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

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!

Call
 

Abstracts for RC 43 Housing and the Built Environment as well as RC 21 Regional and Urban Development can be submitted until 15. October. For detailed information click more.

Event
 

Register now for the first date of the Brown Bag Lunch series 2024/2025. It starts with an exciting lecture by Nana Iashvili on ‘Mechanisms and practices of housing financialisation in Georgia’ on 30. October.

Publication
 

Urban Futures Research Affiliate Byeongsun Ahn published an article in the journal "European Planning Studies" that takes a closer look at planning history and institutional change from a policy perspective.


Five Areas of Research