Search

In this comment, we scrutinize how research is being challenged by the 2030 Agenda and what may be required for research to contribute to transformative change toward sustainability. Building on the current debate and state of knowledge, we argue that we need a stronger engagement with norms and values within science. Conflicting goals, values and visions need to be made explicit and taken into account in the (co-)production of knowledge in a transparent way. This requires the ability for normative reflection on the part of scientists, both about the norms at play and their own role. To produce transformative-oriented knowledge needed for the implementation of the sustainable development goals, we argue, fundamental changes are required within the science system, from the production to the assessment of knowledge.

Hessen und Nordrhein-Westfalen nahmen nach langen Auseinandersetzungen in vielen Kommunen in den 1990ern die Ausländerbeiräte bzw. Integrationsräte als Repräsentationsgremium der Menschen mit Migrationshintergrund in ihre Gemeindeordnungen auf. Diese fokussierten auf Selbstbestimmung und relativ unabhängige Beiratsstrukturen mit einer Urwahl der migrantischen Mitglieder. Weiterführende Rechte wie z. B. Anhörungsrechte, Antragsrechte und höhere Budgets waren umstritten – aber die Gremien waren in der Bürgerschaft wie bei den Gemeinderatsmitgliedern akzeptiert. Diese demokratischen Innovationen in beiden Ländern wurden am Ende der 2010er teilweise zurückgenommen und die Migrationsräte als Kommissionen zum Teil der Lokalverwaltung untergeordnet. Im sächsischen Leipzig wurde dem Migrationsrat weitreichende Rechte übertragen – aber die Urwahl erst 2020 implementiert. Die vergleichenden Untersuchungen greifen den Konflikt um Anerkennung dieser Rechte in Gelsenkirchen, Leipzig und in der hessischen Kleinstadt Bebra auf. Der Beitrag beschreibt den divergierenden rechtlichen Rahmen, die politische Kultur, die historischen Auseinandersetzungen bei der Einführung der Migrationsräte, Konflikte bei der Ausweitung der Rechte und der Ressourcen wie auch die Probleme der Migrationsräte. Dabei spielen als Akteure externe Advokatoren, wie die Wohlfahrtsverbände, Kirchen, politische Parteien und die kommunalen Verwaltungen eine zentrale Rolle.

An optimistic narrative has gained momentum during the first year of the pandemic: the COVID-19 crisis may have opened a window of opportunity to “rebuild better”, to spur societal transitions towards environmental sustainability. In this comment, we review first evidence of individual and political changes made so far. Findings suggest that economies worldwide are not yet building back better. Against this background, we argue that a naïve opportunity narrative may even impair the progress of transitions towards environmental sustainability because it may render green recovery measures ineffective, costly, or infeasible. Based on these observations, we derive conditions for green recovery policies to succeed. They should consist of a policy mix combining well-targeted green subsidies with initiatives to price emissions and scrap environmentally harmful subsidies. Moreover, green recovery policies must be embedded into a narrative that avoids trading off environmental sustainability with other domains of sustainability—and rather highlights respective synergies that can be realized when recovering from the COVID-19 crisis.

Aktuell werden Konflikte in der Migrationsdebatte neu bewertet. So wird ihr vermehrtes Auftreten als Zeichen für „gelingende Integration“ interpretiert. Konflikte sind hier als das Verbindungsband konzipiert, das offene, plurale Gesellschaften zusammenhalten kann. Zugetraut wird den Konflikten auch, dass sie einen Stimulus setzen für die demokratische Weiterentwicklung der als postmigrantisch bezeichneten Gesellschaft. Unser Artikel betrachtet in einem Literaturessay unterschiedliche Zugänge zu den Konflikten und bringt dabei einige der auf diesem Gebiet relevanten Forschungsbereiche zusammen. Wir erkunden, wie die Wirkung von Konflikten jeweils beschrieben beziehungsweise erklärt wird und berichten von Ansätzen der Konfliktsoziologie, der Migrationsforschung, der radikalen Demokratietheorie und der Stadtforschung. Konflikte, insbesondere migrationsbezogene Konflikte, erscheinen in der Gesamtbetrachtung als ein ambivalenter Hoffnungsträger, nicht zuletzt deshalb, weil ihre Ursachen multidimensional sind und weil sie sich mit den Wirkungen anderer Konfliktlinien (wie sozialer Ungleichheit) überlagern.

