Lecture Series WiSe 2026/27
Prof. Dr. Anke Hagemann, Prof. Dr. Philipp Misselwitz

Global City Local Spaces 

Cities do not develop as planners want: Since the origins of modern planning the discipline struggles to position itself between the paradigm of control and the more messy reality of application. With the critique of modernist planning, new approaches and role definitions have been formulated which expose planning not as an isolated, hermetic discipline, but as a complex, dynamic, multi-disciplinary, situated and mostly open-ended process involving a multitude of voices and actors.

This lecture series will focus on different theoretical and analytical approaches to urban settlements, global urbanisation and spatial transformation as well as on practices of urban planning and design. It is structured in three blocks, addressing key questions such as: 

How can one define the urban as a field of inquiry, planning and design practice in the face of the planetary crisis? How is the knowledge base of planning generated by different disciplines and actors, across asymmetric geographies of expertise and power? How can one build an understanding of the co-production of urban space as a toolbox for more inclusionary, sustainable and just planning and design strategies? 

The principle of making the co-production and the open borders of urban planning knowledge explicit also informs the set-up of the lecture series: In order to represent the spectrum of approaches to urban design and research at Habitat Unit, the lecture brings together multiple voices of researchers and practitioners in the fields of planning, architecture, urban studies and sociology. Students are encouraged to develop a (self) critical awareness of the broader context and multidisciplinary field in which planners operate. This should facilitate (not limit) his/her creative involvement in forging more beautiful, just, and sustainable urban environments. 

Photo: © Philipp Misselwitz

Download poster here.