Search

This paper discusses digital neighbourhood communication in rural areas and its effects on local communal life. Therefore, survey data as well as guided interviews of residents in Metelen, county Steinfurt (Germany), are analysed. The results indicate that using digital neighbourhood platforms in rural communities intensifies contacts and further strengthens the feeling of social participation.However, digital neighbourhood contacts do not facilitate relationships concerning analogous material exchange, such as lending items. Furthermore, the analysis of the qualitative interviews shows that digital neighbourhood communication is used in the organisation of community life, presents local activities, and simplifies the organisation of local customs. All in all, those digital structures are mainly used for information purposes. Consequently, digital neighbourhood relations must be regarded when developing and organising future public services, although a functional usage is required to achieve a successful outcome. As digital contact emerges from analogous contact, occasions and infrastructure to actually ensure direct contact are inevitable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Up to now, there is no equivalent to the smart city concept for rural areas. Such a concept can draw on the findings and experiences from the urban context, but must adequately take into account the characteristics and structures of rural areas. This is where the enrolment of a concept for smart countryside in this paper starts as an action-oriented framework. Through an integrative consideration of current trends and tendencies, normative debates about equality and justice as well as possibilities in various fields of action, it includes development options that become possible through digitalisation and 'smart' implementation. Their realisation should be strongly demanddriven. The concept includes also governance processes and knowledgemanagement, and the application of co-design approaches. Development potentials of digitalisation are seen beyond simple technology orientation. The concept of digitalisation presented here can contribute to a more comprehensive transformation of rural areas towards sustainability. It formulates a joint design mandate for politics, society and science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an additive index on climate policy engagement at the municipal level, based on the three dimensions awareness, conception and implementation of climate change mitigation and adaptation. The distortion of the index is based on the self-perception and personal assessment of municipal decision-makers, which were collected and evaluated as part of a primary survey (postal survey). The index shows how strongly a municipality is committed to climate policy. Thus, it represents an extension of previous indices that either only consider climate mitigation or adaptation or are only based exclusively on secondary statistics. The second part of the paper describes the application of the index in three counties or 51 municipalities in Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. The interpretation takes place in the context of structural characteristics of the municipalities concerned (number of inhabitants, share of votes of different parties, geographical location). The distribution of the index values shows a similar awareness in climate protection and climate change adaptation, but an increasing discrepancy in the implementation of adaptation-specific measures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the connection of the foundational economy approach, a contemporary concept in the public services discourse, with the notion of spatial justice. It argues that the economic relevance of the systems of the foundational economy are important for territorial development issues, too and that they are able to provide a substantial contribution to sustainable and just spatial development. First, the concept of spatial justice is introduced as a spatial planning policy interpretation of equal living conditions. Based on four sub-dimensions, it is shown that access to basic services for all people plays an elementary part in this. The concept shares this perspective with the foundational economy approach. The latter opens up a new perspective on public services and, in addition to the service provision, also emphasises the high significance of foundational economic systems for labour markets. Against this background, a descriptive-statistical evaluation of labour market data on the spatial distribution of the foundational economy at the district level in Bavaria is carried out. Overall, the paper addresses the uneven spatial distribution of the foundational economies and advocates better funding for municipalities in order to achieve spatial justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Municipalities as key players in the transport transition, local authorities are increasingly using consultative public participation in planning. So far, however, it is unclear to what extent they use participatory processes in mobility-related planning and how these are organised. This paper closes this knowledge gap based on an analysis of the consultative, discursive participation processes for mobility-related planning in German cities since 2015. 180 cities and 350 procedures were analysed to determine to what extent an what characteristics in German municipalities use consultative, discursive participation procedures inmobility-related planning and what possible in- fluence of the respective context can be derived from this. The study analyses 'participation-oriented' cities with guidelines for citizen participation, which were compared to a random selection of 'typical' municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Baden-Württemberg and Saxony as well as the three German city states. It is clear that discursive consultations are carried out regularly, in particular in municipalities with guidelines and larger cities. Yet in most cities such processes are still the exception. Worth criticizing is that the formats used can usually reach only certain groups of the population and that for a significant proportion of the processes examined no information on the results of participation can be found. As a result, the potential of discursive citizen participation in addressing the municipal transport transition have not yet been sufficiently utilised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Conflicts are considered as vital elements of plural democracies in agonistic political and planning theory. According to this theory, antagonisms are to be tamed and channeled into agonistic disputes. Therefore, forms of participation in planning procedures play a key role in the resolution and regulation of conflicts. The central question of this paper is the role of participatory procedures in planning in order to resolve and settle conflicts, which occur in a particularly sharp way in the context of large-scale projects. The paper presents planning conflicts and forms of participation using the case of the settlement of the Gigafactory Tesla in the German state of Brandenburg. Within the framework of an empirical case study, the approval procedure of the project and a land use plan procedure of the municipality are analysed. Both procedures are characterized by a great acceleration, early preliminary decisions and participation deficits. The result shows that in the case of the settlement of Tesla, in addition to conflicts of interest, values and location, procedural conflicts also occur, which call the acceptance of planning into question. The forms of participation practiced do not prove suitable for taming conflicts, but rather produce mistrust