On 26 May 2025 the Build4People team paid a site visit to the Phnom Penh Smart City Hub in the making. The building has a prime location next to Wat Phnom, a historical site that is part of the Khmer national identity. Its former use was that of an urban library.
Martin Saram from Phnom Penh Capital Hall guided us to the site which is currently undergoing a process of refurbishment and adaptive re-use. He explained that the Penh Smart City Hub will have an exhibition space, rooms dedicated for co-working and an assembly room. Envisaged official opening of the Penh Smart City Hub will be end of July 2025.
The Penh Smart City Hub took inspiration from the CityLAB Berlin located in the former airport building of Berlin-Tempelhof, which the Vice Governor of Phnom Penh, H.E. Vannak Seng, visited as part of the Build4People delegation trip in June 2024.
Build4People is very happy to announce that the CityLAB Berlin will become a new digitalization partner of the Build4People consortium starting with the Build4People Implementation Phase from September 2025.
The main role of CityLAB Berlin will be to consult the Phnom Penh Capital Hall to develop the Phnom Penh Smart City Hub into a vibrant public space and a lighthouse project for the use of digital urban planning and digital participatory tools at the interface between the city administration and the urban citizens of Phnom Penh.
#Build4People #livinglab #publicparticipation #smartcity #smartcityhub #digitalurbanplanningtools