Urban research − understanding urban change in its diversity

ILS researcher Melissa Leimkühler, together with other colleagues from the research group ‘Spatial Planning and Urban Design’, has published an article in the journal “STANDORT Journal of Applied Geography”. Increasing urbanisation is exacerbating the challenges of sustainable food supply, as cities depend on external resources and local farmland is limited. The physical proximity of diverse actors in urban areas opens up potential solutions, such as short supply chains and regional supply models. The article examines the network of Dortmund’s food system in the year 2025 using social network analysis to identify actors, collaborations, and key needs. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00548-026-01062-3. Further current selected papers can be found here.

Thomas Weith and Julian Gatawis from the research group ‘Spatial Planning and Urban Design’, together with their former colleagues Jette Ostheller and Barbara Schröter, have published an article in the journal “Discover Cities”, published by Springer Nature. This article focuses on the unique role of urban gardens, particularly urban allotments. With their high variety, they represent a key component of green infrastructure, fulfilling ecological, social and productive functions. Despite this multifunctionality, they are often only marginally included into local planning and development, meaning that their ecological and social potential remains underused and their long-term development is in danger. The article also explains how urban allotments can contribute to transformative and sustainable urban development as part of integrated concepts, rather than merely as isolated pilot projects. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44327-026-00331-y. Further current selected papers can be found here.

ILS researcher Thomas Weith, together with colleagues, has published an article in the journal “communications sustainability”. Research-driven innovations in agricultural and food systems can advance global sustainability goals, but their complexity requires them to be linked to clear transformation goals. Using a German research programme in the agriculture and food sector as an example, we demonstrate how such integration into transformation pathways can be achieved whilst simultaneously supporting mission-oriented research. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44458-026-00114-x. Further current selected papers can be found here.

ILS researchers Hannah Brill, Nils Hans and Isabel Ramos Lobato published an article, in collaboration with Norma Schemschat, Heike Hanhörster and Lara Hartig, in the journal Urban Planning. Building on growing research on changing geographies of migration and “new” arrival destinations, the article examines neighbourhoods across Germany through the lens of “left-behindness.” Drawing on 90 interviews from eight arrival neighbourhoods, the article analyses how “left-behindness” and the arrival of migrants interact in everyday life and local governance. It shows how structural constraints, symbolic representations, and social dynamics reinforce one another, shaping both the challenges and possibilities of migration. The article argues that left-behindness is best understood not as a spatial category but as a relational and processual condition that highlights uneven development and reveals how the challenges of migration-related diversity are locally negotiated and contested. https://doi.org/10.17645/up.11159. Further current publications can be found here.