among opponents and reinforce antagonistic dynamics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The energy transition and the expansion of renewable energies are central challenges to planning. In view of tightened climate protection targets and the associated rise in installation capacity, planning conflicts are likely to intensify further in the coming years. At the same time, democratic institutions are under increasing pressure. The expansion of wind energymust proceed swiftlywhile democratic participationmust be ensured. Based on planning conflicts over wind turbines in Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Brandenburg, this paper addresses the extent to which research on planning conflicts can benefit froma justice perspective, both in theoretical-conceptual and empirical terms. Drawing on concepts from research on spatial justice, energy justice, and planning justice, the paper uses a three-dimensional conception of justice to identify access points for dealing constructively with conflicts. First, conflicts have to be recognized as such and their productive potential has to be acknowledged. Second, strategies have to be established that allowconflicts to be dealtwith constructively. In doing so, several dimensions of justicemust be taken into account: distributive justice andthequestion ofwhat is to be distributed according to which criteria, recognition justice and the reflexion on difference and needs beyond hegemonic majority opinion, and finally procedural justice, which is intended to ensure that recognition and fair distribution can be implemented. In this way, a proactive attitude towards planning conflicts can make a central contribution to sustainable and democratic planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with planning conflicts in the pluralistic democracy, based on an international literature review. The aim is to trace the state of research on how spatial planning deals with conflicts. Moreover, we reflect upon the development of major planning paradigms with regard to this topic. To this end, some basics on conflict and conflict resolution in spatial planning are presented. The collaborative planning paradigm, which appears hegemonic in planning theory and practice until today, is then critically discussed with regard to its handling of conflicts. Subsequently, agonistic planning theory is introduced with reference to the work of political scientist Chantal Mouffe. This concept claims to deal specifically with conflict, which renders it particularly relevant for this topic. In conclusion, the paper reflects on the extent to which agonistic planning can have practical relevance for the regulation of conflicts and how this can be achieved in contemporary planning practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pedestrian-friendly urban structures motivate people to use active modes of mobility and walk instead of using their car. Active mobility is associated with health-promoting benefits and assumed to support neighbourhood-based social interaction. In this context, walkability assessment tools help urban and transport planning to identify deficiencies for the walkability of urban neighbourhoods and use the results to work towards improvements. The results contribute towards the establishment of indicators to measure development and planning targets with respect to the walkability of urban neighbourhoods and continuous monitoring over time. Based on a newly developed and free available GIS-measurement tool this paper assesses the walkability of the 16 most populated Germany cities at a small scale. The lowest average walkability can be found in the city of Dortmund, while Frankfurt am Main shows the highest values. The paper discusses the methodology and the results for the 16 cities and uses short portrayals of the town planning history and pedestrian infrastructure in Dortmund and Frankfurt am Main to explain possible reasons for the differences in the measurement results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgent transformation of our energy system towards a sustainable infrastructure of public services regularly fails in regional implementation due to spatial and social requirements of rural areas. Using the example of a transdisciplinary project, this paper identifies dilemmas in the participatory implementation of the regional energy transition and formulates conditions for the success of a spatially sensitive energy transition governance. As shown by the governance approach developed for "co-transformation", context-sensitive forms of participation in co-regulation, co-allocation and co-visioning can contribute to procedural, distributional and future justice and thus to the acceptability of the regional energy transition as a public service infrastructure in rural areas. Central fields of action are open-ended and regionally adapted forms of participation through co-regulation in the planning process, approaches to spatial co-allocation of energy transition-related burdens and local added values, as well as the co-visioning of regional energy futures and regional energy visions to be derived from them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Volunteer firefighters are an established institution in many rural areas across Europe. In spite of this ubiquity, many volunteer brigades have been increasingly facing challenges in discharging their functions. Issues such as undertaking necessary investments, and ensuring daytime availability have become particularly critical against the backdrop of an increase in the number of interventions. Many of the measures intended to futureproof volunteer firefighting are based on transferring responsibility to different actors. To this end developing and expanding the reach of fire safety education functions to enhance the public's prevention and self-protection skills. The aim of this paper is to explore the process of institutional change induced by innovative initiatives, which aim to advance fire safety education. For the study, we draw on empirical research, which follows the development and mainstreaming of two projects in Austria and Germany. These initiatives aim to standardise disparate approaches and are underpinned by new forms of multi-level cooperation. Our inductive analysis identifies five key steps which define the successful long-term implementation of projects in coproduced services of general interest. We conclude with observations on the redistribution of responsibility for fire services and hazard prevention in contemporary societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urgency of the energy transition is in conflict with delaying effects and options that are not optimally used in the complex, multi-stage German planning system. This also applies to the law and procedures of spatial planning, as well as the interaction of spatial planning with construction planning and sectoral law. Here, fundamental reform options have not yet been exhausted, despite many current legislative projects. Some procedural steps and options for legislative deviations can be eliminated altogether, the interaction of planning and decision-making levels can be made more effective, and subject-related certain hierarchical levels in the planning system could be omitted on a topic-specific basis. Based on a brief analysis of the initial situation for spatial planning, this paper first provides corresponding general considerations on such far-reaching acceleration options and their consequences. This is followed by the presentation of numerous specific spatial planning-related optimisation options. