Urban-Think Tank

What Urban-Think Tank does

Urban-Think Tank, operating as Urbanthinktank_next (uttnext), is a Zurich-headquartered architecture and urban design consultancy founded in 1998 as Caracas-Think Tank by Hubert Klumpner and Alfredo Brillembourg, and re-founded under Klumpner's sole direction in 2019 with offices in Zurich, Medellín (Colombia), Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina), and Vienna. The firm delivers socially engaged architecture, urban planning, landscape architecture, and research-driven design services through a portfolio of prototypical projects — including Metrocable Caracas (urban cable-car integration), the Vertical Gym network of community recreational facilities, the 10,824 m2 Fabrica de Cultura cultural complex in Barranquilla, and the Digital Twin / Urban Plan Sarajevo 2040 — alongside proprietary digital tools such as the EnerPol Urban Digital Twin simulation software and the pandemic-era Studio Mobil methodology.

The firm's commercial model rests on two revenue streams. The first is project-based professional services: long-running design and construction commissions commissioned by municipal and regional governments (Municipality of Barranquilla, Gobernación del Atlántico), cultural secretariats, and development finance institutions including the Inter-American Development Bank, FINDETER, Colombia's SGR/OCAD royalty system, and Switzerland's SECO. The second is academic and research revenue, anchored by ETH Zurich professorships held by four of the five partners, plus teaching at the University of Sarajevo, UPB Medellín, and collaborations with institutions such as UniNorte. The firm maintains no productized SaaS or licensing business; digital tools are deployed internally and in service of consulting engagements.

Urban-Think Tank positions itself as a southern-perspective counterweight to technology-reliant smart-city movements, formalized through its 'Radical Care and Climate Action' theoretical framework exhibited at the 2021 Vienna Biennale at MAK and propagated via academic publications (MDPI Books, Hatje Cantz, Lars Müller Publishers) and a continuous exhibition circuit (Shenzhen Bi-City Biennale, Belgrade Underground, MediTirana, Days of Architecture Sarajevo). The firm operates with a small core team of approximately nine staff, distributed across its four offices, and depends on a concentrated roster of public-sector anchor clients and multi-year program funding rather than diversified enterprise revenue.

Name

Urban-Think Tank

Legal name

Uttnext & Urban-Think Tank

Website

https://uttnext.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1998

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Urban-Think Tank (uttnext) is a Zurich-based architecture and urban design consultancy serving municipal governments and development banks with socially engaged, socio-ecological urban projects across Latin America, the Balkans, and Africa, anchored by ETH Zurich academic partnerships.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architectural and Urban Design Services

NAICS

Landscape Architectural Services (54132)

akta.pro primary industry

Urban Planning & Master Planning (BPAHAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Urban & Regional Planning (Land Use, Zoning, Master Planning) (BPAIANAD), Sustainable Cities, Urban Development & Green Infrastructure (BPADALAL), Smart Cities & Urban Innovation Programs (Digital Planning, Civic Tech for Cities) (BPAIANAJ)

Keywords

• Urban design services
• Architecture consulting
• Urban planning
• Social architecture
• Urban transformation

Headquarters

HQ city

Zurich

HQ country

Switzerland

HQ region

Europe

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Urban Design Consulting: Project-based consulting fees for architecture, urban planning, and design projects commissioned by governments, municipalities, and development institutions. Revenue generated through design and construction contracts such as the Fabrica de Cultura project (30,000 Mio COP).
2. Research and Academic Collaboration: Revenue from academic research partnerships, teaching positions at ETH Zurich, and collaborative projects with universities. Research grants and institutional funding support projects like the Digital Planning Study of Kigali Rwanda.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Urban-Think Tank is an architecture and urban design consultancy that delivers socially engaged, socio-ecological urban transformation projects for governments, municipalities, and development institutions. The firm offers prototypical urban projects including transit infrastructure (Metrocable Caracas), community recreational facilities (Vertical Gym), cultural complexes (Fabrica de Cultura), and urban master plans (Urban Plan Sarajevo), supported by proprietary digital tools such as the EnerPol Urban Digital Twin for large-scale urban simulations and the Studio Mobil methodology.

