New players for neighbourhood development

New players for neighbourhood development

Multiplicities analyses value creation processes at almost 500 open workshops in the BMBF project COWERK. As part of the BMBF’s COWERK research alliance with Fraunhofer UMSICHT, the IÖW and the University of Bremen, Multiplicities has investigated the potential of decentralised production and the positive effects such places of collaborative work have on neighbourhoods.

How can we plan cities sustainably when the demand for consumer goods is growing and the movement of goods is increasing? And how can cycles be developed in which resources are conserved and waste is reduced? All over Germany, initiatives are currently emerging that promise very practical answers to these questions: being creative, repairing and making things yourself is the motto of over 450 open workshops across the country.

Using new technologies such as 3D printing, such spaces are able to produce small series themselves, manufacture spare parts and repair everyday appliances that would otherwise be disposed of. Multiplicities explores the potential of decentralised production and shows what effects these places of collaborative work have on neighbourhoods. An online survey enabled us to gain key insights into this topic for the first time.