Jennifer Hübner, Umut Özdemir, Maria Popov and Philipp Türmer; © private, Mehran Djojan, Sophia Emmerich, Selin Jasmin

Young people and big cities

Big City Life – a huge disappointment?

The promise of big cities lures young people, in particular, to the metropolises. However, they’re often bitterly disappointed when what then happens is the opposite of what they’d hoped for. Are big cities more illusion than reality? As part of the “Your Emotional City” project, we want to discuss with you how we can design the cities of the future in such a way that expectancy can become reality when it comes to freedom, encounters and participation.

Jennifer Hübner, Umut Özdemir, Maria Popov and Philipp Türmer; © private, Mehran Djojan, Sophia Emmerich, Selin Jasmin

The path from the village to the city – it’s above all young people, who find themselves drawn to big cities. They arrive with the hope of exciting things to do in their free time, stimulating exchanges with other people, and a blossoming of their selves. But then they often end up facing long queues in the hunt for flats and short-term lets, and have to cope with long commutes, anonymity, loneliness and poor air quality. Stress and the fear of missing out on something add to the picture.

In the end, is the big city more than anything a big disappointment? Or, despite everything, is it something that enriches lives? How can we shape the cities of the future in such a way that they fulfil their promise of freedom, encounters and participation?

With our citizen science project “Your Emotional city”, we’re focusing especially on the well-being of young city dwellers. Discuss with us and our experts as part of this project what the city of tomorrow should look like from the perspective of young people. Design your own urban dream world with us and think about how we can make it come true.

This event is part of the Citizen Science project “Your emotional city” – a joint project of Interdisziplinäres Forum Neurourbanistik e.V., Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin and Futurium – House of Futures.

Guests

  • Umut Özdemir, Psychotherapist, lecturer and author
  • Philipp Türmer, Federal Chairman of the Young Socialists in the SPD (Jusos)
  • Dr. Jennifer Hübner, Professor at the Katholischen Hochschule Nordrhein-Westfalen for theories, concepts and methods of social work with a focus on child and youth work

Moderation

  • Maria Popov

Information

  • Venue: Forum
  • The event is free of charge.
  • A ticket is required. Remaining tickets will be available at the box office.
  • Event language: German, German Sign Language
  • The event addresses interested people of age 16+.
  • The event will be recorded and will be available as a video on our YouTube channel afterwards.

Accessibility

  • An induction loop system is available.
  • Translation in German Sign Language
  • We keep seats open in case you want to sit close to the stage due to visual impairments.
  • People with visual impairments are welcome. We will request guide dog assistance if you need it.
  • We are a wheelchair accessible venue.
  • Spaces without seating are available for wheelchair users.
  • The event addresses interested people of age 16+.
  • Participation requirements: no prior knowledge required
  • Drinks and food are available for purchase.

The future is for everyone! The Futurium wants to be accessible to everyone.

If there are any other access needs on your part, please feel free to let us know. We will try to meet them: info@futurium.de

All information on accessibility can be found here.

Photo & Video

Photos will be taken during the event. If you don’t wish to be pictured, please let us know in advance.

Tickets

For this event a ticket is required. In order to get to the ticketshop click on the button at the beginning or the end of this page.