New DFG-funded research project on Authoritarian Urbanism started
On September 1, 2025, the DFG-funded research project Authoritarian Urbanism in the 21st Century: Progressive Urban Design and Participatory Planning in Hungary and Serbia started at the chair European Cities and Urban Heritage.
For three years the project team, consisting of apl. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniela Zupan (project leader), M. Sc. Tanja Potežica und M. Sc. Lilla Varga, will examine the interplay of urbanism and autocratization. "We are interested in how urban planning and design are mobilized for political purposes in contemporary societies, and which manifestations and workings can be observed", explains Daniela Zupan. The project team will analyse counterintuitive manifestations, namely public space that follow human-scale design trends and participatory planning processes, thereby questioning common associations with authoritarian urbanism. Tanja says that "it is precisely the rethinking of practices that are understood as indicators of democratisation that makes it so interesting and, above all, relevant to pursue this question". With Hungary and Serbia the project looks at two contexts that face particularly steep autocratization trajectories since the 2010s. Further information about the project can be found here.
Authoritarian Urbanism in the 21st Century: Progressive Urban Design and Participatory Planning in Hungary and Serbia
Funding: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG)
Duration: September 2025 - August 2028
Project leader: apl. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Daniela Zupan
Project team: M. Sc. Tanja Potežica und M. Sc. Lilla Varga
You can find further information here.