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the beginning of this decade, society has been confronted with multiple crises that also act as new drivers of spatial development. Based on a literature review and qualitative interviews with housing market actors, this paper presents an interim balance of the lasting influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on housing preferences and location decisions as well as initial empirical knowledge and theses on the effects of the 2022 energy crisis on these decisions. It emerges that the energy crisis already has a greater impact on spatial development today and will probably have a greater impact in the medium and long term than the pandemic. Housing preferences that arose during the pandemic have already shifted again or can no longer be implemented at present. At the same time, the influences of the pandemic can no longer be considered in isolation from the energy crisis. While the pandemic will further intensify spatial deconcentration processes, the effects of the energy crisis are spatially more differentiated. Moreover, in a time of multiple crises, future spatial development will not be shaped by individual crises, but by their interaction - also with long-standing trends such as the ageing of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on intensive study of the contents of the journal "Raumforschung und Raumordnung" (RuR) - from its first publication in 1936 to its (temporary) discontinuation in 1944. It was the forum for the new scientific and political thoughts and reflections that were formed in this field during the Nazi era and was supported by the institutions in charge of its publication: the "Reich Association for Spatial Research" (RAG) and the "Reich Agency for Spatial Planning" (RfR). The aim of the paper is to uncover which social developments and accompanying intellectual groundwork from the time before 1933 the authors were able to build upon, both positively and negatively, and which expositions paid tribute to the (malevolent) spirit of the times and the goals of the Nazi regime. The contradiction between professional competence and intellectual subservience to the Nazi regime, or even the perversion of professionality, is revealed in the career behaviour of academics and practitioners, almost all of whom were born around 1900. Their activities after 1945 and their future careers are mentioned but are not the subject of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the journal 'Raumforschung und Raumordnung' (RuR), the topic of spatial planning in the GDR played but a subordinate role. Nevertheless, it is possible to deduce basic statements on the reception of GDR territorial planning. This paper examines articles in the journal with the aim of identifying tendencies in discussion of spatial planning in the GDR. It is essential to also take a look at the development of spatial planning in the GDR itself in order to trace the relationship between the image in the journal and the real frame of reference in the GDR. The analysis oscillates between chronological consideration of epistemologically promising articles in RuR and distinctive findings in GDR planning research. The focus of the analysis is on key publications that also contribute to interpretation of the spatial turn. The tendencies found also reflected socio-political connotations of federal policy towards the GDR. These began with rather distanced reporting on the 'Soviet zone' and critical observations on individual aspects of spatial planning there. This was followed by increasingly objective reports and critiques that sketched a differentiated picture of spatial planning in the GDR. Finally, the papers comprised professional discussion about the GDR on equal terms, combining critical reflection with consideration of problems in the FRG. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metropolitan regions result from spatial rescaling processes and region formations and are considered as "soft spaces of governance", referring to international debates on the "new regionalism". This paper addresses the criticism that the focus on competitive metropolitan regions distracts from the need for action on classic spatial planning issues. For this, the paper examines and discusses the institutional integration of regional planning in the German metropolitan regions and the activities of regional growth management as well as the regulatory intensity of regional plans based on a group comparison of metropolitan regions. As a result, the thesis of an institutionally fragmented regulatory growth management by regional planning can only be confirmed for a few metropolitan regions, where no relevant institutions and instruments are implemented in the core area. Regarding the "soft" instruments of growth management, the situation is very different. Here, the action potential is not yet fully utilized, even in metropolitan regions with strong institutional cores. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the management of settlement growth in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg from the perspective of informality. Luxembourg is subject to high demographic and economic growth pressures across all parts of the country (capital, old-industrialized South, rural North), which strongly challenges the current planning system. At the same time, there is no formal regional planning, apart from approaches of intermunicipal cooperation, which are mainly voluntary in nature. Drawing on empirical case studies in two high-growth municipalities (Junglinster, Schuttrange), the paper outlines planning decisions in the institutional triangle between municipality, state and private institutions. Informality serves here not only to compensate for a lack of planning control, but also to deal with the country's complex legal framework conditions. The vital interests of landowners come into play informally as well: since parts of the country's wealth emerge from the valorization of property, speculative interests are immanent, and thus block development processes. In this context, the paper addresses elements of a regional growth management that could close the gap that exists between state planning and municipal autonomy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of residential areas in the context of settlement development is a significant driver regarding land use and thus critical in achieving the goal of reduced new land use to less than 30 hectares per day by 2030. Although spatial planning and spatial science have been addressing this issue for years, e.g. through consistent land management, the current land use in Germany amounts to around 52 hectares per day (as of 2019). This is i.a. because the control of settlement development often only intervenes in developments that go beyond the own communal development. Approaches to controlling self-development usually remain on a blanket level and thus promote decentralized decisions that, in total, contradict the set goals. The aim of this paper is to present a model for calculating self-development, which not only takes demographic development into account, but also aligns the size of self-development with site-specific requirements to consider the principles of spatial planning and thus promote sustainable spatial development. In its empirical basis, the paper is based on statistical analyses of the respective needs as well as surveys, interviews research results that have been carried out or have arisen within the framework of the BMBF-funded project Interko2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, growth coalitions and growth critiques are examined by using the example of in-migration policies in the context of Jena case study. This is based on the following questions: Which local growth coalitions do exist with which growth goals? To what extent do growth boundaries lead to an expansion of local growth coalitions with the urban hinterland? What kind of growth-critical positions are there in urban politics and to what extent do they question growth policies? The paper particularly ties in with the theoretical discussion of post-growth planning and enriches it by an empirical reflection by examining forms of municipal growth scepticism as well as limits of regional cooperation. The results show that there is a distinct growth coalition in Jena, which pursues the goal of attracting skilled workers to secure economic growth. However, due to natural growth limits and the resistance of individual residents, in-migration policies are reaching their limits, so that intermunicipal cooperation in the urban region is being sought as a fallback solution. Explicit critiques of growth and a fundamental public discussion about growth policies, on the other hand, just begin to emerge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

