About the Research Platform

The pivotal characteristic of the Research Platform “The Challenge of Urban Futures” is its epistemological breadth, in that it aims at scrutinising ecologies of relations that connect multiple thematic areas. The Platform aims at unravelling the social, cultural, economic and politico-institutional mechanisms underlying the convergences and divergences across European cities to track the transformation of urban structures over the last four decades.

Given the wide gamut of issues cities are facing, we focus our research endeavours on five thematic areas: Society and Culture, Economy and Redistribution, Environment and Sustainability, Technology and Surveillance, and Urban Government and Governance. More in detail, our research activities will sit at the intersection of these multiple thematic areas. To achieve this ambitious task, our Research Platform will bring together researchers both within and outside the University of Vienna sharing complementary expertise on the multifarious facets of urban studies.

 News

Event
 

Register now for the first Hot Off The Press Presentation this fall and join us on 13. November when Nadja Kabisch and Niki Frantzeskaki will be presenting their new book "Nature-Based Solutions for Cities".

Event
 

Register now for the next Brown Bag Lunch on 27. November 2024. Julia Wesely from the Department of Geography is going to present her work about intermediary cities and their relevance for global urban development.

Publication
 

Urban Futures Research Affiliate Byeongsun Ahn and Principal Investigator Yuri Kazepov published an article in the Journal of Economic and Human Geography that takes a closer look at new municipalism and the design of participatory budgeting...

Call
 

The call for the 2025 International Module in Spatial Development Planning (IMSDP) is out! The deadline for applications is 15. November 2024!

 

Click more to see information on application procedures!


Five Areas of Research