Building and living of the future, November 11, 2020

Building and living of the future, November 11, 2020
The FUTURE on November 11, 2020 on the topic “Building and Living of the Future” was a complete success. The interest was great. Prof. Sahin Albayrak (founder and director of the DAI-Labor, board member of Connected Living e.V.) is the initiator of this discussion group. Together with Prof. Heinrich Arnold (Member of the Board Connected Living e.V.) they addressed the current situation in the construction and housing industry in times of pandemic. Which changes could be observed? What basic conditions must the federal government create in the future in order not to repeat problems like in this pandemic? How does the need for digitization make itself felt? Questions like these and others were asked and disclosed. There was a discussion about the changes that could be observed in times of pandemic and how digitization has found its way into the construction industry.

A panel of experts including Anne Katrin Bohle (State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Homeland Affairs), Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner (Lord Mayor of Heidelberg), Henrik Thomsen (Chief Development Officer German Housing), Markus Weigold (Partner at Drees & Sommer Berlin) discussed how the housing of the future should be designed, how commercial real estate will change and how digitization will be incorporated into processes.

State Secretary Bohle emphasized that people’s living situations are very different and it is the task of politics to keep everyone’s interests in mind. The Lord Mayor of Heidelberg, Prof. Dr. Eckart Würzner, a pioneer in the field of digitization, pointed out that many processes at the building authority had already been digitized and that they therefore had no problems with procedures even in times of pandemic. The city of Heidelberg is striving to become not just a tourist city but a science city and they have been active in the field of digitization for years, the Lord Mayor emphasized. Mr. Würzner explained that it is important to pursue an overall strategy and that it cannot be implemented overnight. The city of Heidelberg began climate-neutral construction in neighborhoods 10 years ago. This was only possible because they were financially able to do so. Henrik Thomsen from Deutsche Wohnen focused on the residents and said it was important to know what was happening at home and how the insecurity would affect people. Mr. Thomsen also made it clear that there was a positive and strong leap in digitization in times of pandemic, which will certainly be maintained afterwards.

The FUTURE (entire livestream): “Living and Building of the Future”, November 11, 2020