Hilmar von Lojewski has served as Deputy for Urban Development, Construction, Housing and Transport for the North Rhine-Westphalia Association of Cities and the German Association of Cities since 2012.
Until 1988, he studied spatial, urban and regional planning in Dortmund and Ankara before beginning his professional career as a trainee urban planner in Frankfurt am Main until 1991. After working as a freelance planner in Dortmund, he joined the German development agency GTZ as a planning consultant in Kathmandu, Nepal where he worked until 1994. Until 2000, he served as Head of Department at the Dresden City Planning Office and went on to hold key positions at the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development, overseeing urban development projects and ministerial affairs in construction. From 2007 to 2010, he contributed as part of the German development cooperation to the Sustainable Urban Development Programme in Syria.
Alongside his professional work, von Lojewski has held teaching appointments at TU Dresden, the University of Stuttgart, TU Berlin and MIT. Sind 2024, he has served as an Honorary Professor at BTU Cottbus-Senftenberg.
Interview
How would you describe your vision for the “Spaces of Mobility” for the Munich Metropolitan Region in 2034 in three words?
Benefit. Synergies. Sustainability.
What do you see as the biggest mobility challenge facing the Munich Metropolitan Region?
It is about upgrading both the ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ infrastructures simultaneously. This means investing in public spaces, stops, stations, rail networks and capacities, while also creating seamless, customer-oriented mobility services, better door-to-door connections, reliable frequencies and strengthening the modal split towards eco-friendly transport.
What motivated you to get involved in the IBA-M?
The opportunity to strengthen cooperation between cities and the wider region, to pool expertise to drive the mobility transition, and to harness synergies between cities, the region, the Free State of Bavaria and stakeholders from administration, politics and civil society.
What unique perspective or expertise do you bring to the IBA-M?
An overview of planning developments at both the national and international level. The ability to build bridges between ideas and implementation. An interdisciplinary approach that connects planning and design with financing and policy.
For me, the IBA is…
…an impetus for good solutions that balance immediate action with long-term perspectives.