CFP: Internationalisierung des Wohnens - Marktentwicklung, Politiken, Forschungsansätze / CFP: Internationalisation of Housing – Market Developments, Policies, Research Approaches

Das Institut für Geographie und Raumplanung der Universität Luxemburg veranstaltet am 15. und 16. Juni 2017 gemeinsam mit dem Arbeitskreis Geographische Wohnungsmarktforschung eine Tagung zum Thema

Internationalisierung des Wohnens - Marktentwicklung, Politiken, Forschungsansätze 

 

Interessierte können bis 31. Januar 2017 ihre Vortragsangebote einreichen. Weitere Hinweise dazu finden Sie im Call for Paper (Deutsche Version here, Englische Version here) und auf der Website des Arbeitskreis Geographische Wohnungsmarktforschung: http://www.ak-wohnungsmarktforschung.de/.  Das Programm zur Tagung wird im März 2017 bekannt gegeben.

 
English version:

Together with the Research Group ‘Geographical housing market research’ the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning at the University of Luxembourg will host a conference, June 15th-16th, 2017, on the, 

Internationalisation of Housing – Market Developments, Policies, Research Approaches

We invite interested speakers to submit an abstract by 31st January, 2017. Further information may be found in the attached Call for Papers (German version here, English version here), as well as on the website of the Research Group: http://www.ak-wohnungsmarktforschung.de/. The programme will be finalized and announced in early March 2017. The conference language is German. To grasp the internationality of the subject matter, an additional session may be held in English.

Cities leading the way to a better future? EU launches new ‘State of European Cities Report’

photo by Evan McDonough (PhD candidate, University of Luxembourg)

During the European Week of Regions and Cities in October 2016, the European Commission presented a much awaited new edition of its ‘State of European Cities’ Report. By assessing and comparing demographic, economic, social and environmental trends at town and city level, the comprehensive report entitled ‘Cities leading the way to a better future’ reveals a series of key challenges and opportunities for European cities. It also introduces a new methodology for more accurately defining, quantifying and comparing degrees of urbanisation. When preparing the report, the European Commission collaborated for the very first time with the United Nations Habitat Programme.

Key insights

One of the main insights emerging from the report is that European cities are generally relatively small with only two megacities over 10 million inhabitants (Paris and London). With an average urban density of approximately 3000 inhabitants/km2 cities in Europe have, however, a healthy basis and a good starting position for coping with future urban challenges. Second, the report shows that European cities attract new residents coming both from within and outside of the EU. The main reasons for such migration flows are related to education, employment and quality of life. As a result of absorbing these new citizens, cities often face issues regarding the provision of more affordable high quality housing, the expansion of public services, the fight against discrimination and social exclusion and the bridging of the gap between training offers and job opportunities. Third, the comparison of city performances throughout Europe reveals that innovation and economic growth are generally higher in cities than in rural areas. This performance, however, requires high-quality research, good connections with the private sector and an excellent business environment. Fourth, cities are well placed to support non-motorised and public transport due to their high levels of density. Huge efforts are still required by cities to increase the energy efficiency of their buildings and to further reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Fifth, the report encourages cooperation between municipalities and good urban governance across the various policy levels. Cities should be granted sufficient autonomy and be given the necessary resources to exploit their urban advantages. 

EU Urban Agenda and Habitat III

The provision of data on the performance of European cities encourages cooperation and the transfer of best practices between cities inside and outside Europe and provides valuable input for the future development and implementation of the EU’s new Urban Agenda, consisting mainly in improving EU regulations, elaborating workable financial instruments and enhancing the knowledge base. The idea is to launch new forms of cooperation between cities, Member States, EU institutions, NGOs and businesses. These partnerships will focus on 12 key urban challenges with a European dimension such as air quality, housing, migration and poverty.

The State of the European Cities Report constitutes also an important contribution from Europe to the third United Nations Conference in Housing and Sustainable Development (Habitat III) currently underway. It particularly addresses the 2030 urban Sustainable Development Goal which aims at making cities safe, inclusive, resilient and sustainable. The analyses in the report show how European cities are forerunners with regard to adopting new courses of action to tackle economic, social, environmental or governance issues.

Cities as a more general subject of interest of global policies

The current interest in cities and urbanisation is far from being limited to the aforementioned actions taken in the framework of the European Urban Agenda or the UN Habitat initiatives on Sustainable Development Goals. The United Nations’ World Cities Report published earlier this year demonstrates that current urbanisation models are generally rather unsustainable and that they need to be changed in order to better respond to today’s challenges. UNESCO, in its turn, has issued a Global Report on Culture for Sustainable Urban Development. Based on an analysis of several international study areas, the report explains for instance the vital role of culture as a tool for poverty reduction, increased cultural diversity, resilience and sustainability. At this point, it seems also promising to look at the recent Flagship Report published by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU), which addresses the urban issue as well. This study assumes that cities have a ‘transformative power’ that needs to be unlocked in order to provide global sustainability.

In sum, all of these reports support the view that developments in cities are crucial for a more sustainable development of our world, while some even carry a notion of enthusiasm (or positivism, to say the least) by claiming that cities are not the problem but rather the solution. All of them, however, provide much inspiration to think cities and regions further. With respect to these initiatives, it is safe to say that urban development will remain high on the global political agenda for the years to come.

Tom Becker

Research Assistant

University of Luxembourg

Recommended readings

• European Union’s ‘State of European Cities Report’
• United Nations’ ‘World Cities Report’
• UNESCO’s ‘Global Report on Culturefor Sustainable Urban Development’
• WBGU’s Flagship Report ‘Humanity on the Move: Unlocking the Transformative Power of Cities

Geography & Spatial Planning Opening Lecture: Professor Anna Geppert, University Paris IV Sorbonne

Vae victis! Spatial planning and the recent shift in French metropolitan governance

Professor Anna Geppert, University Paris IV Sorbonne, President of AESOP

with discussant, Professor Geoffrey Caruso, Institute of Geography & Spatial Planning, UniLu

Monday, 10th October 2016, 18:00 

“Black Box” (Ground Floor)

11, Porte des Sciences, 

Campus Belval, Maison des Sciences Humaines

France is known for its strong egalitarian tradition in spatial planning, aiming to reduce disparities between places. However, this picture is no longer true. After a series of institutional reforms, planning competences have been rescaled and the new institutional design favours the metropolitan scale, expected to deliver growth-and-jobs as well as a high level of services to the inhabitants. As a result, metropolitan institutions are strengthened and concentrate resources and powers. But inequality is growing, bringing about winners and losers across space.

The paper will address this shift in metropolitan governance. First, we will “set the scene”, introducing the institutional design at French metropolitan scales. Second, we will present the administrative reforms of the years 2010, 2014 and 2015, which have created a new governance level at the metropolitan scale. Finally, we will analyse the first outcomes of this process, in the light of the theory of rescaling.

The lecture will be followed by a reception. Please register per email: marie.delafont@uni.lu 

Anna Geppert is Professor of Spatial Planning at the University of Paris-Sorbonne (France). Her research focuses on the evolution of the French planning system, and in particular the development of strategic spatial planning at urban as well as regional scale. She is President of AESOP - The Association of European Schools of Planning (2016-2018) and board member of several international planning journals. Her works are published in French, English, Polish, German, Slovak, Czech and Korean.