Since April 1, 2024 Julia Binder and Christoph Wessling chair the Urban Design and Urban Studies department in the Faculty of Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Urban Planning at Brandenburg University of Technology Cottbus.

The first focus will be on Urban Systems — to develop a more integrated understanding of our built environment as a relational system of various material and non-material flows, to read the built environment as a socio-technical system, to visualize heterogenious spatial use and to reflect against the backdrop of theoretical positions is our approach towards the reflection of the urban metabolism.

The second strand of interest will concentrate on UrbanTransformation – against the backdrop of dynamics like climate change and digitalization which restructure and reorder space and time, we analyse different phenomenon of transition in a multi-scalar perspective, focusing e.g. on policy mobilities, territorial and relational geographies.

The third strand of interest will be Planning Theory – theoretical conceptions that shape the sociospatial environment in which planners are working, ideas to reflect on their practice, to discuss normative visions and guidelines like “sustainability” and “smartness”. To teach the tools to articulate and to justify current planning practices.

To develop this perspective, a series of research-by-design studios, lectures, seminars, workshops and research projects will be launched. Furthermore, the department will prioritise to further extend and strengthen the internationalisation of the faculty's programme.