Research
Research at SPUR covers urban planning and urban policy-making for sustainable development.
We live in an urban and urbanizing world. Cities are places where environmental, economic, and social problems manifest themselves, but they are also key pathways to every aspect of global sustainable development.
To examine urban sustainable development, the SPUR group conducts three overarching research agendas that are interdisciplinarily informed: Urban Policy and Politics, Spatial Planning and Development, Humanitarian Planning and Housing.
In this research field, we study and evaluate urban planning and policy-making for global urban sustainable development. Our main research questions are:
- What kind of policies and processes do cities formulate and implement to plan for sustainable development?
- How effective are urban sustainable development policies? What are the capacities and constraints of cities to effectively plan and react to global sustainability challenges?
- What are the capacities and constraints of cities to effectively plan and react to global sustainability challenges?
In this research field, we analyze how a sustainable, democratic and just urban development can be planned and implemented. Our main research questions are:
- What drives the acceptance and public support for densification projects and densification policies?
- What are the socio-economic effects of urban densification policies?
- What planning and governance processes can facilitate sustainable and fair urban densification projects?
In this research field, we create knowledge to serve the housing needs of displaced populations worldwide through environmentally and socially sustainable humanitarian planning. Our main research questions are:
- What innovative housing solutions may support the living conditions of displaced populations in refugee camps and, especially, in cities?
- How do humanitarian housing solutions affect the sustainability of societal and environmental systems - and vice versa?
- How can hazard risk mitigation and management become an integrated part of socially and environmentally just housing solutions for displaced people?
- What can sustainable transitions between humanitarian and development strategies look like in the context of humanitarian housing?