Sustainable Transformation of Urban Areas
Around the world, rural and urban spaces are changing at an unprecedented pace. Demographic and economic processes, increasingly also climate change and environmental pollution, compel us to take action. The challenge is to design the modernisation process in such a way that it addresses not only the ecological, economic and spatial aspects but also social problems.
It is imperative to bridge social divides, to stabilise socio-economic and urban development structures, and, at the same time, to establish environmentally compatible, resilient technical systems within urban infrastructure, commercial enterprises, and private households. The 'Sustainable transformation of urban areas' funding measure is designed to support this process. It builds on important issues within the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda initiated by the 'National Platform Future City' and makes a substantial contribution to the FONA flagship initiative 'Future City'. The spatial dimension is given explicit consideration in what for socio-ecological research is a typical analysis of interactions between society, business, and the environment: social, economic, and political developments also possess a spatial impact and hence immediately affect the quality-of-life in cities.
The following topics are addressed within the funding initiative:
- Transformation management, governance and participation: shaping change together with citizens and civil society.
- Changes in urban economic structures: options and potential for sustainable development.
- Social-ecological transformation of urban infrastructures and resilience: potentials and risks of integrated supply systems.
- Urban life and urbanity: Shaping demographic change, using social, ecological and cultural opportunities in neighbourhoods and districts, developing alternative usage concepts.
Information on the funded projects as well as comprehensive results and topics can be found on the website of the synthesis and networking project Zukunftsstadt (SynVer * Z).
Seeking to establish crisis-proof urban structures, the funded projects will develop strategies and measures combining ecological and social requirements. The projects have established transdisciplinary structures to ensure that the results are implemented: partners from the practical world, particularly municipalities, have been involved from the start, cooperating with scientists to produce solutions to actual urban challenges.
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