Till Degkwitz
Research Associate
Till Degkwitz is a Research Associate at the City Science Lab at HafenCity University Hamburg (HCU). He studied Computer Science and Political Science at Leuphana University of Lüneburg and the University of Bremen. Alongside his studies, he worked as a freelance full-stack developer, focusing on data analytics systems in the field of business intelligence. Since 2019, he has been working at the City Science Lab on projects at the intersection of urban data, digital twins, and participatory urban transformation, including the Urban Data Hub, Connected Urban Twins, and Cockpit Urban Infrastructures. Within the Connected Urban Twins project, he was responsible for the subproject Transformative Experimental Urban Research. In parallel, he contributed to the work package Citizen Co-Design, focusing on collaborative approaches and participatory methods for the development and use of urban digital twins. Since 2026, he is also an Associate Researcher at the Center for the Digital Twin Hamburg (ZDZ). His current research focuses on the practical integration of simulations, urban digital twins, and data-driven methods into planning processes and administrative workflows. Within the ZDZ, his research particularly addresses urban data stories and participatory approaches in the context of urban digital twins, exploring how data-driven narratives and collaborative processes can support new forms of urban knowledge production and decision-making. A particular interest of his work lies in moving beyond experimental showcases towards understanding how digital technologies are applied in everyday urban governance and how they transform existing planning practices.
Projects
Cockpit for Social Infrastructure (CoSI)
Zentrum Digitaler Zwilling (ZDZ)
Publications
Thabit, S., Degkwitz, T., Fadmastuti, M., & Mora, L. (2026). Decentralisation in public sector data platforms: A pathway to enhancing public value?. Government Information Quarterly, 43(3), 102149. http://doi.org/10.1016/j.giq.2026.102149
Herzog, R. H., Degkwitz, T., & Verma, T. (2025). The Urban Model Platform: A Public Backbone for Modeling and Simulation in Urban Digital Twins. arXiv preprint. https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2506.10964
Ziehl, M., Niggemann, M., Degkwitz, T., Herzog, R., Panten, A., Meincke, C., & Ziemer, G. (2025). Wie wär’s wenn... wir die Zukunft der digitalen Stadt gemeinsam gestalten? Handlungsanregungen für Entscheidungsträger in Politik und Verwaltung – Bericht der transformativen Forschung im Projekt Connected Urban Twins (CUT). Forschungsbericht, HafenCity Universität Hamburg (HCU), City Science Lab. https://doi.org/10.34712/142.77
Click here for a complete list of the CSL Hamburg publications.
Activities
City Science Summit: The City Science Summit is an international conference organized by the City Science Lab Hamburg, bringing together researchers, practitioners, and urban stakeholders to discuss emerging approaches in urban transformation, digital technologies, and collaborative city-making.
Twin Conference 2025: The Twin Conference 2025 focused on the practical development and application of digital twins for cities. It brought together experts from research, administration, and practice to discuss how digital twins can support urban planning, governance, and decision-making.
Contact