„Sustainable urban development can only succeed if the dimensions of social, economic, ecological as well as cultural and institutional dimensions interact in such a way that the responsible use of existing resources results in a fair balance between the interests of present and future urban dwellers.“
(Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung 2017)
During the course, we approach the topic of how the cities of the future can contribute to more sustainability in a participatory and interdisciplinary way. First, we evaluate with the participants to which word connections the word ‚City‘ leads in each one of them (compare to the word-cloud below). Then, we lay the foundation of the course by evaluating the different dimensions of cities and connecting them to concepts of sustainability like resilience, sufficiency, nature-based solutions, and many more. Throughout the course, some talks on cross-cutting issues like health as well as energy and mobility give a deeper insight and discussion on some selected topics. Even deeper insights on the actual process of urban development and planning with a focus on the circularity of materials cycles are given by external experts.
The course program is always accompanied by fruitful discussions with regard to the presentations. Additionally, a panel debate about ‘Shall cars be banned in the inner cities?’ at the example of Berlin is held by the students. Also, the current state of Tübingen is examined to get a status quo from which urban development can start.
In a further step, the participants will explore cities with unique approaches to sustainable development (e.g. Copenhagen, Barcelona) in creative workshops. The focus will be on a critical investigation of the approaches of the selected cities as well as the transferability onto Tübingen.
sustainabilityphdinitiative.wordpress.com 