According to agonistic democracy theory, conflict is key for the functioning of plural democracies. In particular in 'fractured' societies, deliberative spaces in which adversary positions can be recognized and negotiated, serve as important arenas where antagonisms can be transformed into agonisms. Professionals dealing with conflicts between different interest groups - for instance in the field of spatial planning - are therefore challenged to identify appropriate 'spaces' for debate. Against this background, this paper discusses the extent to which localist discourses and practices can facilitate such spaces. For this purpose, we introduce a scheme for classifying different manifestations of New Localism. This scheme is unpacked and discussed by means of two contrasting case studies that reconstruct notions of New Localism based on amigration-related conflict in a rural area and on a conflict about traffic calming in an urban neighbourhood. Thereby we show how localist discourses and practices can contribute to establishing common symbolic spaces and temporary conflictual consensus, but also to concealing and normalizing exclusionary positions in small-scale conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Historically, the emergence of planning law and the juridification of planning in Germany did not follow any planning theory, but a logic inherent to the constitutional state. Only in small number of cases did the legislature or the judiciary adopt elements of planning theories, most of which were developed much later. Law defines itself by its strict claim to be obeyed. Therefore, the requirements of planning law may conflict with the recommendations of normative planning theories and then claim precedence over these. Nevertheless, with regard to the viability of some proposals of agonistic planning theories, legal borderlines arise. This paper deals with these borderlines. However, the goal of agonistic theories of planning coincides with the basic function of planning law to pacify conflicting interests and to reach acceptable solutions. Opponents of state planning projects thus are entitled to participate in planning procedures and to file farreaching lawsuits. However, the legal order also sets limits to legitimate resistance to democratic planning and cannot refrain from distinguishing between legitimate and illegitimate forms of rejection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the "communicative turn" planning research has been intensively concerned with how conflicts should and are dealt with. Approaches of "agonistic" planning theory contradict the normative premise of building consensus among planning participants. Rather, they want to make conflicting positions normatively fruitful for spatial development. At the same time, they emphasise a supposed duality of planning and protest, which is questioned in recent protest and movement theory. Building on a discussion of different approaches in planning and protest theory as well as an empirical analysis of planning-related protests in Germany, this paper shows that these protests are increasingly perceived as "normality" by planning actors and that antagonistic participation remains culturally bounded despite increasing conflictuality and the supposed questioning of representative democracy. Protest action is part of differentiated "participation bundles" that, depending on the situation, also include public participation, direct democratic referenda and lawsuits. Protesters usually pursue a reform-oriented agenda that does not require "taming". However, the underlying conflicts often cannot be "resolved" at all. Planners, on the other hand, may have rationalist and deliberative approaches at their disposal even within an agonistic planning environment, which they use situationally and strategically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of residential areas in the context of settlement development is a significant driver regarding land use and thus critical in achieving the goal of reduced new land use to less than 30 hectares per day by 2030. Although spatial plan-ning and spatial science have been addressing this issue for years, e.g. through consistent land management, the current land use in Germany amounts to around 52 hectares per day (as of 2019). This is i.a. because the control of settlement development often only intervenes in developments that go beyond the own communal development. Approaches to controlling self-development usually remain on a blanket level and thus promote decentralized decisions that, in total, contradict the set goals. The aim of this paper is to present a model for calculating self-development, which not only takes demographic development into account, but also aligns the size of self-development with site-specific requirements to consider the principles of spatial planning and thus promote sustainable spatial development. In its empirical basis, the paper is based on statistical analyses of the respective needs as well as surveys, interviews research results that have been carried out or have arisen within the framework of the BMBFfunded project Interko2. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of differentiated land use was formulated already 50 years ago to preserve biodiversity and to maintain or restore the necessary landscape structure. Although it has been anchored in the Federal Nature Conservation Act, there is still nomonitoring of its implementation, although the German Advisory Council on the Environment has been calling for this for 25 years. The paper argues that the technical prerequisites formonitoring the differentiated land use are ready today and discusses the conceptual steps necessary. It identifies several dimensions and proposes corresponding indicators of landscape structure, in particular the degree of diversification and themixing of intensive land uses, the distribution of the size of intensively used areas, the proportion of semi-natural areas (at least 10%) and the interconnected arrangement of seminatural areas. Furthermore, the paper discusses suitable reference units and existing data. Finally, we identify remaining gaps in the data basis and discuss the question of defining target values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper puts forward a proposal for the consideration of atmospheres within the analysis of the social construction of landscape(s). Starting out from an overview of approaches in constructivist landscape research, focusing on the German speaking world, we may confirm an increased interest in the role of subjective multisensorial experience with regard to constructions of landscape(s), which has, however, not yet been reflected in current research approaches. The concept of atmosphere, with its consideration of multisensorial in situ-encounters, may be able to contribute to the scholarly discussion. Following a presentation of core ideas of the concept of atmosphere(s), we show that, on a conceptual level, the conscious experience of atmospheres and their effects may inform the construction of landscapes. Furthermore, in a methodological section we illustrate on the basis of two exploratory examples, how the influence of atmospheres on subjective constructions of landscape(s) may be empirically accessible. The paper closes with a discussion of our proposal within current trajectories of the Anglophone landscape geography. