| Beschreibung |
The Urban Landscapes seminar explores various typologies of open spaces in public spaces. It focuses on questions regarding the significance of open spaces in the context of, for example, housing shortages, urban redensification, and climate change. Public space should not be understood solely as undeveloped land between buildings, but rather as an ecological and social space with diverse functions: It is a habitat for human and non-human actors, a space for climatic regulatory processes, and a place for encounters, exchange, and various activities (Löw 2001: 224). At the same time, space is not understood as a static entity but as socially produced. Thus, everyday social and cultural practices, as well as planning and political decisions, shape its form and meaning and cause it to change continuously (Huning 2019: 7). Public space is becoming increasingly relevant, particularly in cities where (living) space is growing ever scarcer and more densely populated (Hofmeister 2018: 826). It is intended to accommodate diverse needs and enable uses that vary with the weather and seasons, while at the same time being shaped by issues of accessibility, visibility, and appropriation (BBSR 2019: 9). Furthermore, you should understand the material, political, social, and emotional dimensions of space and reflect on the extent to which space should be understood not only as a physical resource but also as a social and political one. This raises questions of equitable distribution, participation, and access to public spaces. Participants will explore and reflect on open-space typologies through various inputs and using different methods of (critical) mapping. Critical cartography questions the neutrality of maps, which—as powerful tools—construct and shape reality rather than merely depicting it. Over the course of the seminar, each group will develop its own research question to analyze a specific type of open space and an associated problem. In doing so, participants will relate spatial, social, ecological, cultural, and political dimensions to one another. The mapping exercise aims to reveal where interests overlap, where conflicts arise, and which spaces are accessible to whom and in what form. |
