Stay updated on activities on the topic of “Megacities” in words, sounds and images. There is a great variety of projects and initiatives organised by the Alumniportal Deutschland’s partners which investigate the changes wrought on our living conditions by megacities.

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)

The BMBF presents the first international conference on the subject of “Future Megacities in Balance – New Alliances for Energy- and Climate-Efficient Solutions”.

Within the framework of the BMBF funded activities in the "German Year in Vietnam 2010" with its overarching theme "City of the Future - Future of the City", the German-Vietnamese workshop "Adaptation responses to climate change at the urban level" took place in July 2010.

German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)

The DAAD grants Study and Research Scholarships of Today for the Megacities of Tomorrow, supported by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF).

Deutsche Welle (DW)

“Brutal! Chaotisch! Kreativ! Literatur der Megacities!” (“Brutal! Chaotic! Creative! Literature from megacities!”) In texts, images and audio, this multi-media series deals with young writers who live in megacities. (DE)

The four-part video-series “Hallo Schanghai!” (“Hello, Shangai!”) takes viewers along to Shanghai. It takes an exciting look behind the scenes of Expo 2010, which takes place this year under the heading “Better City, Better Life” and asks how cities should develop in the future if they are to absorb global growth. (DE)

“Dicke Luft: Megacities” (“Bad air: megacities”) is a video which investigates the topic of air quality in the metropolis of Santiago de Chile. (DE)

Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung (FES)

“Megacities: Zwischen (Sub)urbanisierung und Globalisierung” (“Megacities: Between (sub)urbanisation and globalisation”), a publication by geographer Günter Spreitzhofer, shows the many different faces of megacities. (DE)

Goethe-Institut

The project “The Promised City” is organised by the Goethe-Instituts of Warsaw and Mumbai and by the Polish Institute in Berlin from February to November 2010. In many projects from all art disciplines, it investigates why people come to big cities and what they hope their future as city-dwellers to be.

Issue 1.10 of the “Goethe-Institut”-publication features reports, photos and interviews on the topic of megacities. (DE)

“Stadtlandschaften” (“Cityscapes”) is a dossier on the subjects of architecture, city planning, urban development and urban research.

Sustainable building and sustainable architecture and urbanism are among the issues dealt with in the dossier “Nachhaltigkeit” (“Sustainability”) and the internet platform “goethe.de/climate – Culture and Climate Change”.

Two collections of articles published by the Goethe-Institut give information on urban development in Germany and Berlin as the fashion, art and party capital.

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ)

At the Eschborn experts‘ conference 2005 “Brennpunkt – Faszination – Chance: Die Stadt von morgen”  (“Hot spot – fascination – opportunity: Tomorrow’s cities”), representatives from the fields of politics, economics and science had an opportunity to exchange views on concepts for tomorrow’s cities with development experts.

Katholischer Akademischer Ausländer-Dienst (KAAD)

The KAAD’s publication “Hauptstädte und Global Cities” (“Capitals and Global Cities”) was created in cooperation with numerous KAAD-alumni. (DE)

Picture information:

X-Apartments/Mieszkania-X in Mirów, © The Promised City, Photo: Adam Walicki