Smart in the City – The BABLE Podcast

In this episode of Smart in the City, we travel to the Bavarian city of Aschaffenburg in Germany to explore how a mid-sized municipality is driving digital transformation through a human-centric approach. Petra Schwerdtfeger, Smart City Officer for the City of Aschaffenburg, shares details on the city’s "Dialog City" strategy. This initiative focuses on integrating digital and analogue worlds to ensure technology serves the common good and remains accessible to everyone.

The conversation highlights the successful implementation and replication of the Smart Data Dashboard and the AschaffenBürgerGIS, both built on Open-Source technology. Petra provides insights into the practical benefits of city-to-city collaboration, explaining how Aschaffenburg adapted existing solutions from Münster and Hamburg to save costs and avoid reinventing the wheel. We also examine the realities of municipal decision-making, the importance of data sovereignty, and the challenges posed by limited internal resources when accelerating urban change.

Like our show? Remember to subscribe and rate it!

Want to join us for an episode? Fill out the form on our Podcast Page.

And for more insights, visit our BABLE Smart Cities Knowledge Hub

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:01:57) - Teaser question: If Aschaffenburg were a type of plant, which plant would it be and why?
(00:03:08) - Guest background
(00:04:21) - Aschaffenburg's Dialogue City Strategy
(00:06:16) - Replicating Smart City Dashboards
(00:08:57) - AI and Digital Twins
(00:11:59) - Open Source GIS Implementation
(00:15:25) - Balancing Storytelling and Utility
(00:18:18) - Tech Sales to Municipalities
(00:19:56) - Avoid Reinventing the Wheel
(00:21:43) - Public Sector Staffing Challenges
(00:24:15) - The Smart Start Program
(00:25:30) - Segment: Shout Out
(00:27:32) - Ending question: “To you, what is a Smart City?”

Innovation is not exclusive to dense megacities. In this special episode from our Major Cities of Europe 2025 series, we head to the UK to speak with Kurt Frary, Head of IT and CTO at Norfolk County Council. Kurt shares how Norfolk navigates the unique challenges of a large, mixed rural region to build robust digital foundations.

We discuss practical applications that save real time and money, from an IoT network that automatically manages flooded roads to AI tools that reduce social care documentation from hours to minutes. The conversation also covers the strict "human-in-the-loop" philosophy, tech scepticism, and the importance of data privacy. Tune in to discover how Norfolk is scaling innovation effectively and what public and private sectors can learn from each other.

Like our show? Remember to subscribe and rate it!

Want to join us for an episode? Fill out the form on our Podcast Page.

And for more insights, visit our BABLE Smart Cities Knowledge Hub

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:02:04) - Teaser question: If you had to describe Norfolk county state of innovation with just three emojis, which would they be and why?
(00:02:50) - Guest background
(00:05:22) - Geography of Norfolk County
(00:07:19) - Innovating in Rural Areas
(00:08:52) - IoT Network and Flood Safety
(00:12:48) - Overcoming Innovation Challenges
(00:14:19) - Scaling Up Successful Pilots
(00:15:41) - Designing for User Groups
(00:17:37) - AI Program and Governance
(00:22:44) - Addressing Technology Skepticism
(00:25:13) - Data Privacy and AI
(00:28:24) - Collaboration of Data
(00:32:38) - Working with Private Partners
(00:35:10) - Cyber Security and People
(00:36:50) - Segment: Hot Take of the Day
(00:41:09) - Ending question: “To you, what is a Smart City?”

In dieser Folge von Smart in the City reisen wir nach Luxemburg in die Gemeinde Leudelange. Moderator Alexander Schmidt und Co-Moderator Michael Agostini von Drees & Sommer begrüßen Bürgermeister Lou Linster, um über die Herausforderungen eines einzigartigen demografischen Profils zu sprechen: eine Gemeinde mit 2.800 Einwohner:innen, aber über 10.000 Arbeitsplätzen.

Bürgermeister Linster gibt offene Einblicke in ein kürzlich durchgeführtes lokales Referendum über ein gemeindeweites Tempolimit von 30 km/h. Er spricht über das Ergebnis, die Bedeutung der Bürgerbeteiligung bei radikalen städtischen Veränderungen und wie das Feedback der Öffentlichkeit zukünftige Mobilitätspläne formt. Das Gespräch beleuchtet auch die ambitionierte Investitionsagenda von Leudelange, einschließlich der Umgestaltung des Dorfkerns in einen Shared Space, Strategien für bezahlbaren Wohnraum und die Integration von Geothermie-Systemen. Diese Folge bietet einen praxisnahen Blick darauf, wie kleinere Gemeinden Smart-City-Initiativen vorantreiben und gleichzeitig schnelles Wirtschaftswachstum bewältigen können.

