Understanding Urban Change, Shaping Urban Change

ILS researchers Hannaneh Jilanialshafty, Shaojuan Xu, and Bastian Heider, together with Frank Othengrafen (TU Dortmund University), have published an article in the journal ‘Energy Research & Social Science’. The article examines how different methods of measuring energy poverty influence which households and areas are identified as particularly vulnerable. Using Dortmund as a case study, the article compares three expenditure-based measurement methods with a multidimensional Energy Poverty Index. These findings show that measurement choice shapes not only where energy poverty is identified, but also which forms of vulnerability become visible to policy. Effective mitigation therefore requires differentiated, place-sensitive policies that integrate financial, social, housing, energy-use, and energy-system dimensions of vulnerability. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2026.104979. Further current selected papers can be found here.

ILS researcher from the research group “mobilities and space” published an article in the ‘Journal of Transport Geography’. This study examines how remote working influences commuting across socio-spatial contexts, focusing on its interaction with commuting distance, travel time and the use of sustainable transport modes. The findings show the importance of understanding how remote working reshapes the relationship between working conditions and mobility to support the transition towards sustainable mobility. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2026.104846. Further current selected papers can be found here.

Manuel Weiß, a former ILS researcher, and Angelika Münter, an ILS researcher, have published an article in the journal ‘Tijdschrift voor Economische en Sociale Geografie’ together with Johannes Moser, Fabian Wenner, and Alain Thierstein. The paper highlights that good connections to high-speed rail services alone do not make areas around railway stations attractive locations for knowledge-intensive firms. The key factor is the interplay between multimodal accessibility and a diverse range of urban qualities. The paper was produced as part of the DFG project ‘Brain Train? High-Speed Rail Stations as Focal Points of the Knowledge Economy’. https://doi.org/10.1111/tesg.70106. Further current selected papers can be found here.

ILS researcher Kati Volgmann, together with Anna Grow from the University of Kassel, has published an article in the journal “Regional Studies, Regional Science”. The normalisation of working from home (WFH), understood as a home-based form of remote work, is associated with changing residential patterns within metropolitan regions, yet its spatial implications remain insufficiently understood. This paper examines the residential distribution of occupations with high-WFH-capacity across German city-regions from 2012 to 2023 using a combination of cluster analysis and multivariate regression modelling. Overall, the findings suggest that WFH-capacity does not dissolve existing metropolitan structures, but remains embedded in them in selective ways. https://doi.org/10.1080/21681376.2026.2722825. Further current selected papers can be found here.