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the shift of the workplace to the private home in the Covid-19-pandemic, the sphere of gainful employment has more or less abruptly invaded the private sphere and has not only led to necessary adaptations in houses and flats, but has also raised new questions about the attractiveness of residential locations. Based on the results of an online survey, this paper examines the influence of home office on housing and settlement structures. Considerations of co-working spaces, another form of mobile work, are also included in the analyses. The aim of the paper is to contribute to the discussion about the attractiveness of residential locations and the consequences of mobile working for housing behaviour. The results show: Contrary to what media discussions suggest, no clear effects on location preferences or a 'new desire for the countryside' can be identified (so far). Furthermore, there is an increased willingness to move, especially in flats that are perceived as too small; dissatisfaction with the flat is higher among respondents with little space. Co-working Spaces do not yet play a role, but respondents with a preference for flexible forms of work are considering them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a contribution to the debate on deregulation of spatial planning and lean regional plans, this paper presents the first long-term study for Germany analysing the regulatory intensity of all regional plans legally valid in 2017 on the topics of settlement and open space development over time. As a final result, the assumption of a general deregulation and streamlining of regional plans cannot be confirmed. In contrast, changes in the legal basis, such as the priority of inner over outer urban development, have led to a continuous increase in the regulatory intensity over time, particularly in the case of positive growth management policies with an active role of regional planning. At the same time, there is evidence of streamlining tendencies in some states, which can partly be interpreted as deregulation tendencies. To date, however, they are merely an expression of state-specific ways of shaping regional planning and not a sign of an accelerated deregulation competition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the last two decades, large housing estates in eastern Germany have become the scene of an increased concentration of low-income households. At the same time, considerable shifts in the structure of home ownership have been documented in these areas. National and international investors have acquired large housing stocks here and become a fundamental part of the local housing markets. This paper discusses the connection between both developments. Based on a case study in two large housing estates in Halle (Saale) and Schwerin, it is argued that the relative impoverishment of large housing estates can be traced back to two developments on the supply side: On the one hand, municipal housing companies are increasingly made responsible for the provision of homes for households that cannot provide for themselves on the market. Due to the uneven spatial distribution of municipal housing, this leads to an increased concentration of poor households in the large housing estates. On the other hand, letting policies of financial investors are characterised by tight yield requirements. In view of a rather restrained demand for the housing they manage, they therefore increasingly rent their flats to population groups that are avoided by other landlords. Together, these developments operate like a 'segregationmachine', which continuously shifts low-income population groups to the large housing estates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Changes in the accessibility of a city -- for example, due to the connection to the long-distance rail network for the first time -- not only affect transport demand but can also have catalytic effects on urban development. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study presented in this paper investigates whether long-distance rail stations in Germany between 2004/2005 and 2016/2017 generate such impulses for urban development in their catchment areas via their accessibility level and dynamics. Results show no direct impulses of accessibility on urban development in many cases, suggesting that other reasons such as population and housing pressure or the existence of inner-city (unused) development sites are the more significant factors for urban development dynamics. In addition, accessibility changes are often subject to business considerations that are generally detached from local political and planning goals and interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses which methods can be used to operationalize mobility in German planning practice. In particular, the index methodology, which is rarely used in planning practice, is suitable for the systematic operationalization of complex phenomena such as mobility. After a short theoretical introduction, the concept of mobility will be operationalized step by step for indexing. For this purpose, in addition to a theoretical construction model for a mobility index, a sciencebased list of indicators necessary for its calculation is created. Subsequently, this spatial mobility index is calculated on the basis of accessibility and user survey data from the Berlin district of Pankow. As a result, the index clearly shows on maps where people have more or less mobility options. Thus, the mobility index provides a novel method for planning to identify high or low mobility in the study areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

City-regional discourses around organisational forms offer little evidence to analyse and guide cooperative processes in a context-specific way. Design criteria can contribute to overcoming this deficit. This paper operationalises a proposed set of design criteria by drawing on the discourses on collaborative governance and land management. Subsequently, these design criteria are used to analyse an ongoing process for the development of a housing development concept in the Leipzig city region and to reflect on the criteria. This contributes to the question of how collaborative governance of land-use development in city regions should be designed. Important points of reference for the design of cooperations are the conscious selection of the actors to be involved and the development of mutual trust between them, joint definition of rules of the game for cooperation, determination of the nature of the emerging institution, orientation of the joint work towards the future and the development of a common understanding of the situation to be improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Planning processes of windfarms are often characterised by image conflicts. Conflicting parties use visualisations of the planned project to picture the assumed impact on the landscape and to underscore their opposing positions to the project. For observers and decision-makers (e.g. municipal leaders, administrators) it is often difficult to distinguish realistic visualisations from manipulative ones. This paper presents ways in which observers may acquire a competence in "reading" and assessing visualised windfarms - similar to the critical competence in assessing the validity of media sources. The paper also presents criteria for the different states of the visualisation process - from the context of production, to image processing to modes of presentation. These criteria render pictures more transparent and thus may help observers base their interpretations on sounder reasoning. Drawing on social constructivist theories of landscape interpretation and on extensive experience in conflict moderation, the paper demonstrates how a public planning dialogue, in which contradicting pictures claim validity, may be designed in order to clarify the value of each visualisation for the public. