CityLAB Berlin

Under the motto "City in Change, Neighborhood in Focus," the Kiezlabor brings together citizens, administration, education, and science. Through workshops, local projects, and digital tools, Berliners can actively help shape their city. This creates a new form of collaboration between residents, politics, and initiatives, focusing on topics like urban greenery, climate protection, social integration, and sustainable living. The Kiezlabor is implemented by CityLAB Berlin as part of the "Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin" strategy.

CityLAB Berlin
Senatskanzlei Berlin

A collaboration with the Berlin Senate Chancellery

The public sector in Berlin faces a major challenge: by 2030, around 30% of employees will retire, intensifying the shortage of skilled labor. BärGPT is an AI assistant for the Berlin administration that supports routine tasks such as text editing, emails, and research. The prototype was developed in collaboration between the Senate Chancellery, CityLAB Berlin, and public administrative staff. Its goal is to ease daily workloads and make administrative processes more efficient and citizen-friendly.

CityLAB Berlin
Technologiestiftung Berlin
Senatsverwaltung für Arbeit, Soziales, Gleichstellung, Integration Vielfalt und Antidiskriminierung (SenASGIVA) 

A collaboration with Technologiestiftung Berlin | Senatsverwaltung für Arbeit, Soziales, Gleichstellung, Integration Vielfalt und Antidiskriminierung (SenASGIVA)

Did you know that Berlin offers over 400 free or discounted services for social benefit recipients? From museum visits and sports memberships to concerts—many people are unaware of them. Fairgnügen brings these discounts for culture, education, and leisure together in one place, making them easy to access. This allows over 700,000 Berliners to participate more easily in public life. The platform was developed in cooperation with the Senate Department SenASGIVA and funded by the Senate Chancellery.

CityLAB Berlin

Have you talked to a tree today? Treebot gives Berlin’s city trees a voice and makes urban nature tangible. Equipped with a microcomputer, environmental sensors, speakers, and a wireless microphone, the compact box can be attached to any tree. The sensors capture the tree’s surroundings, and AI transforms the data into words— creating interactive conversations between humans and trees. Treebot is a playful voice that encourages reflection on climate protection and nature in an entertaining way. Talk to me!

CityLAB Berlin

What sustainability goals is the Berlin Senate pursuing to reduce CO2 emissions? How is the teacher shortage affecting the city, and which initiatives support Berlin’s cultural sector? Written inquiries are an important democratic tool to track the status of public measures. Since Berlin’s administration often lacks a central knowledge management system, gathering information takes a lot of time. Our prototype Parla uses AI to make data more accessible—for citizens and for more efficient administration.

CityLAB Berlin

A collaboration with Amt für Bürgerdienste Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg | Ausbildungsbürgeramt 2.0

he most common reason for cancelled appointments at Berlin’s citizens’ offices is missing documents. The Document Check provides a simple and efficient way to prepare for administrative appointments. After answering a few questions, the tool generates an individual checklist of all required documents, for example when registering or changing the registration of an apartment. The prototype was developed in collaboration with the Friedrichshain‑Kreuzberg Citizens’ Office Training Department and is available in seven languages.

CityLAB Berlin

What happens behind the scenes at CityLAB Berlin? In our documentary portrait, we show how we actively shape the city of tomorrow. Using methods like service design and prototyping, we develop new approaches to urban challenges. One example is our Kiezlabor, which has been working with local residents since 2023 to create sustainable ideas in Berlin neighborhoods. A highlight is our annual summer conference, connecting urban development, administration, and digital innovation. Let the film begin!

CityLAB Berlin

A project by Open Data Informationsstelle (ODIS)

How much space do we need for housing, traffic, or simply to breathe? A fair distribution of urban space can make our lives happier and healthier. Kiezcolors visually represents land use within a 1,000 m radius around any chosen point. By moving the map or searching for a specific address, different areas can be explored. Results can be downloaded as a PDF and printed in a handy postcard format.

