Publication: Hacking the City

In the @nebourhoods project in Munich’s Neuperlach district, over 300 students have demonstrated precisely that – with prototypes and concepts ranging from energy cooperatives and neighbourhoods with high levels of accessibility to new initiatives for young women in public spaces.

Our role at HM:UniverCity was:

- Identify challenges in the neighbourhood,

- work with entrepreneurship experts to assess whether the programme is a good fit,

- and turn them into effective challenges.

We have compiled our findings, methods and ‘aha’ moments in a handbook:

“HACKING THE CITY – Using Entrepreneurial Education Formats for Students in Urban Development”.

It demonstrates, in a concrete and practically-oriented way, how local authorities, universities and civil society work together to tackle real neighbourhood issues – from scoping and defining the challenge right through to implementation.

Even though the document has been online since the end of 2024, the issues it addresses are becoming increasingly pressing in many cities right now.

- Anyone wishing to refine their approaches or get started with challenge-based learning in urban development will find plenty of inspiration here, along with clear, step-by-step guidance.

- Manual: here

For more than two years, HM:UniverCity, working in partnership with Kreativ München as a transition hub, designed, facilitated and coordinated the co-creation processes for the “Creating NEBourhoods Together” project. The project was coordinated by the Planning Department of the City of Munich (Sylvia Pintarits).