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 20th century activity spaces have mainly been perceived as a niche concept in German-speaking spatial research. Meanwhile, international research on activity spaces has developed further and gained quite some attention recently. This paper elaborates a comprehensive definition of activity spaces and presents current fields of application with special regard to research on travel behaviour, segregation and public health. Activity spaces as a concept improve estimates of the interactions between individuals and their respective social or built environments. Therefore, insights on activity spaces might ease the development of adequate planning and policy measures. In order to facilitate the systematic generation of future research questions, hypotheses, research designs and practice-oriented insights, this paper presents both a novel analytical concept and established methods for the study of activity spaces. The paper closes with considerations on possible research perspectives that lie beyond the current state of research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of ecosystem services has great potential to anchor nature conservation and species protection more firmly in a broader social debate. As an assessment framework, it illustrates the benefits of natural services in the broadest sense and is the subject of intense debate with regard to its scope and the operationalization required for spatial planning. In the sense of an integration into the social debate about the sustainable use of natural resources, the concept should be included in the canon of educational offers - beyond the 'classical' offers and topics of environmental education. This paper exemplifies how the concept is taught in school education (using the example of the Federal State of Saxony, Germany), and in higher education in selected subject areas in Germany as well as in the further education landscape for planning practitioners (in Germany, Austria and Switzerland). The paper shows approaches and deficits for a future goal-oriented operationalization of the concept. The focus is explicitly on environmental education and the provision of educational offers for actors in spatial planning, and reflects the current landscape of educational offers in the mentioned fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a scientifically credible and practically relevant set of indicators and methods to assess and evaluate ecosystem services of relevance for land use and landscape planning. The research questions are (i) to identify suitable ecosystem services, indicators, and methods, and (ii) to assess the proposed indicators regarding the respective data availability and assessment effort. The region of Frankfurt/Rhein-Main (Germany) serves as the case study. The methods include the synthesis of a specifically adapted list of ecosystem services indicators based on relevant prior research and an expert-based and application-oriented evaluation. The proposed list for the region of Frankfurt/Rhein-Main contains 27 ecosystemservices, with one or more associated indicators each. The evaluation reveals that metropolitan regions in Germany usually provide sufficient data to assess almost all ecosystem services. The assessment effort differs, but is generally moderate. The paper concludes with recommendations for practical application in the Frankfurt region and beyond. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In planning processes, issues of high complexity and conflicts are negotiated. Perceptions and requirements of different actors need to be reconciled in planning processes. To negotiate these different perceptions and requirements, public participation is obligatory in planning processes. However, as participation still faces many challenges with regard to acceptance and understanding of determining factors, there is a need for further participation procedures. This paper aims to show to what extent ecosystem service analysis can be used in the context of participation processes and informal planning instruments for transdisciplinary communication. By budgeting, both ecosystem services supply and the demands of different stakeholder groups from for example spatial planning and civil society are taken into account. Based on a completed research project on the valuation of green and open spaces in the Rhine-Neckar region - in which ecosystem service analysis has been applied - this paper highlights opportunities and limitations of a relational budgeting ecosystem service analysis. We reflect on the obstacles and challenges encountered during application and implementation. Based on this, we argue that relational budgeting ecosystem service analysis can provide a sound and multidimensional basis for communication that can contribute to the objectification of differences in perception and valuation in discussion and negotiation processes in planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ground-mounted photovoltaic systems have the potential to become one of the central elements of the coming energy system. The German federal government is now planning a significant and rapid expansion. However, the extent to which appropriate planning and measures take place in regions and municipalities will also depend on the spatial planning regulations of the federal and state governments. This paper explains that considerable support and control options are available to accompany expansion efforts. Cross-references to the Renewable Energy Sources Act and the Building Code are also shown and it is explained that the different types of ground-mounted photovoltaic systems may partially require a differentiated approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regiopolises and regiopolitan regions are receiving unprecedented attention in German spatial planning policy. In addition to the promotion of the German RegioPole network by the federal government, regiopolises and regiopolitan regions are already designated in several spatial development plans. In the academic discourse, however, regiopolises are hardly taken up. This is particularly evident in the fact that dimensions such as city size (more than 100,000 inhabitants) and spatial location (outside metropolitan regions) are used to empirically identify regiopolises as such. A specific functionality or a specific significance in the German urban system, however, is only hinted at, following the established spatial planning concepts of metropolitan regions and central places. Against this background, this paper examines the question of what constitutes a regional centre or region in terms of its specific functionality and what significance it has in the urban system. The international discourses on second-tires-cities, borrowed size and agglomeration shadow are also taken up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Small-scale, often polarizing changes in the population structure