Build4People

💡 How can international knowledge exchange help emerging Smart City initiatives grow and connect with the global community? The Build4People delegation’s visit to the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona provided an excellent opportunity to explore this question in practice.

🏙️ As Build4People’s digitalisation partner, CityLAB Berlin plays an important role in supporting the recently established Phnom Penh Smart City Hub in developing its role as an interface between the city administration and the citizens of Phnom Penh.

🤝 During the Expo, Martin Saram, representing the Phnom Penh Smart City Hub, joined the Build4People delegation. Yannick Müller from CityLAB Berlin made the most of this opportunity by helping open doors and jointly exploring the exhibition. Together, they sought out exhibitors, sessions and topics particularly relevant to the further development of the Phnom Penh Hub and its activities.

🔎 One encouraging observation was how readily exhibitors and city representatives engaged in conversations, shared experiences and established new connections. This made the Expo a valuable platform for building relationships with international Smart City experts and identifying potential opportunities for future cooperation.

🎤 We were also delighted that CityLAB Berlin highlighted the Build4People project and our experience-sharing activities during its presentation at the Expo.

🌆 Beyond the exhibition, Yannick Müller invited our delegation, also including Rolf Messerschmidt from Eble Messerschmidt Partner, to the City Rebels Salon, an evening networking event that offered further opportunities to connect with key players in the international Smart City community. Among those we had the pleasure of meeting were Peter Sailer, Head of the Smart City Network at German International Cooperation (GIZ), and Karen Laßmann, Head of Smart Cities and Data Management at the Berlin Senate Chancellery.

🙏 A heartfelt thank you to Yannick Müller and the CityLAB Berlin team for their generous support and for creating these valuable opportunities. Such connections are essential in helping the Phnom Penh Smart City Hub engage with the international community, exchange knowledge and build partnerships for the future.

🌐 Connecting people, sharing knowledge and building bridges between cities – this is what international cooperation for sustainable urban transformation is all about! 🤝

The Build4People delegation spent the afternoon exploring some of Barcelona’s most ambitious urban transformation projects: Poblenou, one of the city’s pioneering Superblocks; the 22@Barcelona Innovation District; and Plaça de les Glòries Catalanes, a major urban redesign and traffic-calming project, visually anchored by the iconic Torre Glòries.

It was an inspiring experience! We were impressed by the quality and ambition of Barcelona’s urban design approach – from the extensive use of permeable surfaces and abundant urban greenery to the creation of attractive, people-centred public spaces. Equally striking was the diversity of people using and enjoying these spaces, bringing the urban environment to life.

A big thank you to Rolf Messerschmidt, Michael Waibel, Tep Makathy, Socheata Kul, Tola Mach, Martin Saram, H.E. State Secretary Dr. Ly Rasmey, Ms. Socheata Ly, and Mr. Try Mengheang all from the Cambodian Ministry of Land Management Urban Planning and Construction for making this visit such a rewarding experience and for the great company and exchange!

The visit offered valuable insights into how innovative urban planning, climate-sensitive design and the reallocation of public space can contribute to more liveable, sustainable and inclusive cities.

#Build4People #Barcelona #Superblocks #UrbanTransformation #SustainableUrbanDevelopment #PublicSpace #UrbanDesign #SmartCities #KnowledgeExchange #BMFTR_SUREregions

What an inspiring first day at the Smart City World Expo! We are still taking in the many impressions, ideas and encounters – and will certainly need some more time to fully absorb them all.

A big thank you to all members of the Build4People delegation trip prepared by Universität Hildesheim (Michael Waibel) for making this visit so valuable.

We would also like to extend our sincere appreciation to H.E. Dr Ly Rasmey, Secretary of State at the Cambodian Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction (MLMUPC), and Dr Tep Makathy, Director General of the Cambodian Institute for Urban Studies (CIUS), for their active participation and keen interest in the programme.

🎤 A particular highlight was the panel discussion “What Does a Resilient City Look Like in 2050?”, featuring Dr. Christine Lemaitre, CEO of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB).

As a Build4People partner, DGNB supports our ambition to introduce the first sustainability assessment and certification of urban neighbourhoods in Cambodia. This work builds on the Build4People Neighbourhood Evaluation Criteria, co-developed by Dr. Stephan Anders, founder of the sustainability consultancy andersplus and by Rolf Messerschmidt, CEO of Eble Messerschmidt Partner.

One of the key messages from the panel was that urban resilience cannot be achieved through technological innovation or robust infrastructure alone. It requires an integrated, adaptive and people-centred approach that brings together the built environment, public services, data, governance, economic considerations and – above all – the needs of local communities.

The panellists highlighted the importance of liveable neighbourhoods, accessible public spaces and attractive outdoor environments.

Their vision of more decentralised, people-oriented cities in 2050, where neighbourhoods foster everyday interaction and social connections, resonates strongly with the vision and objectives of Build4People.

🤝 We are looking forward to the coming days, with more inspiring presentations, promising encounters and opportunities to explore state-of-the-art approaches to smart and sustainable urban development!

On 28 October 2026, Build4People held an exchange meeting with TP Moral Group (TPMG) to apply and review the Build4People Neighbourhood Evaluation Tool, using the Mekong Quay master plan in Phnom Penh as a practical case study.

On behalf of Build4People, the meeting was led by Dr Stephan Anders, a sustainability certification expert from the consultancy andersplus, working on behalf of the German Sustainable Building Council (DGNB), and Marcelo Rivera from the urban design practice Eble Messerschmidt Partner (EMP).

TPMG presented a comprehensive self-assessment of the planned district, supported by concrete examples from its development concept. Together, the participants examined how the evaluation criteria translate into real-world planning and development decisions – covering topics such as public spaces, green and blue infrastructure, climate-sensitive urban design, mobility, energy efficiency, circularity, social diversity and community participation.

The discussion provided valuable insights into both the sustainability ambitions of the Mekong Quay project and the practical challenges of implementing the evaluation tool. In particular, it highlighted the need to further sharpen individual criteria, clarify definitions and better distinguish between aspects at the building and neighbourhood scales. It also raised important questions about which sustainability requirements developers can directly influence and how voluntary guidelines could encourage more sustainable building practices.

TPMG’s self-assessment reached 79 out of 100 points, reflecting considerable progress in the assessment process. The exchange also generated concrete next steps: refining the evaluation criteria, sharing practical examples of sustainability guidelines from Germany, and clarifying key aspects of the Mekong Quay development concept.

We are grateful to the TPMG team for their open and constructive engagement. This dialogue between research and practice is an important step towards making the Build4People Neighbourhood Evaluation Tool a useful instrument for promoting more sustainable neighbourhood development in Cambodia.

We look forward to continuing the exchange during the follow-up workshop in Phnom Penh at the end of November!

#Build4People #SustainableUrbanTransformation #SustainableNeighbourhoods #UrbanDevelopment #PhnomPenh #Cambodia #KnowledgeExchange #BMFTR_SUREregions