Following the conversion of a commercial unit, Wohnungsgesellschaft mbH Hoyerswerda (WH) is providing modern rooms for the future “City Co-Creation Lab” – a joint contact office of the city of Hoyerswerda, the Technical University (TU) Dresden and Fahrzeugsystemdaten GmbH, Dresden/ Radeberg. This will provide a contact point for citizens who want to find out more about the joint project “SivaS – Safety of Networked and Automated Road Traffic” (to the official press release of the TU Dresden), which started on April 01, 2023, as well as about the “Smart Mobility Lab” in Schwarzkollm, which is currently being planned, and to participate in various formats. Mayor Torsten Ruban-Zeh says: “Research and science create essential prerequisites for quality of life and prosperity in Hoyerswerda. Research projects like SivaS provide important impulses to our local structures and thus make a sustainable contribution to successful change in Hoyerswerda. With its supra-regional appeal, SivaS also pays dividends for all other activities in the city. The fact that the City Co-Creation Lab is now located in the heart of Neustadt, of all places, is a win for us in many respects.” With the planned activities in the City Co-Creation Lab, life is returning to a place that some of the city’s residents will surely remember from other times:
The 1980s were an exciting time in Hoyerswerda. The city was expanding, life was pulsating. In 1981, the construction of another high-rise building “Am Ehrenhain” created a row of stores in addition to the residential space. A variety of stores lined the way, from the fruit-vegetable delicatessen, the delicatessen store to the restaurant zum Wassermann and the mocha-milk ice cream bar. There was a hustle and bustle.
The intensive efforts of the WH over the past 20 years have been characterized by securing the utilization of the commercial space. The most challenging subsequent use was a space that was hardly visible from the outside. Only insiders know what was hidden behind the three leaded glass windows. “The structural change is an important ray of hope also for our WH”, says managing director Steffen Markgraf, “after more than 15 years of vacancy of the former restaurant “Zum Wassermann” we could find a reliable partner in the new change with the city of Hoyerswerda. A gastronomy operator it has not become, with the future City Co-Creation Lab, we are pleased to be able to win a pioneer for forward-looking research for Hoyerswerda.” Mr. Markgraf further reports, “the conversion of the commercial unit kept us busy from last November until the end of March this year. Extensive work, from gutting/demolition, installation of a partition wall and ceiling, new toilet facilities and new electrics, to new windows and doors and the installation of a small kitchen. For the all-round carefree package, our WH invested about €75,000.” Mr. Markgraf was able to show a special detail to the new tenants with a twinkle in his eye, “as a reminder in the change of time, we used a leaded glass window in the new office as a decorative element. In every time it is important to preserve good things and not to miss the necessary change.”
Now, in the 2020s, it is an exciting time again. The bottom has been reached and forward-looking projects are taking hold of urban society: For Hoyerswerda, the SivaS research project also offers a unique opportunity to obtain improved information for current and future urban traffic planning. Data on driving behavior, interactions between road users and the occurrence of critical traffic situations will be collected in the urban area. These will enable conclusions to be drawn about safety criteria for automated vehicles – an important basis for the mobility of the future. The collected data and their correlations will be presented in the City Co-Creation Lab. Two professorships of the TU Dresden, namely the professorship for Integrated Traffic Planning and Road Traffic Engineering headed by Prof. Regine Gerike and the professorship for Automotive Engineering headed by Prof. Günther Prokop are represented in the project. The SivaS project has a total volume of 1.8 million euros. It is 80 percent funded by the German Federal Ministry of Digital Affairs and Transport as part of the mFUND innovation initiative.
Facts and figures on the mFUND project SivaS:
| Network coordinator | Dresden University of Technology |
| Project volume | 1,8 million euro, of which 80 percent funding via the mFUND innovation initiative of the Federal Ministry for digital and transport (BMDV) |
| Project duration | 04/2023 – 12/2024 |
| Project partners | > Dresden University of Technology * Professorship for Automotive Engineering * Professorship for Integrated Traffic Planning and Road Traffic Engineering > FSD Vehicle System Data GmbH Dresden/Radeberg > City of Hoyerswerda |
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