Like our show? Remember to subscribe and rate it!

Want to join us for an episode? Fill out the form on our Podcast Page.

And for more insights, visit our BABLE Smart Cities Knowledge Hub

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Einleitung
(00:02:19) - Hintergrund des Gastes
(00:06:28) - Teaser-Frage: Wenn du eine Superkraft hättest, die dir bei der täglichen Arbeit helfen würde, welche Superkraft würdest du dir dann wünschen?
(00:07:57) - Struktur und Besonderheiten Leudelanges
(00:09:41) - Zukünftiges Wachstum und Stadtplanung
(00:15:09) - Referendum zur Verkehrsberuhigung
(00:24:35) - Lehren aus der Bürgerbeteiligung
(00:33:05) - Radwegenetz und bezahlbarer Wohnraum
(00:46:56) - Segment: Hot Take of the Day
(00:49:16) - Abschlussfrage: „Was ist für dich persönlich eine Smart City?“

In this episode, recorded live at the neext 2025 in partnership with Drees & Sommer, we travel to the historic "Square Mile" with Alderman Gregory Jones KC of the City of London, UK. As a barrister and elected representative, Gregory provides a unique perspective on the intersection of planning law, heritage preservation, and urgent sustainability goals.

We discuss the City's "retrofit first" presumption and the specific challenges of upgrading buildings in a dense, historic financial district. The conversation also explores the complexities of whole-life carbon, the reliability of current tools for measuring retrofit savings, and the importance of designing flexibility into new structures for future resilience.

Like our show? Remember to subscribe and rate it!

Want to join us for an episode? Fill out the form on our Podcast Page.

And for more insights, visit our BABLE Smart Cities Knowledge Hub

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:01:40) - Defining the City of London
(00:05:20) - Teaser question: Which one would you choose and why?
(00:06:41) - Guest background
(00:09:32) - Retrofitting in council work
(00:11:36) - National Planning Policy Framework
(00:13:29) - Local development plan challenges
(00:17:04) - Presumption of retrofit first
(00:21:33) - Whole life cycle carbon
(00:25:04) - Designing for flexibility
(00:27:41) - Measuring retrofit savings
(00:34:59) - Advice for other councils
(00:41:50) - Segment: Inspire Us
(00:45:24) - Ending question: “To you, what is a Smart City?”

In this episode, recorded at the Smart City Expo World Congress 2025, we travel to the City of Hamburg with Dr. Nora Reinecke, Project Manager for the Connected Urban Twins project.

Nora explains how Hamburg is moving beyond the buzzwords to implement digital twins that address real urban challenges, from climate resilience and flooding to complex urban planning scenarios. She discusses the collaborative approach among Hamburg, Leipzig, and Munich, emphasizing the need for open-source tools and demand-driven strategies rather than technology for its own sake.

The conversation also covers the practical application of GeoAI, the importance of citizen participation, and how to mitigate bias in urban data to ensure inclusive outcomes for all residents.

Like our show? Remember to subscribe and rate it!

Want to join us for an episode? Fill out the form on our Podcast Page.

And for more insights, visit our BABLE Smart Cities Knowledge Hub

Chapters

(00:00:00) - Intro
(00:02:14) - Teaser question: If you had to describe Hamburg with these three emojis, which would you use and why?
(00:03:29) - Guest background
(00:05:13) - Hamburg's Current State
(00:06:27) - Connected Urban Twins Project
(00:08:27) - Solving Urban Challenges
(00:10:26) - Digital Twin Use Case
(00:11:59) - Are Digital Twins Overhyped?
(00:12:40) - Understanding GeoAI
(00:14:33) - Mitigating AI Bias
(00:15:41) - Advice for Cities
(00:18:00) - Procurement vs In-House Development
(00:19:23) - Remaining Bottlenecks
(00:21:56) - Importance of Citizen Participation
(00:23:43) - Segment: Trial and Error
(00:25:17) - Ending question: “To you, what is a Smart City?”