Halle (Saale) on the way to becoming a smart city

In the past, Halle (Saale) has made a name for itself with the composer Georg Friedrich Händel and as a centre of science and education - in the future, the city will also play an important role on the Smart City map - at the end of 2020, Halle applied for the third season of the Smart City model projects funding programme from the Federal Ministry of the Interior and for Home Affairs and was selected.

The city has specific goals that it wants to tackle with the help of smart city solutions. For example, public transport in Halle is to be optimised, the administration modernised, urban and commercial areas developed efficiently and future specialists trained in digital skills. Halle is now tackling all of these areas as part of the pilot project.

HAL-Plan, Smart HaNeu and integrated mobility

In future, urban and spatial planning in Halle will be mapped using a digital twin. HAL-Plan is the name of the software that will be used to process the areas of planning, ecology and land management in the city. For example, it can be used to create a cadastre with location data for commercial sites and property offers, or to assess how environmental influences affect certain planning areas. After an initial prototype for the digital twin was developed, the project is currently being implemented and developed.

Smart HaNeu is a digital education initiative focussing on Halle-Neustadt. The aim is to educate citizens in digital technologies. This is to be achieved by setting up an extracurricular learning centre, digital hands-on and educational offers, a career bus or so-called digital guides.

The area of integrated mobility focuses on sensors, data collection and networking. For example, the occupancy rate of Hallesche Verkehrsbetriebe (HAVAG) buses and trams is to be determined in real time. In this way, public transport could be optimised and buses and trams could be deployed according to passengers' needs.

In addition to traffic counts, data from climate stations, the fill level of rubbish containers and ice measurements will also be collected and analysed. To this end, Halle is trialling data transmission via LoRaWAN in a sensor test field.

The data is collated and analysed in the "system of systems", as Andreas Blümner, Digital City Team Leader in Halle, calls the urban data platform. Citizens and businesses will also be able to access this transparently processed data.

Andreas Blümner emphasises a few points that have become particularly important in recent months and years:

• Cross-departmental collaboration and communication
• Breaking down silos through an integrated approach and collaboration with external, innovative companies and start-ups
• Comprehensive and efficient monitoring helps to recognise developments and trends and make adjustments where necessary
• High-quality data forms the basis for an intelligently networked city
• various participation formats to collect the wishes and needs of the people in Halle and incorporate them into the project.

He also has some tips for cities and regions that are also on the path to digital transformation:

• Define and understand digitalisation as a means to an end and not as a panacea.
• Communicate potential challenges and stumbling blocks at an early stage to the relevant bodies such as state and federal ministries, the coordination and transfer centre, more experienced model municipalities and other networks
• Adopt an integrated, interdisciplinary approach
• Early involvement of stakeholders such as municipal committees, advisory boards, associations, business, citizens' assemblies, etc.
• Consideration of existing municipal strategies and concepts (mobility concept, ISEK, economic development concept, climate protection concept, etc.). Cooperation between the various administrative areas of the city is also crucial in order to develop an integrated concept and to be able to bring existing city data into context and utilise it.
• The individual experiences of the model municipalities are particularly valuable and it makes sense to network and exchange ideas at an early stage.

Smart people in a smart city

As many smart city projects are abstract and difficult to grasp, Halle relies on different participation formats to get people on board. "The benefits for citizens are emphasised in an understandable way, which has so far aroused people's interest and been well received," says Blümner. The situation is similar with older citizens, who often find it more difficult to engage with digitalisation topics. Communication is the be-all and end-all here too: "In addition to avoiding anglicisms and organising various opportunities to join in, the project is also presented via resident dialogues, communication via the municipal senior citizens' advisory council and the added value of digital tools. Especially with older people, it is worth talking to them in an analogue setting in order to discuss digital developments."

31.12.2026 is the end - not quite

In just under two and a half years, the funding decision for the "Smart Cities Model Projects" funding programme will end and with it, theoretically, the digital development in Halle (Saale). However, Blümner emphasises that the city also wants to implement and develop the project in the long term: "We are already working very intensively on stabilising our measures and 'transferring them to normal operations' in the city administration beyond the project period. This will take into account the fact that the project is constantly being further developed 'in tune with the times' and at the same time measures are being developed that can also be transferred to other regions." Although Halle is developing individual solutions for the needs of the city, it is focussing on the shared benefits of Smart City technologies beyond the city limits.