Problem and starting point. The key challenge in sustainable urban and urban quarter
development and the transition to a low carbon society is the sensible integration of existing
buildings, infrastructures and their different uses - because these existing urban quarters
have reached, in the course of their development, a high level of complexity (varying types of
ownership with different interests, different uses, a multitude of construction methods and
different dates of construction etc.), which makes it difficult to perform a clear assessment of
energy saving potentials.

Targets. The SC_micro-quarters project (Projekt SC_Mikroquartiere) demonstrates
possibilities for urban planning and urban quarter development with a view to creating a path
to a low carbon city with a high quality of life and good resilience, while taking into account
existing and proposed buildings, infrastructures and uses. The project focuses particularly on
the integration of existing knowledge gained from R&D projects and existing studies and
research results. The project goals are to be clearly communicated so that as many
stakeholders as possible (residents, property owners, entrepreneurs etc.) will be able to
recognise the specific benefits to themselves, which will motivate them to take the initiative
and actively participate in urban quarter development.

Method for target achievement. The central element of this proposal is the modelling of
urban structures at micro-quarter level (see below for details) which will serve to:
- formulate and display high resolution models of quarters that are fit for the future,
- develop realistic quarter-specific assessment criteria/indicators for densification and
high quality energy solutions which take account of building performance indicators
and SC indicators that are related to sustainable development and
- examine the practicability of high quality planning solutions based on real microquarters.
The overarching aim is to develop innovative technologies, to identify synergies between
technologies and to find solutions, while adapting the propositions made to the conditions of
the project area, identifying implementation potentials and barriers and communicating the
project results to the target group (i.e. the users of a planning approach in urban and urban
quarter development) in the best possible way.

Results and findings. Key results will include (i) Smart City indicators for micro-quarters
and urban quarters, including references to the detailed level (buildings, specific
technologies, public spaces incl. mobility), (ii) models and guidelines for energy optimised
urban quarters with regard to densification, energy efficiency, renewable energy and
renewable energy storage, energy grids and the quality of public spaces and mobility
schemes, and (iii) a compact representation of the results at micro-quarter level for urban
planning, residents, policy makers, project development etc.

The project places particular emphasis on the dissemination of knowledge and the
integration of stakeholder views. For this purpose, a structured blog with information on the
results in the model quarters will be available and a training programme for the development
of energy-efficient urban quarters will be prepared.