City Vital is driven by a dedicated team of students actively working on solutions to the pressing challenges of climate change. Their approach is the development of a vegetated shade structure—the so-called “Sunsail.” This concept combines engineered construction with natural cooling mechanisms, thereby introducing a novel strategy for enhancing climate resilience in urban spaces.
Jens Foerste, a student at TUM Campus Straubing and member of the student initiative Enactus Straubing e.V.—a non-profit organization in which students develop entrepreneurial projects—describes the idea as follows: “We are working on an innovative solution to make urban spaces more climate-resilient and livable. Specifically, we aim to design a shade sail that is vegetated with eleven different species of sedum plants. This not only cools urban areas, but also sequesters CO₂ and contributes to biodiversity.”
But what exactly is sedum? This term refers to a group of particularly resilient, succulent plants—commonly known as stonecrops. They store water in their leaves, are highly resistant to heat and drought, and require minimal maintenance. These characteristics make them ideally suited for green roofing systems or, as in the case of City Vital, vegetated structures in urban environments.
Creating Small Urban Oases
The combination of membrane structure and vegetation layer functions as a natural air-conditioning system: temperatures beneath the shade sail can be reduced by up to 3 °C, while CO₂ is simultaneously bound and air quality improved. Moreover, new green social spaces emerge—small urban oases that invite people to relax, interact, and recover.
The project explicitly aligns with several United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), including SDG 3 (Good Health and Well-being), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 13 (Climate Action), and SDG 15 (Life on Land). In doing so, City Vital illustrates how local innovation can contribute to achieving global sustainability targets.
From an economic perspective, City Vital also sets noteworthy benchmarks: planting a single tree in a major city such as Munich can exceed €90,000 due to complex subsurface infrastructure, including utility lines, underground parking structures, and subway tunnels. By contrast, the Sunsail represents a significantly more flexible alternative. With estimated production costs of around €7,000 and a projected sales price of approximately €10,500, the solution is both scalable and economically viable. This demonstrates that sustainable urban design can be not only ecologically sound but also financially feasible.
The project exemplifies the mission of the Campus Straubing for Biotechnology and Sustainability and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) as a whole: students do not merely acquire theoretical knowledge but translate it into tangible, practice-oriented solutions. As Jens Foerste concludes: “City Vital is a compelling example of how student engagement, entrepreneurial spirit, and academic excellence can converge—resulting in innovative solutions that make our cities more livable.”