Ladenburg Horizons

The rapid pace of urbanization in sub-Saharan Africa is placing a great strain on the infrastructure. Massive problems are encountered in electricity supply, the road networks, public transport, water supply, and sewage systems, which cannot keep up with growth.

This research project, headed by Prof. Dr. Wilhelm Stork from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, aims to bring together protagonists from the fields of science, politics, infrastructure, and urban planning in order to devise solutions. The main problem is the lack of data relating to the current influx of people into urban centers. The funding is to be used to contribute towards improving quality of life for the local inhabitants by means of technological innovation.

In cooperation with various partners in Ethiopia, the scientists will use so-called IoT (Internet of Things) sensors, which are being developed for smart cities, to collect data for example on energy consumption and traffic volumes. Together with local information from industry and politics, these data constitute the basis for developing a so-called digital twin of a city. Modeling can then be used to identify areas with the greatest influx of people and the associated need for investment – and to design future scenarios for metropolises with good quality of life.