Zukunftsort Wirtschafts- und Wissenschaftsstandort Berlin Schöneweide

Berlin Schöneweide – Urban hub of science, business; and technology in the south-east of Berlin

The Berlin Schöneweide Business and Science District, situated along the banks of the River Spree, offers a creative environment which is highly valued by globally successful companies active at the intersection of technology, science and design. The HTW Berlin – Berlin’s largest university of applied sciences – constitutes an important nucleus for cooperation between science and business at this innovative and future-oriented locality. Whether for engineering sciences in the field of high-technology applications or for design studies in the cultural and creative sectors, Schöneweide offers a fertile and supportive environment for start-ups and established companies alike.

Berlin Schöneweide, the birthplace of AEG at the heart of the airport region, is the third-largest Zukunftsort (growth area) in the German capital after Adlershof and the Urban Tech Republic TXL. Schöneweide is situated halfway between the Berlin Brandenburg (BER) Airport and the city center. Up to 10,000 new jobs in the high-tech and creative economies are expected to be created by 2030.

Industries

• Traffic technology & mobility
• Energy & Environmental technology
• Media & creative industries
• Photonics & Optics
• IT & Automation
• Microsystems & Materials

Business profile

Berlin Schöneweide is home to more than 300 companies with over 3,000 employees. Seven of these companies have a workforce of more than 100 employees and are involved in the areas of energy, sensor technology, ICT, education, and the creative economy.

Hardware startups that require space and proximity to the university are also located in Berlin Schöneweide. Berlin Schöneweide will become a reference location for urban production and the artisan creative industry (e.g. fashion and industrial design) as well as a future-oriented location for new manufacturing technologies (digitization, the Industry 4.0 project), by exploiting the competencies found at HTW Berlin.

The borough and senate actively support these current inward investment and development trends:

• As part of the Industrial City Berlin master plan, the Innovation and Technology Center for Digitalization of the Economy and Industry 4.0. (ITZ 4.0) is to be built in the immediate vicinity of the HTW Berlin.
• The plans also include the development of a Center for the Textile Economy to increase the number of spin-offs from the HTW in this growing business segment.
• The Technology and Startup Center Spreeknie will be expanded and preserved as an incubator with a broad-based remit.
• The state and borough-owned commercial properties in Schöneweide will be used to continue sharpening the area’s profile.
• The new Wilhelminenhof bridge will improve Schöneweide’s accessibility.

Property

It takes space to translate knowledge into new jobs. A total of 300,000 sqm of listed property with a rich industrial heritage is available, and new commercial properties with up to 250,000 sqm could potentially be built as well.

Science

The Wilhelminenhof campus of the University of Applied Sciences (HTW Berlin), the largest university for applied research in Berlin, is located in the middle of the business and science location in Berlin-Schöneweide. More than 200 of a total of 300 professors at the university teach and conduct research on this campus, working in such fields as business, engineering, computer science, design and culture. With approximately 10,000 young people from over 100 nations, a large part of the total of approximately 14,000 students at the HTW study in Oberschöneweide.

Economic development

The blend of applied research, urban production, high technology, and the creative economy has transformed the area with its unique backdrop on the banks of the river Spree into a coveted location. Numerous private and state services for startups and grownups have already settled here to promote effective links between the companies and the university:

• The Technology and Startup Center Spreeknie (TGS) has over 24,000 sqm of office, laboratory, and workshop space for startups.
• The HTW Berlin, promotes university spin-offs and offers interested parties a broad range of entrepreneurship opportunities.
• Co-working spaces like the once student-organized BETT – Space for Design Comparatives, the Oberschöneweide Creative Consortium KAOS and the blossoming gastronomy sector are helping to foster a vibrant creative scene in the neighborhood.
• There are plan to integrate an IT-based settlement network in the Treptow-Köpenick district. This will make searching for space faster and easier.

Location

• South-east of Berlin’s city center, S-Bahn station Schöneweide, 17 minutes from BER Airport, <5 km from the federal highway 113
• Carsharing zone
• Public charging infrastructure for eMobility
• Directly adjacent to the river Spree