The Youth of Today Designing the Smart City of Tomorrow - Challenges to Future Mobility, Energy, and City Climate

Sustainable energy supply, mobility concepts, a healthy city climate – the next generations will face vital urban challenges. The views of the citizens of tomorrow, today’s youth, are therefore especially important when designing concepts for future urban areas that incorporate those demands. We therefore explored young pupils’ attitude to these three research areas in an empirical approach. 21 students (17-24 years) participated in a workshop. First, they answered a questionnaire on their attitudes towards technology and urban environment. Afterwards, they were divided into focus groups in which they discussed and developed solutions to the three key challenges for future cities. Besides innovative ideas of how younger persons wish to live in urban environments, results reveal a rather uninformed and naïve view on the complex situation. Overall, we conclude that urban challenges should be integrated into the school education to provide a deeper understanding of the complex interaction of energy, mobility and user requirements.