Dr. Christoph Sommer
Research Associate | Politics and Planning
03362 793-257
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Dr Christoph Sommer has been a research associate in the research area "Politics and Planning" at the IRS since January 2023. He is working as a postdoc in the DFG project "Arenas of Conflict: Planning and Participation in Plural Democracy".

Christoph Sommer completed his doctorate with a thesis on governance techniques of (de-)problematising urban tourism conflicts (Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2020) and most recently worked at Leibniz Universität Hannover (Institute for Environmental Planning). He is particularly interested in urban and planning conflicts, the political content of planning administrative practice and the further development of social science methods for researching planning.

Projects

Ongoing Third-party Funded Projects

Third-party funded project 01/2023 - 12/2025
Arenas of Conflict: Planning and Participation in Plural Democracy

Whether it is protests against large-scale projects such as Stuttgart 21, wind turbines or development plans in growing cities: Spatial planning is increasingly confronted with conflicts. In this context, the classic forms of citizen participation are reaching their limits. The aim of this project is to further develop existing planning theories by distinguishing between rational, communicative and agonistic - i.e. conflict-related - types of planning in dealing with conflicts and by examining planning conflicts using empirical case studies in practice. more info

Selected Publications by Year

2022
Sommer, C., Flierl, T., & Keilhacker, T. (2022). Dieser Ort verdient Gestaltung. Wann kommt der versprochene Wettbewerb für das Areal am Berliner Checkpoint Charlie? Bauwelt, 12-13.
2021
Sommer, C. (2021). Powerful ways of (not) knowing New Urban Tourism. Thin problematisation as limitation for tourism governance in Berlin. In The Power of New Urban Tourism: Spaces, Representations and Contestations (pp. 161-172). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.15488/12677
Sommer, C. (2021). Seeing Like a Tourist City. Governance-Techniken der (Ent-)Problematisierung stadttouristischer Konflikte (Dissertationsschrift, HU Berlin). https://doi.org/DOI: 10.18452/22587
Sommer, C., & Greinke, L. (2021). Lässt sich das städtische Beherbergungswesen planen? Ein Diskussionsanstoß (nicht nur) aus Anlass der Corona-Pandemie. Planerin, 57-58. https://doi.org/10.15488/12758
Sommer, C., & Stors, N. (2021). New Urban Tourism: Orte, Konflikte und Regulierungsversuche. Geographische Rundschau, 20-25. https://doi.org/10.15488/12671
2019
Sommer, C., Frisch, T., Stors, N., & Stoltenberg, L. (2019). Tourism and Everyday Life in the Contemporary City. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429507168
Sommer, C., & Kip, M. (2019). Commoning in new tourism areas: Co-performing evening socials at the Admiralbrücke in Berlin-Kreuzberg. In Tourism and Everyday Life in the Contemporary City Routledge.
2018
Sommer, C. (2018). Stadttourismus neu denken: Worauf es bei der Arbeit an einem stadtverträglichen Tourismus ankommt. Forum Wohnen und Stadtentwicklung, 55-77. https://doi.org/10.15488/12669
2017
Sommer, C., & Helbrecht, I. (2017). Seeing like a tourist city: how administrative constructions of conflictive urban tourism shape its future. Journal of Tourism Futures, 157-170. https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-07-2017-0037
Sommer, C., Feige, M., Helbrecht, I., Schlüter, S., Berndt, M., Thiele, L., Szkorupa, D., & Heinsohn, K. (2017). 12 mal Berlin | er | Leben: Konzept für einen stadtverträglichen und nachhaltigen Berlin-Tourismus 2018+.

Selected Publications by Type

Monograph
Sommer, C. (2021). Seeing Like a Tourist City. Governance-Techniken der (Ent-)Problematisierung stadttouristischer Konflikte (Dissertationsschrift, HU Berlin). https://doi.org/DOI: 10.18452/22587
Anthology
Sommer, C., Frisch, T., Stors, N., & Stoltenberg, L. (2019). Tourism and Everyday Life in the Contemporary City. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429507168
Journal Article
Sommer, C., Flierl, T., & Keilhacker, T. (2022). Dieser Ort verdient Gestaltung. Wann kommt der versprochene Wettbewerb für das Areal am Berliner Checkpoint Charlie? Bauwelt, 12-13.
Sommer, C., & Greinke, L. (2021). Lässt sich das städtische Beherbergungswesen planen? Ein Diskussionsanstoß (nicht nur) aus Anlass der Corona-Pandemie. Planerin, 57-58. https://doi.org/10.15488/12758
Sommer, C., & Stors, N. (2021). New Urban Tourism: Orte, Konflikte und Regulierungsversuche. Geographische Rundschau, 20-25. https://doi.org/10.15488/12671
Sommer, C. (2018). Stadttourismus neu denken: Worauf es bei der Arbeit an einem stadtverträglichen Tourismus ankommt. Forum Wohnen und Stadtentwicklung, 55-77. https://doi.org/10.15488/12669
Sommer, C., & Helbrecht, I. (2017). Seeing like a tourist city: how administrative constructions of conflictive urban tourism shape its future. Journal of Tourism Futures, 157-170. https://doi.org/10.1108/JTF-07-2017-0037
Contribution to Anthology
Sommer, C. (2021). Powerful ways of (not) knowing New Urban Tourism. Thin problematisation as limitation for tourism governance in Berlin. In The Power of New Urban Tourism: Spaces, Representations and Contestations (pp. 161-172). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.15488/12677
Sommer, C., & Kip, M. (2019). Commoning in new tourism areas: Co-performing evening socials at the Admiralbrücke in Berlin-Kreuzberg. In Tourism and Everyday Life in the Contemporary City Routledge.
Expertise for Politics, Society, Economy
Sommer, C., Feige, M., Helbrecht, I., Schlüter, S., Berndt, M., Thiele, L., Szkorupa, D., & Heinsohn, K. (2017). 12 mal Berlin | er | Leben: Konzept für einen stadtverträglichen und nachhaltigen Berlin-Tourismus 2018+.

Memberships

  • Städtebauliches Dialogverfahren zum Bildungs- und Erinnerungsort Checkpoint Charlie (Event)