Track: Infrastructure & Building

Today, as cities face their challenges, Digital Twins & AI are everywhere. Digital Twins deliver better prescriptions and greater efficiency and sustainability. AI brings data-driven decisions and uncovers hidden patterns, but also raises challenges in ethics, bias, and transparency. How can we ethically and sustainably combine Digital Twins & AI to maximize their synergies?

The talk presents new tools from Digital City Science @ HafenCity University in support of resilience-oriented urban planning. Federating established approaches in resilience research, plus adding new dimensions like “cities under military conflict”, the presented instruments enable the assessment of urban vulnerability, robustness, and preparedness for disaster.

Fast-paced and inspiring, this session brings together universities and research centers to the stage. Each organization gives a 10 minute presentation about their cutting-edge projects, revealing emerging discoveries, and exploring how their work is shaping the future of smart cities.

AccesS seeks to create barrier-free environments and optimise energy use in smart buildings and cities, setting new standards for accessibility and sustainability. REN+HOMES aims to develop a universal method for positive energy homes and districts, based on 23 solutions. The workshop shows how adopting digital tools can advance energy conservation and support cities in transitioning to climate neutrality, accessibility, and inclusion.

How can cities retrofit aging buildings and infrastructure to boost energy efficiency and sustainability while preserving cultural heritage? By integrating renewable technologies and careful refurbishing, urban areas can evolve sustainably without losing their identity. Discover how this balance transforms legacy structures into leading-edge, future-ready assets.

The Three Chimneys represent an icon of Catalonia’s industrial heritage that we aim to preserve and enhance through our proposal for the new Catalunya Media City. The project ultimately engages with the site’s social memory, transforming an infrastructure that once had a significant environmental and social impact into one that fosters the future of media collaboration. In doing so, it takes advantage of the existing structure and its embedded energy to envision new possible futures.

What are the key strategies for retrofitting existing buildings and infrastructure for energy efficiency, sustainability, and technological advancement? How can cities preserve cultural heritage within this framework?

Innovation in large-scale infrastructures is key to creating safer, more sustainable, and efficient urban facilities—from hospitals to community centers. By leveraging advanced technologies and smart design, cities can build resilience and better serve evolving needs. How can these innovations ensure infrastructures adapt to the future of urban living?

Urban resilience and accessibility are increasingly interconnected in creating cities where people thrive. Thoughtful urban design can produce spaces that are both adaptable to change and welcoming to all, where aesthetics and functionality come together to enhance community wellbeing. This session will explore how the design and visual quality of urban spaces influence resilience, inclusivity, accessibility, and the overall quality of everyday life.

How can innovation in large-scale infrastructures ensure adaptability to evolving urban needs? What cutting-edge technologies and design strategies can enhance the safety, sustainability, and efficiency of major city infrastructures?

Today, as cities face their challenges, Digital Twins & AI are everywhere. Digital Twins deliver better prescriptions and greater efficiency and sustainability. AI brings data-driven decisions and uncovers hidden patterns, but also raises challenges in ethics, bias, and transparency. How can we ethically and sustainably combine Digital Twins & AI to maximize their synergies?

Through simulation technologies and digital twins, urban systems gain real-time insights that enhance decision-making and optimize infrastructure and services. This session explores how this approach enables cities to predict challenges, improve efficiency, and build smarter, more responsive urban environments for the future.

Three cities – one vision: Through Connected Urban Twins, Hamburg, Munich, and Leipzig are developing digital twins to shape urban transformation in a data-driven, transparent, and participatory way. This presentation will highlight the most important results of the final project year and provide a forward-looking perspective on how digital twins can be embedded into municipal structures and continuously developed – with the goal of using data strategically to support the socio-ecological transformation of urban spaces.

This keynote delivers how AI is reshaping smart cities through innovation in mobility, sustainability, and citizen experience, highlighting S. Korea's leadership in redefining urban futures and inspiring inclusive, technology-driven growth for the next generation of global cities.

How do simulation technologies improve decision-making and urban system efficiency through digital modeling? How can digital twins optimize city infrastructure and services?

Discover Metabuilding, the pan-European initiative accelerating innovation in the construction sector. This session unveils a powerful ecosystem designed to connect SMEs, researchers, and industry leaders. We will explore our Metabuilding Labs Open Innovation Test Bed (OITB), the metabuilding.com digital platform, and the new business opportunities it creates, inviting you to join us in shaping the future of building.