If, according to the United Nations Population Fund, five billion people will live in cities in 2030, this will not be possible without smart city technologies. But what does the term “smart city” mean and what exactly does it stand for? Do the images created by smart city apologists represent a new doctrine of urban design, or is there an opportunity for the city in the digital age to cultivate everything that cannot be digitized: atmosphere, authenticity and aura? The architect Dietmar Köring from ARPHENOTYPE, Cologne and Berlin, and the researcher Steffen Braun from the Competence Team Urban Systems Engineering at Fraunhofer IAO, Stuttgart, are taking part in the “Smart City Slam”.  Afterwards, the mayor of the city of Aachen, Marcel Philipp, and the head of the urban development, construction, housing and transport department in the German Association of Cities, Mr. Hilmar von Lojewski, will discuss with the speakers and the interested and committed people of our city.  “The current debate around data and anthropogenic society is often negative. This is understandable given the media’s coverage of data protection and privacy.  Dames However, the process of networking has been underway for decades now .  It is important to understand that evolution with a negative attitude does not lead to success.  Therefore, an awareness must be created that addresses the invisible world of sensory technology, so that everyone within this framework acts and is aware of which data it discloses and which it does not.  Heren Architects in particular are asked to deal with this development.  How will public space and architecture be shaped with the new technologies? As early as 1966, Cedric Price titled one of his lectures: “Technology is the answer…  but what was the question?”  A new awareness of planners must be created in order to understand the paradigm shift.