Product overview

Urban-Think Tank (uttnext) operates as an urban design and architecture practice offering a portfolio of prototypical urban projects and research-based planning tools. The core offering includes named architectural and urban planning projects: Metrocable Caracas (cable car infrastructure), Vertical Gym (multi-level community facilities), Fabrica de Cultura (cultural complex), and the Urban Plan Sarajevo (digital twin and urban plan). Supporting these projects are specialized tools including EnerPol Urban Digital Twin for large-scale urban simulations and Studio Mobil, a mobile research and design methodology. The practice re-imagines urbanization through architecture, landscape architecture, planning, and urbanism, primarily from southern perspectives, using both analog and digital tools and methods.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Metrocable Caracas

Quantifiable outcome

• 2,800 students directly benefit annually from Fabrica de Cultura project; 10,000+ indirect beneficiaries including community, visitors, artists
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• ETH ZurichcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Primary academic partner providing research support and co-development of urban design methodologies. Hubert Klumpner is Professor in Practice at ETH Zurich, directing research groups on urbanization, ecologization, and digitalization. Multiple team members teach at ETH.
• Municipality of BarranquillacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary municipal client and partner for Fabrica de Cultura project. Commissioned design and construction 2018-2022 for cultural and educational infrastructure.
• Gobernación del AtlánticomajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional government partner in Colombia supporting urban transformation and cultural projects in the Atlántico department.
• UniNortemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerUniversidad del Norte academic partner led by Manuel Moreno, collaborating on urban transformation projects and design research in Colombia.
• Secretariat of Culture, Heritage and Tourism Municipality of BarranquillacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerClient and development partner for Fabrica de Cultura project, representing the cultural programming and heritage preservation aspects of the initiative.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Others

• IDEO: Global design and innovation consultancy that has historically engaged in urban and social-impact design projects. Comparable to uttnext in the design-research and human-centered methodology lens, though operating at much larger scale and across broader product/service categories.
• UN-Habitat: United Nations agency for sustainable urban development, which commissions and funds urban planning and design projects in developing countries. Comparable to uttnext as both a thought-leadership reference point and a likely counterpart/funding partner on urban transformation programs.

Direct peers

• Sasaki Associates: International planning and design firm with strong urban planning, landscape architecture, and urban-strategy practices. Comparable to uttnext in combining urban planning, landscape architecture, and large-scale master planning for cities and institutions.
• ELEMENTAL (Alejandro Aravena): Chilean social-architecture practice known for incremental housing and public-space projects for low-income communities, and 2016 Pritzker Prize winner. Comparable to uttnext in 'radical care' social-mission positioning, southern-perspective framing, and built projects in Latin America.
• Studio Gang: Architecture and urban-design studio combining academic teaching (Harvard GSD) with civic and ecological projects. Comparable to uttnext in academic-practice integration, urban-planning scope, and socio-ecological design orientation.
• Heatherwick Studio: London-based design studio working across architecture, urban design, and large-scale public realm projects with an emphasis on social and cultural impact. Comparable to uttnext in practice profile (architecture + urbanism + public realm) and exhibition-led brand building.
• MASS Design Group: Social-impact architecture practice with a research-to-built-project model, designing schools, health facilities, and housing with measurable community outcomes. Directly comparable to uttnext in combining academic research, social-mission framing, and operational delivery in developing-country contexts.

Broad incumbents

• OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture): Major global architecture and urbanism firm founded by Rem Koolhaas, with extensive urban planning and research-driven practice. Comparable to uttnext in research-driven urbanism and exhibition presence, but operating at much larger scale across many geographies.
• BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group): Large international architecture and urbanism practice with master-planning projects. Comparable to uttnext in urban master-planning work and tech-forward positioning, but operating at much larger scale and broader commercial scope.

Emerging players

• Stoss Landscape Urbanism: Boston-based urban design and landscape architecture studio working on public-realm and climate-adaptive urban projects. Comparable to uttnext in combining landscape architecture, urbanism, and climate-just framing, though primarily U.S.-focused.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/urban-think-tank

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Urban-Think Tank