UrbView uses AI for more safety in the city
Can forward-looking urban planning reduce crime rates and improve perception of safety in cities? The startup UrbView takes this position and uses artificial intelligence to provide the concepts for this. An initial pilot project is already delivering promising results.
Hamburg instead of South Carolina
To a certain extent, the founding of UrbView is also thanks to Donald Trump. Iranian-born Elnaz Nouri already had a university project in South Carolina lined up when a friend advised her not to put all her eggs in one basket. There was a risk that the entry requirements for the USA could become more difficult. A fear that would later materialise. So Elnaz looked around for alternatives and came across an offer from the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences (HAW).
Being accepted there as a working student was relatively straightforward. It was more difficult when it came to obtaining the visa. The website required for this was only available for a few minutes in the middle of the night and the rush was huge. But eventually it worked out, and in the night of 7 March 2018, Elnaz set foot on Hamburg soil for the first time.
Safety and health are linked
The dentistry graduate had previously worked in public healthcare facilities in north-east Iran, which were responsible for up to 10,000 people. This made her realise how strongly health depends on living conditions such as income, marital status and diet. The general security situation also plays an important role. This is known to be particularly critical for women in public in Iran, but there are comparable problems all over the world.
During her academic work at the HAW, Elnaz dealt with this topic in detail. She also focussed on how health and safety issues could be given greater consideration in urban planning. There were promising approaches, but the challenge laid in the practical implementation. Perhaps taking part in an online hackathon could help? Elnaz wasn't sure whether she was even allowed to participate in CitizensHack 2022, an EU event, as a non-European, but that wasn't a problem.
A hackathon leads to the founding of UrbView
She made it to the final with her idea of using artificial intelligence for urban planning to better protect people who are attacked because of their ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. There, she got Gerard Jover Pujol and Adrià Molina, two experts for artificial intelligence and machine learning from Barcelona, excited about the project. And the enthusiasm lasted beyond the hackathon, with the two of them becoming co-founders of the startup UrbView, which had just been created. Franziska Vogg, a criminologist and Elnaz's roommate at the time, joined them a little later.
The quartet therefore had the necessary expertise to drive development forward quickly. Most of the data used to train the AI is generally accessible. For example, it’s relevant how well or poorly lit public spaces affect safety and the perception of it. This depends, among other things, on the distance between streetlights and whether they are positioned close to trees or tall bushes that attenuate the light and obstruct visibility. The positioning of a bus stop is also an important factor. It makes a difference whether it is located on a main road with a lot of public traffic or in a rarely frequented side street. UrbView incorporates media and police reports on criminal offenses in its evaluations and currently analyses 15 aspects of urban quality, with additional categories and analysis layers in development.
Great success from the first year on
Recognition for the work was not long in coming. If the hackathon in February 2022 marked the birth of UrbView, winning the Social Impact Award 2022 in October was the first big step. The next highlight followed just a few weeks later: the UrbView team received the Innovation in Digital Equality Award (IDEA) in the great ceremonial hall of Hamburg townhall. With this award, the Senate honours innovation and commitment in the field of equality and gender equity in the digital space. More important than the prize of 12,500 euro was the confirmation that UrbView had developed a promising business model, especially since governments are among its major customers. Also in autumn 2022, the startup secured a place in the AI Ideation funding programme of the AI.STARTUP.HUB. And at the beginning of 2024, the company received funding from the InnoImpact programme of IFB Innovationsstarter GmbH as well.
In October 2024, UrbView launched a pilot project with the Berlin State Criminal Police Office (LKA) at two locations: Neukölln, known as a social hotspot, and the quieter neighbourhood of Buch. While the project is still underway, early results already show a clear need and potential for improvement in both districts. The LKA has also expressed interest in expanding the project to other districts as part of an ongoing collaboration.
In the first quarter of 2025, UrbView secured a lead investor and has since raised 70 % of its 600,000 euro pre-seed financing round, providing greater planning security for the next phase of growth. The remaining 30 % is still open to investors who want to support UrbView’s mission of creating safer cities for all. The team now consists of seven members across four countries. Gerard and Adrià remain based in Spain, Bahareh Hassanpour, junior urban planner, lives in Italy, and Rishabh Haria, data engineer, in India. The latest addition is CSO Netta Emanuel, who leads sales and brings expertise to help scale UrbView’s impact.
There has already been plenty of support from Hamburg, for example from the very beginning through the Hamburg universities' startup platform, which was called beyourpilot at the time and is now known as Startup Port. Elnaz also praises the Hamburg startup community. Instead of competitive thinking, a willingness to co-operate prevails there. There is always the opportunity to meet for a coffee and exchange experiences.
Potential customers include not only cities and municipalities but also public and private transport companies, which have a strong interest in improving safety levels. The 400 to 500 meter radius surrounding transit stations is a key factor influencing whether people choose public transport, yet this area is often overlooked. As the only startup offering safety solutions focused on this radius, UrbView’s participation in the UITP Summit mobility trade fair in Hamburg in June attracted significant interest from transit operators and provided valuable opportunities to establish international contacts.
UrbView now hopes that the encouragement the startup has received from Hamburg's politicians will also lead to concrete implementation in the Hanseatic city. In contrast, Berlin has been quicker and less complicated in adopting innovative technology. In many cities, the security situation may be more critical than in Hamburg, which recorded an overall decline in criminal offences for the first half of 2025. However, there was a 22% increase in reported rapes and sexual assaults compared to the previous year. If UrbView offers an approach to reversing this trend, Hamburg should not miss this opportunity.