In a highly relevant contribution, Santana et al. (2021) outlined the challenges for qualitative enquiries during the pandemic. We agree that overcoming these challenges is very important since qualitative research is vital for understanding both the impacts of COVID-19 on human communities around the globe and its significance for sustainable futures. However, we argue that a more fundamental approach is needed to address problems within scientific organisations, thinking and practices that directly affect qualitative research capabilities. In this comment, we focus on justice, research organisation, the ways social scientists position themselves and changed understandings of social worlds.

Residential choice behaviour is a complex process underpinned by both housing market restrictions and individual preferences, which are partly conscious and partly tacit knowledge. Due to several limitations, common survey methods cannot sufficiently tap into such tacit knowledge. Thus, this paper introduces an advanced knowledge elicitation process called SilverKnETs and combines it with data mining using random forests to elicit and operationalize this type of knowledge. For the application case of the city of Leipzig, Germany, our findings indicate that rent, location and type of housing form the three predictors strongly influencing the decision making in residential choices. Other explanatory variables appear to have a much lower influence. Random forests have proven to be a promising tool for the prediction of residential choices, although the design and scope of the study govern the explanatory power of these models.

Soziale Differenzierung ist in den Großstädten Ostdeutschlands zu einem wesentlichen Charakteristikum urbaner Entwicklung, Alltagswahrnehmung und Politik geworden. Insbesondere lässt sich dies in den Städten beobachten, welche nach der Schrumpfung der 1990er-Jahre seit Kurzem wieder dynamisch wachsen. Die Vertiefung sozialer Ungleichheiten (soziale Differenzierung) sowie die Vervielfältigung von Lebensstilen, Lebenswelten und Identitäten (zunehmende Heterogenität) sind Teil dieser Entwicklung. Vor diesem Hintergrund diskutiert der Beitrag soziale Differenzierung und zunehmende Heterogenität der Bevölkerung in Leipzig mit einem Fokus auf Alltagswahrnehmungen der Bewohner sowie der lokalen Politikentwicklung. Es wird analysiert, wie soziale Differenz und zunehmende Heterogenität zu einem Thema im Alltag und für die Politik werden und wie beide Perspektiven in Bezug zueinander stehen. Der Beitrag fußt auf einem mehrdimensionalen Verständnis von Heterogenität einschließlich der sozioökonomischen, demographischen, lebensstilbezogenen und ethnisch-migrantischen Dimensionen. Räumlich gesehen werden sowohl die gesamtstädtische als auch die Quartiersperspektive betrachtet. Die Analyse kommt unter anderem zu dem Ergebnis, dass soziale Heterogenität in ihrer horizontalen Dimension anerkannt und wahrgenommen wird und sich diese Anerkennung auch in der Politikformulierung findet. Das gilt nicht im gleichen Maße für Ausprägungen sozialer Ungleichheit. Das Beispiel Leipzig zeigt überdies, dass der generelle Diskurs stärker differenzieren muss zwischen dem Anliegen, horizontale Differenz (explizit) anzuerkennen, der notwendigen Bekämpfung vertikaler sozialer Ungleichheiten sowie dem Umstand, dass sich aus deren Überschneidung zahlreiche neue Unübersichtlichkeiten und Komplexitäten ergeben.

AbstractIn Germany, major cities have increasingly become targets for immigration in recent years. The new attractiveness of cities has consequences for local housing markets. The question arises of how these new immigration flows can be channelled in order to meet the broad spectrum of demand and to align housing policies with current and future needs. Therefore, knowledge about new urbanites and their residential preferences and expectations as regards desired housing location is absolutely necessary. Against this background, the article investigates the different types of immigrants to the city of Leipzig and their housing demands. Since the 2010s – after being the most prominent example of a shrinking city in eastern Germany in the 1990s – Leipzig has become one of the fastest growing cities in Germany. Based on a 2014 citywide household survey and a cluster analysis, profiles of the various immigrant groups are identified, analysed and discussed in relation to their housing demand and choice. The results show that the different groups of newcomers present both a number of common housing demands as well as specific requirements. Based on these results, consequences for the housing market are discussed, not just in the case of Leipzig, but also for large cities in Germany facing increased immigration in general.

