A Small Symbol with a Great Effect

People roaming through lively shopping streets, aimless but contented –who definitely do not have a specific reason to be there. Full cafés and restaurants, busy museums, theaters, concert halls and clubs. People who live in cities are longing for the sounds and sights of throbbing urban life – they long to return to their everyday life before the corona crisis.

Cities are, of course, not very attractive in the current lockdown. But that will change – and we will again be faced with the question of how to make future cities pleasant to live in – perhaps even more urgently than before. When the virus leaves, that will not only bring back the pleasant sides of urban life, it will also shine the spotlight on all of its problems: congested roads, overcrowded buses and railways, polluted air, waste, crime, poverty, ghettoization and gentrification.

Dreso+ Brings Together Everything That Counts

There is no global answer which tells us how to make a city into a model urban organism, but there is an approach which offers a promise of success: the Dreso+ approach. It means that we at Drees & Sommer bring together all of the important factors, instead of playing them off against each other. Sustainable. Digital. Innovative. Cost-efficient. These are the four crucial qualities.

Livable Cities Overcome Contrasts

For a livable city this means, for example, that it focuses on the cradle-to-cradle principle in its use of resources. Intelligent construction in existing contexts can mean that buildings are flexibly adapted for other uses. Climate protection concepts for cities and local districts focus on a beneficial footprint.

At the same time, a livable city of the future harnesses the advantages of digital services and processes. It is smart. Wider urban structures and contexts are networked, just like individual buildings and everyday objects. Whole urban districts are integrated into the Internet of Things.

Cost-efficiency in a city can be seen in the way that it operates. Efficient procedures govern urban life and there is scope for investments in the future. Cities have always been known for their innovative force. Where many people meet, they can then inspire each other and try out new ideas and business models. The way cities are networked internally and with their rural environments will be even more important in future – for example with innovative mobility and traffic concepts. These ideas may seem to be contradictory at first sight. As a matter of course, it is necessary to consider and explore different ideas and find good compromises. The goal is to overcome the differences and use them to create

A Plus for All Building and Consulting Projects

Cost-efficient + innovative + sustainable + digital. This applies not only to livable cities. For Drees & Sommer, the Dreso+ concept applies to every single project – whether the task at hand is a building, the infrastructure, a portfolio or a consulting assignment. The four factors of the Dreso+ concept always play a role. For example, a building which only focuses on economic viability and ignores the goal of using sustainable components will not be successful in the long term.

A portfolio which aims to achieve a high yield needs digital services and processes. An efficient infrastructure must not only be innovative, it must be just as good in its economic organization, sustainable in its use of energy and materials and digitally controllable. Even progressive consultation is based on a combination of cost-efficiency, innovation, sustainability and digital solutions.

A Combination to Face the Future

The experts at Drees & Sommer examine each of the four factors individually for every single project. Each of these factors makes the result a little bit better. To achieve an all-round solution which is lastingly successful, they always add together all four factors – sustainable, digital, innovative and cost-efficient – and consider them as a whole. The final result is a project which is equipped to face the future and in which ‘everything has been thought of’.