Meet Yimeng Wu, communication designer and founder of Studio Wu 無, who is the artistic soul behind CITYMAKERS’ visual identity. Yimeng Wu likes to discover the different historical and social layers of a city through artistic discovery. She strongly believes in the importance of making our cities more green and more resilient with regard to climate change.
Get to know Edna Peza-Ramirez, who is specialized in the creation of safe public spaces through bottom-up solutions and human-scale approaches. For her, city making is defined by the degree in which cities tend to the safety of their most vulnerable users.
Meet Dr. Eva Sternfeld, who has observed the tremendous transformation of Chinese cities for over 40 years, since spending her first study trip in China in 1979. She thinks that not just city planners and architects decide the fate of a city, but that the socio-economic development, the cultural and political impact as well as the environmental factors all play their role in creating livable cities. Bringing them together is the real challenge.
Meet Sonja Broy, who is working at the intersection between urban architecture, city development, science, art, culture and journalism. Being a city maker for her means to interact and change arguments, visions and inspirations with all kinds of different people – and to shape the future of living areas and communities.
Meet Marlene Welzel, social entrepreneur and founder of the Vienna-based housing platform Wohnbuddy. For her, city making is about being innovative, about creating and providing solutions to the challenges you are identifying – and also about communicating, getting in touch with people from different organizations and gaining new insights.
Meet Ping Kong, who is a trained urban planner with international working experience in the field of UNESCO World Heritage. She believes in city making as a participatory approach that serves as a knowledge reservoir to nurture innovation and collaboration towards a better living environment.
Get to know Noémie Koenig, who developed her interest in city making throughout her bachelor’s in social science, during which she worked in several city planning projects. She believes that a decentralised global network like CITYMAKERS enables intercultural learning and building processes as well as gaining a better understanding for the differences and similarities between China and Europe.
Get to know Kika Yang, who supports CITYMAKERS as a curator and editor, making use of a variety of formats such as offline exhibitions, videos and podcasts. Kika Yang believes that because democracy is being reshaped due to the information revolution, we can now – more than ever before – take direct action into shaping the places we like to live in.
Let us introduce Maja Linnemann, who is supporting our CITYMAKERS platform as an author and editor. She is convinced of the value of an edible, walkable city in order to create liveable spaces.
Get to know Oliver May-Beckmann, who supports CITYMAKERS as a project partner by contributing his extensive expertise on social entrepreneurship. City making for him means actively shaping the ecosystem we are living in and improving the daily life of ourself, our peers and the community.
Meet Miriam Theobald, co-founder of DŌNGXii, who supports CITYMAKERS with the design of virtual touch points. Miriam believes that everyone is an actor who actively or passively shapes the DNA of a space when it becomes a place.
Get to know Sebastian Schlecht, who is supporting our CITYMAKERS platform as the regional representative of CITYMAKERS- Ruhr. He strongly believes in the power of connecting people and natural solutions to make our cities more resilient, just and future-proof to mitigate the strong impact of climate change.
Meet Annette Erpenstein, who is supporting CITYMAKERS with her broad expertise on all things urban. She believes that taking an active role in the co-creation of our cities – and not leaving it to the developers and investors – is the foundation of city making.
Get to know Zhen Zhang, who is a researcher in architecture/building culture and contributes to CITYMAKERS as freelance editor. Her understanding of city making includes a constant focus on specific local conditions whilst keeping in mind bigger contexts.
Meet Jana Brokate, who is supporting our CITYMAKERS platform as digital content manager. She strongly believes in a people-centric and inclusive approach as a foundation for creating liveable cities.
Meet Jan Siefke, who is supporting our CITYMAKERS platform as photographer and host of C*SPACE. City making for him means to question the visible environment – checking the heartbeat of your surrounding, feeling the space – and if possible act on it in your personal style, with your personal skills.
Get to know Silvan Hagenbrock, who has been part of our CITYMAKERS core team since 2016 and contributes his creative energy as filmmaker and editor on urban issues. For him, CITYMAKERS is a (virtual) sphere where the supposedly “other” becomes a little more familiar.
Knut Wimberger ist Partner von Green Steps in Shanghai. Die auf Umweltbildung für Kinder und Jugendliche, Schulen und Firmen fokussierte Organisation vermittelt einen zukunftsfähigen Umgang mit den Ökosystemen Shanghais. Im Gespräch mit Silvan Hagenbrock warnt Knut Wimberger: Die Biodiversität der Shanghaier Wetlands könnte in den nächsten fünf Jahren bereits zerstört sein.
Alternative urbanism meets social entrepreneurship. China meets Europe. 30 CITYMAKERS from 16 cities – from Beijing and Berlin, Taipei and Vienna, Munich and Shanghai – all with powerful innovative ideas for future livable cities, came together for two and a half days at an almost magical place in the countryside south of Berlin: Drahnsdorf.
Im Rahmen des CITYMAKERS Weißensee-Mappings entdeckten wir die “Baufachfrauen”: An ihrem Sitz in der Lehderstraße in Berlin Weißensee bilden die sie in einer Werkstatt Tischlerinnen aus und betreuen von hier aus zahlreiche Projekte in ganz Berlin.