ODIS
Technologiestiftung Berlin

A project from Open Data Informationsstelle (ODIS)

Want to understand city climate differences and find refreshing spots? The Refreshment Map visualizes temperature, cold air, and shaded areas in Berlin, using building height data to simulate sunlight. Users can search for locations, find shaded areas, and locate outdoor pools, green spaces, and water playgrounds. The map reveals small-scale climate differences and encourages reflection on climate adaptation to protect health and quality of life in increasingly hot cities.

CityLAB Berlin

We have transformed our service design standard work, the Handbuch Öffentliches Gestalten (Public Design handbook), into an AI chatbot that can make the handbook's collective knowledge available in a matter of seconds. This can range from general questions about the handbook, such as "What does the handbook help me with?" or "What are the phases presented in the handbook?" to questions that arise from a specific need, such as "What do I need to consider when preparing a workshop?" or "Which methods are suitable for brainstorming ideas?"

Quantified Trees (Qtrees)

A collaboration with Birds on Mars | Bezirksamt Berlin Mitte

How can AI make the irrigation of city trees more efficient? The research project Quantified Trees (QTrees) tracks the condition of Berlin’s trees affected by climate change. The app Baumblick shows each tree’s water supply. Sensors measure soil moisture tension, and an AI model detects patterns to predict current and future water availability up to 14 days ahead. The app raises awareness for urban tree care and invites people to get involved, helping to improve the AI model.

Team Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin

Berlin’s Smart City and digital strategy, “Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin” (GD:B), brings together Smart City initiatives, digital strategy, and administrative digitalization, including digital citizen services. Under the Chief Digital Officer, topics that were previously spread across different departments are now strategically coordinated. GD:B promotes a cultural shift in administration and new ways of collaborative work. Since 2023, the Smart City community meets annually at the Red City Hall to discuss measurable and tangible outcomes of the Smart City.

CityLAB Berlin supports the Berlin Senate Chancellery in the implementation of the “Gemeinsam Digital: Berlin” strategy by providing methodological and technical expertise, as well as community building among the implementation teams.

CityLAB Berlin 

Technologiestiftung Berlin 

Stadtpuls was an open data platform for IoT projects that connected everyday objects to make them smarter. It supported the collection, visualization, and analysis of sensor data and helped to better understand the city. Stadtpuls could answer questions such as: “How loud is it on my street?”, “What is the CO2 level in my classroom?”, or “How high is the particulate matter pollution in front of my home?” The data was freely available and connected providers such as municipal services, researchers, school projects, and users like data scientists and data journalists.

ODIS
Technologiestiftung Berlin

Berlin summers are marked by long days with extended sun exposure, with the morning and mid-day especially having a lot of direct sunlight. Our “Berlin Refreshment Map” project helps Berliners find shaded areas at different times of the day and suggests cool outdoor places where you can get a respite from the sun. The map uses data on the height of buildings and objects in the city to simulate the amount of sunlight and shadows found at different locations at different times of day. Users can enter a specific location in the search bar to locate the estimated sun exposure of that location and to find nearby locations ideal for a break from the sun and heat.

CityLAB Berlin

Technologiestiftung Berlin

Gieß den Kiez – or “Water your neighbourhood” is a platform for coordinating the watering of Berlin’s trees and encourages participation in protecting the city’s tree population. The map shows street and park trees with information on water needs, age, and species. Residents can check the water requirements in their neighbourhood, mark when and how much they have watered, and take on tree subscriptions. Currently, 967,365 trees are mapped (as of October 2025).

Technologiestiftung Berlin

A collaboration with Reach Now | HTW Berlin

Counting cars, bikes, and pedestrians in real time, cost‑effectively and privacy-compliantly? New machine learning methods make this possible. The Open Traffic Count project tested an open-source-based counting system for municipal traffic. From December 2019 to February 2020, an interdisciplinary team ran workshops and two experiments in Berlin, showing that AI-based traffic counting under realistic conditions—like lighting and camera angles—provides reliable results, especially for passenger cars.