characterized by migration, have a crucial influence on the current development of settlements in Germany. Although state and regional planning tries to manage related demands for residential areas, competition for potential migration gains on themunicipal level often leads to an unregulated development of residential areas within the region. This paper therefore seeks to develop an approach for an inter-municipally coordinated planning of residential areas, which takes into account demographic developments, in order to reduce the overall land consumption. In a first step, the residential land requirements that can be derived from expected small-scale population movements are presented in the form of different scenarios for specific municipalities. In a second step, a screening approach is used to identify those municipalities that appear to be suitable for accommodating additional residential development land requirements on the basis of their amenities and accessibility. In a third step, the identified residential land requirements are assigned to test areas with the help of various indicators. The approach is illustrated using the example of the Halle-Leipzig region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For this paper, the perception of the integration of refugees in the community of Everswinkel (North Rhine-Westphalia) was traced from a post-migrant perspective. For this purpose, representatives of the community, volunteers and residents of suburban neighbourhoods were asked about the changed situation of refugee migration since 2015. In order to arrive at a broader perspective on migration, which no longer sees immigration as a downstream problem affecting only migrants, but rather as a condition to be negotiated for the entire host society, the conceptual triad of alliances, antagonists and ambivalences of Naika Foroutan was operationalized. The results of the surveys turned out to be very heterogeneous and some contradicting views of integration were observed. On the one hand, diverse pro-plural alliances have emerged in Everswinkel, which materialize in particular in the offers and institutions of the community. On the other hand, these are accompanied by anti-plural antagonists who are, for example, strongly conveyed through topics such as neighbourhood coexistence or the topic of living. In addition, a third perspective, that of the ambivalence and contradictions in the perception of the integration of refugees, comes into focus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Onshore wind energy development is often delayed or even prevented by local resistance. Against this backdrop, we discuss financial participation as a measure to promote local acceptance by positively influencing the perceived experience of justice. Building on the concept of energy justice, this paper investigates the extent to which different forms of financial participation are suitable for better distributing costs and benefits, creating opportunities for participation, and examining who can participate financially. In addition to a comprehensive literature review, interviewswere conducted with wind turbine planners and operators. These show that stakeholders engage in financial participation to different degrees across different projects and that the preferred form of participation varies from one region to another. Moreover, no model of financial participation appears to be suited to address all dimensions of energy justice, as all models are characterised by certain advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, the availability of financial participation options alone is unlikely to increase local acceptance. Such options can, however, be effective when combined with other measures to increase acceptance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As journal of the "Reichsarbeitsgemeinschaft für Raumforschung" (Reich Working Group for Space Research), "Raumforschung und Raumordnung" communicated political specifications and academic guidelines of National Socialist science policy from 1936 onwards. The magazine regularly presented projects and research that had been carried out in the newly founded "Working Groups for Spatial Research" at the universities and colleges of the German Reich. With its thematic priorities corresponding to the territorial expansion of the "Third Reich" and through a close orientation in its selection of articles to the requirements of the National Socialist conquest and occupation policy, the journal fulfilled a relevant instructional function, which had a repercussing impact on university research practice. This paper addresses the importance of the journal for the mobilization and self-mobilization of academic personnel as well as the role as a mouthpiece for racist, antisemitic, and culturally derogatory views, which were an important basis for the genocide of European Jews and the destruction of Central and Eastern Europe- and Eastern Europe during the Second World War. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Germany and Switzerland, land use and urban sprawl there has been a central topic of public debate for several years. Cantonal structure plans in Switzerland as well as state and regional plans in Germany contain binding regulations for managing settlement development. Studies that examine the implementation of these regulations are lacking. This paper analyses the implementation of selected instruments of supra-local spatial planning for managing settlement development in Germany and Switzerland using the Policy Arrangement Approach. The case study covers the regions Oberland (Bavaria), Südlicher Oberrhein (Baden-Württemberg) and the cantons of Zurich and St. Gallen. The results show that actors implement spatial-planning instruments in situative negotiation processes in which they exploremargins and alternatives. Central to these processes is a regional specific overlapping of (i) interlinkings of formal and informal instruments, (ii) the interplay between local autonomy, supra-local control and superordinate context factors, and (iii) the overlapping of supra-local and regional discourses. The results show that the Policy Arrangement Approach helps to better understand how spatial planning works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to increasing density-dependent competitions in land use, it is difficult to plan new industrial areas, especially for factories and businesses with a need for large-scaled sites. Economic interest groups demand to plan new industrial areas to keep the region in a competitive position. At the same time, many citizens and local politicians are concerned about new specific land use areas for industries. To locate suitable industrial sites in the catchment area of municipalities with land shortage and a high demand for space and to involve regional stakeholders into the planning process, new regional planning tools are required. The case study about the "Regionale Kooperationsstandorte" planning tool in this paper shows which additional values and challenges the recipients of the plan expect from the new planning approach. Apparently, the new regional planning tool is generally accepted by most of the stakeholders in the Ruhr Metropolis. But specific regulations and particular sites are highly controversial, due to diverging interests of different stakeholders and municipalities or due to changing circumstances, so that it is not possible to reach a consensus on all issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strengthening inner urban development is a guiding principle of Germany's sustainability policy and the key to achieving the 30-hectare target. To date, however, it is hardly possible to determine retrospectively the share of building construction