ABSTRACTNeighborhood research today is largely concerned with two central aspects of neighborhood development: gentrification and decline. This paper sets out to enrich the discourse on neighborhood change, especially that concerned with so-called declining neighborhoods, by drawing on assemblage and complexity theories. These approaches emphasize processes, interdependencies, uncertainties, surprising shifts, and feedback loops in the production of specific spatial formations. We apply this framework in an examination of the development of two neighborhoods in Leipzig: an inner-city district and a large housing estate. We identify internal and external factors impacting these neighborhoods’ trajectories and demonstrate how various multidirectional shifts are crucial to the specific paths—and the understanding—of these neighborhoods’ development. From a conceptual perspective, we advocate for the use of assemblage thinking in addition to existing approaches to neighborhood change.

The article focuses on the results of a study regarding the loss and decline of population in cities acress Europe and the actions of governed. The study findings include that the economic and social development is driven by the belief of market forces, emphasis on economic growth and re-industrialisation through foreign direct investment and the influence of European Union policies. It also discusses policy recommendations based on actual experience of the study in the country. INSETS: Box 1 Leipzig - Wachterhauser ('guardian houses');Box 2 Liverpool - planning policies on housing development.

This study examines the changing demography of the Spanish city of León, and aims to explore the manner in which its urban fabric was reshaped by processes of reurbanization, a dynamic whereby the inner city becomes more attractive to a wide variety of household types and social groups. We draw on sociodemographic analyses of municipal census data, as well as a customized questionnaire survey of local residents. Empirical evidence is provided both for the city as a whole and two inner-city districts, Casco Antiguo and El Ejido. Among other findings, it is argued that, although the contiguous built-up area of the city is clearly losing its inhabitants through out-migration and aging, there are a series of small-scale migration flows that increasingly concentrate "nontraditional" households in and around the city center. This is accompanied by an increasing trend toward "city-mindedness" as a residential choice and housing preference among both in-migrants and the long-time residential population. Overall, the evidence points to the emergence of a spatially fragile, fragmented reurbanization process.

Processes such as declining and low-level birth rates, ageing, changing household compositions and sizes, as well as growing diversity in households, residents and migration have an increasing imprint on almost every aspect of urban development in Poland and the Czech Republic. This is especially true for the housing market, neighbourhood structures and the demand for technical infrastructure, certain social services and amenities. Inner cities are particularly affected by these changes. Most recently, they have been shifting from areas of long-term decline and ageing to places of repopulation, rejuvenation and increasing housing mobility — processes that only partly find their representation in official statistics and consequently in recent research. The paper analyses processes and patterns of sociodemographic change in East Central European inner cities, using the Polish and Czech second-order cities of Łódź and Brno as examples. It looks at quantitative and qualitative evidence using a mixed-method approach and reflecting empirical findings with the perceptions and priorities of urban practitioners. It argues, among other things, that inner cities in East Central Europe currently face a juxtaposition of persistencies (such as decline and ageing) and changes (such as repopulation and diversification) that lead to a complex pattern of sociodemographic 'de-mixing' and 're-mixing'. For the practice of urban regeneration, such evolving processes urge planners to re-think previous agendas and strategies for inner-city development.

AbstractThe upcoming enlargement of the EU in 2004 will impose a new framework on the regions on both sides of its future external border. On the one hand, the direct neighborhood at this border will encourage economic and infrastructural development in various ways in both the regions being integrated into the EU and those that will be newly adjacent to it. On the other hand, these regions and their inhabitants face the problem that new border regimes regulated by the Schengen Agreement will considerably limit cross‐border communication and the extent of unbureaucratic co‐operation. Against this background, different conflicts of interest are shaping public debate on several spatial levels, while local specifics run the risk of being largely ignored. This article addresses the consequences the EU enlargement will have for regions at its future external border. Will it encourage the further integration of these regions—or instead obstruct small‐scale cross‐border communication? Starting from a theoretical discussion of the main question and taking into account empirical evidence from research carried out at the Polish eastern border in 2000-02, it is argued that EU enlargement will bring about a new phase of cross‐border reality in Central Eastern Europe involving both stimuli and limitations for cooperation. The extent to which integration will be advanced or new barriers to co‐operation will be erected within the next few years will depend on both the political and instrumental framework at the (supra‐) national level as well as concrete decision‐making processes, trade‐offs and choices by local actors.