Chemnitz is the city laboratory for the Smart Urban Services research project: a data-based services platform for tomorrow’s urban value creation. Within the framework of the project, sensor infrastructure was set up in the city area during the summer of 2017. Following a month-long test phase, the operation phase is planned to last one year.

Environmental sensors and Bluetooth sensors have been installed on traffic lights and street lamps in the city centre, on the Brühl and on the campus of Chemnitz University of Technology. Whilst the environmental sensors record temperature and air humidity, the Bluetooth sensors are capable of recording movements. They record passing electronic devices, such as road users’ smartphones if they have Bluetooth activated. A comprehensive data protection plan has been developed for data processing.

In Chemnitz, an interactive city map has also been developed, linking the movements recorded in the city centre area with event data. The map will be displayed in the city centre and will show what is happening in Chemnitz. In addition, the data collected provides the basis for a visual analysis tool which can be used by town planners, researchers and traffic experts in their work.

To develop the Smart Services, researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering analysed the requirements of the City of Chemnitz, drawing on the results from the City of Tomorrow: City Lab Chemnitz study. The development process included various departments of the City of Chemnitz and city stakeholders such as the municipal transport company Chemnitzer Verkehrs-AG (CVAG), the economic development corporation Chemnitzer Wirtschaftsförderungs- u. Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (CWE) and the Zwickau-Chemnitz students’ union.