Mixed-use ideals, market pressures, and the marginalization of crafts in contemporary urban development: evidence from five German cities

ILS researcher Bastian Heider, together with Stefan Siedentop from TU Dortmund University, has published an article in the journal Planning, Practice and Research. This paper examines the displacement of craft businesses from inner-city areas in five cities in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. Drawing on expert interviews with representatives from urban planning, economic development, and chambers of crafts, it identifies a complex interplay of highly context-related factors driving this process – ranging from land-use conversion and rising property values to emission conflicts and limited expansion opportunities. Urban policies have often tolerated or indirectly facilitated the marginalization of the craft sector. Recent planning initiatives show growing awareness of the issue, offering prospects for safeguarding productive uses and preserving mixed-use urban structures that are central to sustainable and resilient city economies. https://doi.org/10.1080/02697459.2026.2668492.  Further current publications can be found here.