‚Rethinking Space - cities and countryside as a continuum‘
Current discussions on spatial development tend to extremes: On the one hand, the new attractiveness of cities and in particular large or "swarm cities" are at the forefront of the agenda; on the other hand, the political debate is dominated by the discussion about detached regions - mostly structurally weak rural areas. Depending on the survey, the majority of Germans live in rural or urban areas and are either disadvantaged or in need of increased attention. The simple contrast between urban and rural areas is, however, not very helpful for sustainable, differentiated spatial development strategies.
Both Germany and Europe as a whole are developing very heterogeneously - growing, sometimes overburdened areas, and on the other side demographic shrinking, often sparsely populated and peripheral areas. However, there is no clear dividing line between "city" and "country": the prospering areas with growth also include numerous rural areas without larger cities, while many medium-sized and larger cities, which have still not mastered the industrial structural change, still face great challenges.
This track awaits qualified contributions from science and practice that do not aim at unnecessary polarisation, but rather at an integrative view of spatial categories and keep in mind the responsibility of spatial planning and regional policy - in the sense of equivalence of living conditions - in all spatial types.
Empirical-analytical and conceptual contributions are welcome that describe and explain trends in spatial development - also from the perspective of digitisation - or structural change in population, labour market, economy, innovation and competitiveness as well as infrastructures of services of general interest. Convergence analyses are welcome, which also take into account the aspect of spatial-functional division of labour. The role of formal spatial planning as well as informal planning and regional policy strategies can be dealt with.
Proposals for the reform of the European Structural and Investment Funds after 2020 may also be presented. The focus may be on topics such as demographic change, economic development, quality of life - taking into account subjective assessments -, the provision of services of general interest, technical and social infrastructure, methodological approaches to planning and spatial development, or novel governance structures. A reference to the guiding principle "equivalence of living conditions" should be presented in each case. Innovative contributions to the methodology of spatial observation are also welcome.
Chair: Rainer Danielzyk, Axel Priebs, Markus Eltges