activity realized as inner and outer urban development. On the one hand, there is the genuine fuzziness of the inner urban area (Innenbereich) as a spatial construct, and on the other hand, there is the lack of available small-scale data on building construction activity. Against this background, this paper presents for the first time a methodological approach to determine and evaluate the relevance of inner urban development for large areas and over longer periods of time for Germany. The method is applied for the federal state of North Rhine- Westphalia and the housing construction activity from 1979 to 2011. The result shows a positive trend, indicating that cities and municipalities have succeeded in realizing more housing as inner urban development over time. At the same time, significant differences between urban and rural areas are apparent. A central conclusion is therefore to support smaller municipalities in their efforts for more inner urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite all efforts to date, the original 2020 targets for reducing land use have not been met. In growing urban regions, the most urgent challenge at present seems to be to moderate increasing conflicts over the use of land, a resource that is becoming increasingly scarce. For sustainable land management in times of surging interdependencies across municipal boundaries, inter-municipal cooperation is becoming increasingly important. However, competitive incentives make sustainable, cooperative settlement development more difficult. In this context, compensation systems that enable a systematic balance of interests and provide incentives for sustainable, land-saving settlement development, are currently being discussed. Ideally, they should resolve the contradictions between local interests and regional goals, if they are properly adapted to the respective region. This paper places compensation systems in the international debate and proposes a categorization for further analysis. Using the example of the Rendsburg region (Germany), success factors for compensation systems in land management are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Strengthening inner urban development is a guiding principle of Germany's sustainability policy and the key to achieving the 30-hectare target. To date, however, it is hardly possible to determine retrospectively the share of building construction activity realized as inner and outer urban development. On the one hand, there is the genuine fuzziness of the inner urban area (Innenbereich) as a spatial construct, and on the other hand, there is the lack of available small-scale data on building construction activity. Against this background, this paper presents for the first time amethodological approach to determine and evaluate the relevance of inner urban development for large areas and over longer periods of time for Germany. The method is applied for the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the housing construction activity from 1979 to 2011. The result shows a positive trend, indicating that cities and municipalities have succeeded in realizing more housing as inner urban development over time. At the same time, significant differences between urban and rural areas are apparent. A central conclusion is therefore to support smaller municipalities in their efforts for more inner urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The population structure and life in rural areas have become more diverse in recent years due to the arrival and stay of refugees. The participation of the newcomers in the labour market is relevant on the one hand from the point of view of integration policy and for the regional economy, and on the other hand it fulfils various functions for them. However, little attention has been paid to the (potential) self-employment of newly arrived refugees in Germany. Using the example of the founding of grocery stores in rural areas of Germany, the aspirations of refugees on the labour market, the founding and business practices of operators and the perspectives of customers were examined from multiple perspectives. The qualitative interviews conducted with (potentially) self-employed newly arrived refugees and (semi-)standardized surveys of customers form the data basis for this paper. It is conceptually inspired by the state of research on migrant's integration to work and immigrant entrepreneurship as well as the subform refugee entrepreneurship. Results show a variety of meanings of employment and a distinct desire for selfemployment. Moreover, structural and individual obstacles could be identified in the foundation phase, while co-ethnic employment is considered crucial for the operation of a store. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the phase-out of lignite, the Rhenishmining area is at the beginning of a transformation process that will take decades. Structural funds of almost 15 billion euros are to be allocated as project funding until 2038. The basis for this is the economic and structural programme and a regional consensus with representatives of the region. The aim of this paper is to investigate to what extent the funding project selection helps to establish green development paths and move closer to the ambitious goal of a sustainable model region for energy supply and production. For this purpose, the characteristicsof 22 submitted projects in the "Zukunftsfeld" energy and industry are analysed with regard to a typology of green paths. With the help of nine interviews, framework conditions (design of the funding process and resource endowment of the actors) that influence green path development processes in the Rhenish Revier could be identified. Path renewal processes of the regional industry as well as path creation dynamics especially in the hydrogen sector can be found. Overall, the project se-lection is determined by a high proportion of knowledge institutions, whose participation is favoured by the framework conditions. The participation of small and medium sized enterprises and municipalities, on the other hand, is hampered by the framework conditions, whichmeans that existing regional potentials are not utilized optimally and the transformation process as a whole can be compromised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is based on an investigation of the impact of taking up a work-related multi-local lifestyle on civic involvement based on quantitative and qualitative data using a methodological triangulation. Following theoretical considerations based on the civic voluntarismmodel, the resources-centered model, and the "commuter's strain hypothesis", a negative influence of the multi-local lifestyle on civic involvement is expected. Periodic presence and absence at the place of origin and destination, as well as associated reduced time and psychological resources, are hypothesized to be the central theoretical mechanisms of influence explaining the negative relationship. The quantitative investigation is based on fixedeffects panel regressions applied to longitudinal data from the Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). The qualitative investigation is based on problem-centred, guided interviews conducted in a case study analysis in the rural district of Diepholz in Lower Saxony, Germany. The quantitative analyses indicate a significant negative effect of multi-locality on involvement and show that the strongest reduction in involvement temporally occurs with the start of multi-local living. The qualitative analyses confirm this finding and show that the postulated theoreticalmechanisms represent a central explanatory factor of the reduced involvement resulting from multi-locality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]