Blockseminar Urban Policy New Challenges arising from Economic and Demographic Change

The seminar examines to what extent new forms of governance improve the scope of urban policy. The seminar will outline major challenges arising from current economic and demographic change and examine the goals and strategic approaches of new forms of urban governance that are designed as more inclusive planning processes. Selected case studies will comprise, on the one hand, examples of governance that goes -beyond the state”. On the other hand, we will examine the technical requirements of urban planning confronted with new issues, e.g. downsizing or conversion. Seminar work will comprise a critical review of the literature, data analysis and discussion of strategic planning concepts represented by different case studies. The main part of the course will comprise a two-day block seminar, during which current topics and methodical approaches in urban and population geography and urban governance will be in the focus. Policy-related research questions will be examined in the form of case studies, which will be prepared by participants and discussed during the two-day seminar. The practical relevance of urban research will be demonstrated and reviewed further during a one-day excursion. During the course, students will - aquire enhanced knowledge about the practical relevance of research in urban and population geography and governance, - become acquainted with empirical methods (data acquisition and analysis), - prepare a text and presentation in individual or group work (about5 pages text and Powerpoint presentation), - present a topic during the seminar (20 minutes), - and defend their reasoning during a discussion. Profilschwerpunkt Urbane Systeme Universität Duisburg-Essen WiSe 2016/17 Sustainable Urban Techno., Neumann Uwe