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

Publication
 

Former Incoming Scholar of the research platform Ishita Dey (South Asian University SAU, IND) has published an ethnographic study on railway connectivity, supported by the Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group. Have a look!

Event
 

Register for this spring's second book presentations with Patrick Le Galès and Jennifer Robinson on April 24 at 4pm CEST.


Five Areas of Research