weCARElab @ FUTUROMUNDO

If urbanization continues to increase worldwide and cities play a decisive role in the climate transformation, business models and industries will have to evolve accordingly: Away from individual products or services towards new urban solutions in the life cycle.

FUTURO-MUNDO Foresight

Future Urban Economies Forum @ Mozartsaal, Liederhalle, Stuttgart, Germany, 10.00 -16.30, July 3, 2025

If urbanization continues to increase worldwide and cities play a decisive role in the climate transformation, business models and industries will have to evolve accordingly: Away from individual products or services towards new urban solutions in the life cycle.

This will create new markets at the interface between high-tech and low-tech, while at the same time requiring bold future scenarios and concepts for construction, mobility, energy, communication, entertainment and security in these future urban economies.

Join a journey into the visions and potentials of future-oriented business models in energy, mobility and trade that will make cities smarter and more sustainable.
Find out how economic success and social benefits can go hand in hand.

Program

Session 1
The International Stage. Next Urban Economies

 

10:00 Introduction
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Vanessa Borkmann, Director Urban Systems Engineering, Fraunhofer IAO, Stuttgart, Germany

10:10 Futurology and innovation for transformation in urban areas.
Klaus Burmeister, Future Researcher, Director, foresightlab, Berlin, Germany

10:30 Foresight – Future Readiness with strategic roadmapping: Introduction to the session.
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Vanessa Borkmann

11:00 Future Living – Urban Ecosystems Development in Uruguay.
Eduardo Battista, Founder & CEO, +Colonia, Argentina/Uruguay.

11:30 Future Cities in the Middle East & Asia – Business Potential for German Companies.
Dr.-Ing. Alexander Rieck, Director and Partner LAVA Laboratory of Visionary Architecture

12:00 Caring Future Lab – Healthy City Innovation in Hybrid Prevention and Care.
Prof. Elizabeth Sikiaridi & Prof. Frans Vogelaar, Hybrid Space Lab, Berlin, Germany

 

Prof. Elizabeth Sikiaridi
What does an integral approach look like that brings together the physical and digital dimensions of care and provides impetus for innovative solutions in the fields of care and prevention? How can we combine the best of technological innovations and digital and hybrid solutions with the socio-cultural dimensions of prevention and care? Together we are developing the healthy city – a 15-minute city with 5-minute communities committed to the One Health concept.
Prof. Elizabeth Sikiaridi contributes internationally to positive developments in society and the environment with the design lab and think tank for cultural innovation “Hybrid Space Lab”. After studying in Paris and at TU Darmstadt (graduating with distinction), she gained experience at Behnisch & Partner in Stuttgart. She has been a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen since 1997 and currently heads the Master’s program “Sustainable Landscape Design and Development” at the TH OWL.

Prof. Frans Vogelaar has been a pioneer in the development of hybrid space, the fusion of physical space and digital networks, since the 1980s. In 1998, he founded the world’s first “Hybrid Space” chair at the Academy of Media Arts Cologne. With Hybrid Space Lab, Frans Vogelaar works very broadly internationally, contributing to innovation for governments, cultural institutions, professional organizations and global companies. He develops projects for combined physical and digital, urban-architectural and media spaces that integrate the biological and technological dimensions.
Prof. Frans Vogelaar studied at the Design Academy in Eindhoven (diploma with distinction) and the Architectural Association School of Architecture (AA) in London and worked at Studio Alchimia/Alessandro Mendini in Milan and at the Office for Metropolitan Architecture/Rem Koolhaas.

 

12.30-13.00 Panel The “Future Positive” Experiment – True Progress in Urban Systems
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Vanessa Borkmann, Klaus Burmeister, Eduardo Battista, Prof. Elizabeth Sikiaridi & Prof. Frans Vogelaar

Session 2
New Urban Business and Opportunities

 

13:20 Introduction
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Vanessa Borkmann, Director Urban Systems Engineering, Fraunhofer IAO, Stuttgart, Germany

13:30 Synthetic Realities – Visualisierung und Spekulation kritisch urbaner Räume mit künstlich intelligenten Systemen.
Marc Engenhart, Engenhart Design Studio, Germany

14:00 Uhr Metaverse-enhanced Smart Spaces: Building Resilient and Sustainable Urban and Industrial Futures
Joe Appleton, President Metaverse-Enhanced Spaces Alliance (MESA), Smart Cities Director, BizzTech, Austin, USA

14:30 Uhr Heilbronn als Role Model für Urban Business Development – ein Fokus auf den IPAI
Tim Schmitt, Head of Corporate Real Estate, IPAI, Germany

Session 3
Next Business Today

 

15:00 Introduction
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Vanessa Borkmann

15:05 Cities in the digital transformation: avatars as the future of urban communication
Maximilian Schmierer, CEO, B.Rex, Germany

15:20 How we are bringing the future of agriculture to the city. Sustainability meets taste.
Jedrzej Cichocki, Director Kleinblatt, Stuttgart, Germany

15:35 The metropolis of the future through the eyes of children
Dominik Bär, Director Kinderfreundliche Kommunen e.V., Germany
Bernhard Hane, Initiator World Child Forum, Davos, Director Mätsch, Studio for Interaction, Germany

Session 4
Outlook: New Challenges.

 

15:45 Future Everything – Innovation as Strategy
Raphael Gielgen, Vitra GmbH, Trendscout, Future of Work, Germany

16:25 Farewell and outlook for the evening program
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Vanessa Borkmann