How can more than 500 construction and infrastructure projects become accessible to the people whose city they are shaping? The opening exhibition at Rostock’s Stadtlabor brings these projects together, making municipal planning processes understandable and inviting the public to explore the city’s future.

Creative Climate Cities (CCC) developed the concept and curated the exhibition for the city administration’s new Stadtlabor, established as part of Rostock’s Smart City project. The exhibition creates a space for information and engagement, helping visitors understand how individual projects connect to the wider transformation of the city.

Our approach combines visual storytelling with clear, accessible language. Illustrations, infographics and short texts translate complex urban development issues into content that is easy to explore. Organised around five key themes, the projects reveal shared development strategies and make long-term changes in Rostock accessible.

CCC developed the communication concept, coordinated contributions from municipal departments, and wrote and refined the exhibition texts. CCC designed the illustrations and infographics in close collaboration with the relevant city departments and aligned the layouts for the project and thematic displays with the agency responsible for the interior design.

The exhibition encourages visitors to engage with Rostock’s future and builds a broader understanding of the connections between planning, infrastructure and urban transformation.

The project was commissioned by Smart City Rostock  and implemented in close collaboration with several departments of the Hanse- und Universitätsstadt Rostock. Funding was provided through the “Modellprojekte Smart Cities”  programme of the German Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building.