CITYMAKERS

Learn more about the CITYMAKERS Accelerator project “New Schrebergarten”, part of the Eco Land Club, establishing the first “Schrebergärten” in China.

Learn more about “City Alley Walks”, an initiative organising heritage walks in Wuhan fostering a better understanding of Culture & Identity of the city.

Twin towns Duisburg and Wuhan: Commonalities of different cities? Similar cities with differences? Exploring traces of history and the connections to China in the former steel city. A film by Sonja Broy and Silvan Hagenbrock.

The CITYMAKERS China-Europe program – as of Sept 2020 – has evolved from a project consisting of two initiating partners to a network constellation of diverse actors on various levels with several sub-projects. Be inspired by the long list knowledgeable, prestigious, creative, dedicated, committed, wise, diverse, trusting, kind and unique partners we had the pleasure to work with!

Using mapping as a methodology, this analysis by Katja Hellkötter and Magali Menant looks at the bigger picture of cooperation on cities and urbanisation cooperation and identifies blind spots for action. The article is part of the CITYMAKERS Recommendations 2016.

The incubator project „Future of Living“ was one of three projects that received support from the CITYMAKERS China – Germany program during its second year of funding. We want to know: What happened since then, how did the project continue? On behalf of the team, Iris Belle answered the questions.

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.

In 2002, architect and Feng Shui consultant Howard Choy and his wife Gyda Anders, also an architect, opened their office arqitektur in Weißensee, Berlin. In this interview, Howard Choy explains his understanding of Feng Shui and his attachment to the district Weißensee.

Between September 1–18, 2020, 45 people from the CITYMAKERS community responded to the invitation to form a virtual circle, a chain of CITYMAKERS voices. What a kaleidoscope of competences on the virtual stage, ranging from high-profile academics to hands-on urban farmers, from art curators and activists to municipal intrapreneurs!

A studio in “Iowa”, an artist compound in the Caochangdi Village in Beijing, was forcibly demolished. Since then, the life has entered a state of uncertainty. A film by Zhang Ruo.

A cinematic learning journey through the city of Berlin, investigating places and people active in the field of ‚Learning Cities‘. A film by Kika Yang and Randolfe Camarotto.

The Virtual Walk “Walking the Chinese Countryside” explores the Sichuanese countryside, while the protagonist interacts with locals and foreigners, reflecting on not just structural, but also lifestyle differences between urban and rural spaces.

Roman Serdar Mendle is a sustainability scientist and China expert who is the Smart Cities Program Manager at ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability. His team enables the 1,500 cities in the ICLEI network to navigate the smart cities space by applying a critical sustainability lens, creating collaboration and knowledge exchange opportunities for cities across the globe.

XU Tiantian is the founding principal of DnA_Design and Architecture. The award-winning architect has engaged extensively with rural revitalization processes in Songyang.

Since 2016, Kelai Diebel has been leading the research project UPFARMING to investigate building integrated agriculture design, policy, construction, maintenance, and economics. Here, Kelai explains more about her project.

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.

The “Pop-Up Teahouse Berlin” was a special summer 2021 place making project created and hosted at C*SPACE Berlin. On six Saturdays between July and October the charming yard of the former furniture factory in the neighbourhood of Weissensee was transformed into an outdoor teahouse, that was not only a place for casual tea hangouts, informal transcultural dialogues and talks, but also a platform for design workshops as well for artistic performances at night. Find here a photo documentation and some videos…

In this podcast, Kika Yang talks to Erik Ackner, Country Manager at Startup Grind and former organiser of Startup Grind in Chengdu, about the innovation ecosystem in China. This podcast is part of the series recorded against the background of the CITYMAKERS Social Entrepreneurship Competence Lab.

URBANI[XX] is a German-Chinese alumni network on the topic of urbanization and urban development. Aiming to find new solutions to current issues in urban development URBANI[XX] brings together German and Chinese alumni in the field. The network is coordinated by the China- Center of the Technical University of Berlin and organizes regular networking events like the China-Lunch.

Is Berlin a „green” city? What projects, places and people are contributing to a sustainable future for the German capital? In the search for answers to these questions, filmmakers Kika Yang and Randolfe Camarotto,  set-out to produce a video walk. The project was a cooperation between CITYMAKERS and the Sino-German Urbanisation Partnership implemented by the GIZ.