Berlin, Germany

Berlin is the perfect working progress for the urban life that we want or wish to live in the 21st century. With an efficient infrastructure with an information network, sustainable mobility, creativity and its combination of high productivity with high quality life.

Our world is changing at a fast rate and Berlin has established itself as a leader in its global innovation. According to the Sustainable Cities Index, Berlin is the 6th most sustainable city in the world not forgetting it is 1st in the buildings category and 3rd in the water management according to the European Green City Index.

Beyond the reports Berlin is known for smart energy technology. Nearly half of the city is green space. It is the leader in the field of energy technology. The city and its surroundings have the highest density of environmental technology companies, research institutions and clean technology workers.

Berlin’s energy technology industry includes the following:

Ø Energy grids and storage

Ø Turbomachinergy and power plant engineering

Ø Solar energy

Ø Bioenergy

Ø Wind energy

Berlin has the largest district heating grid in Western Europe, a more than 1,6km long pipe system delivers heat to the consumers that is generated in a resource saving way. 280 combined heat and power plants at numerous locations are reliable and eco-friendly generators of heat and power. Upcoming projects include two major power projects. The biggest solar energy project in the world and a politically challenging gas pipeline.

Author: Zinhle Tshabalala

Editor: Lamangwe Vezi

References:

Karlgaard, R. (2015) Smart-City Champions [Online] Forbes. Available from: http://www.forbes.com/sites/richkarlgaard/2015/05/06/smart-city-champions/2/ [Accessed 04th April 2015]

Hatch, D. (2013) Singapore Strives to Become 'The Smartest City' [Online] Governing. Available from: http://www.governing.com/topics/economic-dev/gov-singapore-smartest-city.html [Accessed 05th April 2015]

Sanserverino, ER., Sanserverino, RR., Vaccaro, V., Zizzo, G. (2014) Smart Rules For Smart Cities [Online] Springer International Publications. Available from: https://books.google.co.za/books?id=hM0lBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA25&dq=smart+city,+transport+singapore+article&hl=en&sa=X&ei=mfpSVZz-Jsvd7Qav7oMo&ved=0CEEQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=smart%20city%2C%20transport%20singapore%20article&f=false [Accessed 29th April 2015]