City of Munich and UnternehmerTUM open Munich Urban Colab

Two years of construction and 30 million euros later, the Munich Urban Club project, which aims to develop ideas for the smart city of the future, has been completed. The building is available to start-ups and creative minds. Susanne Klatten is one of the sponsors.

What will the smart city of the future look like? It is green, climate-neutral and technologized. And many of the associated ideas could be developed in Munich. The Munich Urban Colab opened there this Monday as a project of the City of Munich and the UnternehmerTUM start-up center. The building offers 11,000 square meters of offices, co-working spaces, rooms for events, a prototype workshop, as well as a gym, café and winter garden.

The city has direct contacts there, and there will also be close cooperation with universities and research institutes. Companies such as SAP, Siemens and BMW are already partners. "This gives Munich the opportunity to play a pioneering role in the development of smart city solutions," says Clemens Baumgärtner, the responsible officer for employment and the economy.

"In the Munich Urban Colab, cooperation is a way of life. City, research, business and citizens united," says Susanne Klatten, founder of UnternehmerTum and best known as a major BMW shareholder. For her, it should be a place where everyone involved, including the citizens of Munich, can "participate": "We want to show that people can use our developments."

The project cost 30 million euros to build, which, like the operating costs incurred, will be borne by the non-profit organization UnternehmnerTum. The associated land is provided by the city as a leasehold. The Munich Urban Colab is part of the EU Commission's New European Bauhaus initiative as part of the Green Deal. EU President Ursula von der Leyen also attended the opening virtually on Monday.