Labs and transdisciplinary research offer many opportunities to put people at the center of urban development processes and to use digital technologies sensibly and effectively. The focus should be on new forms of participation, cooperation and knowledge co-production. At the same time, the experimental character of Urban Labs also offers the opportunity to critically discuss smart city strategies and jointly develop alternatives to dominant, technocratic narratives.
Perspectives from research on people-centered smart cities
Ahead of World Cities Day 2025, we asked colleagues from different disciplines to share their perspectives on “people-centred smart cities” and the role of transdisciplinary research. Here are there statements:
Florian Koch emphasizes in his research on sustainable smart cities the connections between technical and social innovation. HTW Berlin set up a real-world laboratory to experiment with smart and sustainable solutions, in which co-creative and transdisciplinary collaborations between actors from business, politics, administration, science and society are promoted (HTW Berlin, n.d.). What constitutes a people-centered smart city strategy for Florian Koch?
“Smart city strategies are people-centered if residents and other urban stakeholders are involved in the creation process in a participatory manner; hence, if the strategy´s implementation measures are geared towards addressing problems of the local context. The aim is not to design a perfect strategy that makes everyone equally happy, but – in the sense of Richard Sennett’s Open City – to allow contradictions, friction and non-linearity, i.e,. a human-centered perspective.” (Florian Koch, 2025, translated from German)
Jan Bumberger and Thomas Trabert are researching, among other things, AI-based environmental mobility management approaches as part of the AIAMO (Artficial Intelligence And Mobility) project. They aim to make mobility more efficient, less resource-intense, safe and needs-based (AIAMO, n.d.).
In terms of people-centred smart city strategies, they position themselves as follows:
“Smart city strategies focus on the needs, values and realities of citizens’ lives. This requires co-creation approaches that strengthen active participation and trust of citizens in smart technologies. Ecosystemic thinking strengthens the close cooperation between administration, business, science and civil society in order to promote sustainable and holistic solutions. Equally crucial are data protection and transparent, innovative digital services that strengthen networking, proximity and inclusion in urban development.” (Jan Bumberger and Thomas Trabert, 2025, translated from German)
In their research, Jan Bumberger and Thomas Trabert are already focusing on a people-centered approach:
“People-centered approaches play a central role in our research to ensure that technological and data-based solutions are always aligned with the needs of the city and its citizens. Through iterative workshops and face-to-face meetings, tailor-made measures are developed – in our case especially in the field of environmentally sensitive mobility management – to contribute to achieving climate and public health goals. Further research needs to raise awareness and acceptance of such approaches among the entire urban population as well as to investigate questions of scalability to other cities. Specifically, we are looking at the extent to which Urban Digital Twins can serve as strategic tools for integrated, participatory and data-sovereign urban development beyond purely technical simulations.” (Jan Bumberger and Thomas Trabert, 2025, translated from German)
“For me, a truly people-centred smart city is one that treats technology as a tool, not a goal. It is about improving everyday life, supporting inclusion, and making cities more responsive to residents rather than to data or corporate agendas. In that case, cities need transparent and ethical data governance, genuine opportunities for participation, and actions to reduce digital inequality.” (Harutyun Vermishyan, 2025)
“In my research, I take a rather critical stance toward the ‘smart cities’ concept, which sometimes feels idealised or even artificial, very focused on systems, sensors, and efficiency, and not enough on real urban experiences. I also view the fully community-driven participatory approach with some caution: while community voice is essential, research and analysis must also play a critical role in balancing different perspectives. For me, smartness lies in finding that balance trough combining community insights with thoughtful, evidence-based planning.” (Harutyun Vermishyan, 2025)
In the current Special Issue of the journal Urban Planning – edited by Florian Koch, Kerstin Krellenberg, Sarah Beyer and Julia Wesely – Ilaria Beretta and Caterina Bracchi deal in an article with the developments of smart city discourses vis-à-vis discourses on sustainable and climate-neutral cities. With this special issue, we want to encourage critical reflection on approaches such as “people-centered smart cities” not only on World Cities Day, but also in the medium and long term in the Sustainable Development Goals up to 2030 and beyond.
AIAMO – Artificial Intelligence And Mobility https://aiamo.de/de
Beretta, I.; Bracchi, C. (2025): Is Climate-Neutral the New Smart and Sustainable City? A review Towards Urban Climate Neutrality. In: Koch, F.; Beyer, S.; Krellenberg, K.; Wesely, J.: Future Urban Sustainability: Lessons Learnt From the SDGs and Perspectives for a Post-2030 Agenda. Urban Planning, Vol 10 (2025)
Sustainable Smart Cities https://sustainable-smart-cities.htw-berlin.de/
Trabert, T., Brockfeld, E., Sohr, A., Krellenberg, K., Bei, X., Dalaff, C., Houben, T., Bumberger, J. (2025), (under review): Urban Digital Twin for Environmentally Sensitive Mobility Planning: Conceptual Framework and Application in pilot region Leipzig. International Journal of Applied Earth Observation and Geoinformation.
TSD Lab https://www.ysu.am/en/grants/72577
UN Habitat (2025): International guidelines on people-centered smart cities https://unhabitat.org/international-guidelines-on-people-centred-smart-cities
United Nations: World Cities Day October 31 https://www.un.org/en/observances/cities-day
