Social Business City: Lessons from Wiesbaden

Abstract

As the seeds of social business continue to spread around the world, some places have already laid the groundwork for these seeds to germinate and grow. One such place is Wiesbaden, Germany, where a coalition of governmental, non-governmental, educational, and private institutions have come together to create the ideal habitat for the concept of social business to start embedding its roots deep into the foundation of today’s society. This chapter introduces the concept of the “social business city” and provides a description of the various organizations that have contributed to making Wiesbaden the first social business city in the world. The cooperative interaction of these entities has created a synergy with results that render the city an excellent model for other cities that want to initiate similar projects. The chapter concludes with a summary of lessons learned from the Wiesbaden experience.