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Department of Spatial Planning

Topics for theses

General topics

  • Maritime spatial planning
  • Infrastructure planning in European comparison
  • Structural change in cities and regions
  • Planning systems in Europe
  • Urban policy in the EU
  • Planning communication and participation
  • Co-production and planning
  • Public space governance and management
  • Green infrastructure and urban resilience

Specific titles supervised by Prof. Dr. Karsten Zimmermann

  • Direct democratic procedures in urban land use planning in Baden-Württemberg; this option was introduced a few years ago. There is no overview of the effects so far.
  • EU urban policy, including measures and instruments of the European Central Bank.
  • European corridor planning (TEN-T) / cross-border infrastructure projects.
  • Comparison of climate protection laws of the federal states
  • Comparison of mediation procedures USA and Germany

 Specific titles supervised by Dr. Patricia Feiertag

  • Local acceptance of land take
  • Co-productive urban development
  • Making land use planning more flexible through amendment procedures
  • Interaction of formal and informal instruments of communal urban land use planning
  • Change of the French planning system: SRADDET

Specific titles supervised by Dr. Dahae Lee

  • Privately owned public spaces (POPS) – private owners’ perspective and practices to govern spaces efficiently
  • Pop up public spaces (PUPS) – tools to assess them (new tools needed than those used for permanent, large public space)
  • Publicness of public space – examining its evolution over time or comparing dimensions in different contexts
  • Publicisation of private space vs privatization of public space

Specific titles supervised by Lena Unger

  • Opportunities and challenges for municipalities through Digital Sovereignty (in Germany or within the EU).
  • International comparison of the understanding of Digital Sovereignty and implications for planning practices or digital planning infrastructures.
  • Critical analysis of smart city concepts and strategies
  • The role of planners in digital urban development and planning
  • Implications of EU or federal digitalization policies for urban planning
  • Digital planning infrastructures as common goods
  • The Spaces of Digital Sovereignty