Research Departments

The research department focuses on the complex interplay between economic activities and learning, on the one hand, and spatial and institutional structures on the other. The department dedicates much of its research to analysing the significance and impact of knowledge and how creative processes are organised. more infos

The research focuses on institutional arrangements and forms of governance for collectively used goods (public goods) against the background of the interplay between centralised decision-making in a multilevel state system, on the one hand, and decentralised action on the other. Thematically, the focus is on the production, distribution and use of energy as well as on cultural landscapes. more infos

The department focuses on communicative action and knowledge processes in spatial transformations. It examines how communicative action facilitates the emergence and dissemination of new spatial knowledge, social processes and material configurations of space. The current fields of work in the department include: spatial transformations by innovative processes in structurally weak areas; by digitalisation processes in the context of urban planning and design as well as by processes of climate change adaptation in cities and regions. more infos

The department studies processes of urban regeneration and considers these crucial for analysing urban transformations. The research centres on planning practices that address socio-spatial inequalities and fragmentations within and between cities in the context of increasingly global challanges such as migration. more infos

The Department for Historical Research explores urbanisation paths and planning cultures of the 20th century with a particular focus on contemporary history after 1945. Besides urban and regional planning, it examines the actions of public administrations and the long-term plans underlying them, as well as interventions and appropriations of space by civil society actors. more infos