STAWAG operates more than 20,000 streetlights in Aachen for the traffic-safe illumination of streets, paths and squares. This existing infrastructure is available as a basis for further smart city activities and could be upgraded easily, cost-effectively and at short notice.



Since there is a high density of listed properties, especially in the inner city / old town area, sensor locations are difficult to find or implement in these areas. For example, for the implementation of the heat hotspot or vandalism prevention ideas from this competition, but also for applications that go beyond this, such as WLAN and 5G illumination, lantern locations are thus a considerable implementation facilitator, and in locations such as parks possibly even the only possibility.



The lanterns are already electrified and are able to carry additional sensor technology, as long as this does not affect the stability of the mast and the illumination. Due to the achievable mounting height, they can also be a contribution to the vandalism safety of the sensor technology or the quality of the recorded readings (not directly above the ground or better "illumination").



Pole sockets that can be used solely for the supply of sensor technology for this purpose would have to be installed, separately fused and documented accordingly. Use (depending on the situation, also several sensors per mast) is then flexibly possible at short notice on the basis of a standard contract.



STAWAG already has initial experience in this regard. However, it is often the case that smaller projects cannot be implemented or cannot be implemented at short notice because the organizational effort or overhead drives up the costs for individual mast sockets and locations too much.



Against this background, we propose to create a Smart City basic infrastructure package. In coordination with other idea providers from the competition as well as the stakeholders of the city of Aachen, the digital Hub and other interested parties (fellow campaigners), we would prepare the status quo and work out proposals for an appropriate infrastructure base as part of the further process. In the course of implementation, a large number of potential sensor locations could thus be developed and made available for the further smart city rollout.



In the course of further elaboration, direct street lighting added values can also be discussed or included here - for example, the Moltkestraße cycle path can be seen in the idea photo, which has been equipped with sensors for adaptive lighting in the interests of animal and resident protection. Only if there are people on the path, the light is dimmed up to the necessary level according to their position and otherwise strongly lowered.



Risks / Limitations / Note: not all lanterns are suitable as basic infrastructure or for special applications. Due to age, technology used or optical reasons, individual lanterns can probably not be implemented.