Wintersemester 2015/2016

LECTURES

 
Module: Urban Planning/Urban Design      2 SWS/ 3 CP
Prof. Dr.-Ing. B. Schönig                

L Lecture series “Perspectives on Urban Planning and Design in Germany– an introduction and discussion of understanding, tasks and strategies”

Content
Coming to Weimar to many international students from cities and megacities around the world feels like a trip to Disneyland. Weimar seems to be the showcase example of a European City. But what are the assumptions and strategies that lie behind the idea of planning and containing a so-called “European City”? To what extent do German cities, as cities in Europe differ from other parts of the world and the challenges they are facing? How can urban development in Germany, how can planning and design strategies applied be interpreted in the context of urban developments in other parts of the world? And – last but not least – to what extent could these strategies help or be applied in international contexts?

The objective of this lecture is twofold: on the one hand it will give an insight and introduction into the German planning system, current tasks and challenges of urban development at stake in Germany and discuss planning and design strategies used to face those. Therefore, it provides an introduction into an understanding of planning and urban design in Germany especially to international students. On the other hand it will try to challenge the German view and position by confronting it with discourses and positions from the international students ‘countries. Doing so, the lecture will enable teaching staff and students to integrate their differing view on planning and learn from the others’ different national experiences and background. The lecture thus also can be understood international comparative studies in praxis in the field of urban design and planning.

The lecture can be combined with a research seminar but can also be attended exclusively. To receive credits for the integrated course in “Urban Planning/Urban Design” (MA AdUrb and EU) one of the seminars offered by the Chairs for Urban Planning or Urban Design I and the lecture series must be attended.

Module:  Urban Sociology           2 SWS/ 3 CP
Prof. Dr. F. Eckardt 

L  Urban Sociology 

  
Content
Life in German cities has undergone substantial changes in the last decade. Not only the East German cities had to address new challenges after the reunification of the German nation in 1990, but also the West German cities had to reformulate their place in the complex urban networks. Cities are mirroring wider changes in German society where new social and political developments can be observed. Economic and cultural globalization has had a major impact on many aspects of urban life. This lecture will give an overview about major developments in German cities since the German reunification in 1990. It will provide both a sound source of information on the most important issues of German society and reflect important discussion of the international debate on urban studies. After delivering a historical overview of German cities, basic concepts of urban sociology will developed by discussing subjects like gentrification, segregation, migration, life style diversity and others. The lecture provides an insight view into classical theories of urban sociology as deriving from Max Weber, Georg Simmel and the Chicago School.

Module:  Project Development       2 SWS/ 3 CP
Prof. Dr.-Ing. B. Nentwig              

L  Basics and Methods of Real Estate Development

Content
This lecture focusses main topics of real estate and urban development, analysis trends of the real estate market, economic calculation in phases of the development. Additional to this course the participants have to take part in the seminar „Real Estate Development“

SEMINARS

Module:  Urban Planning/Urban Design              2 SWS/ 3 CP
Lisa Vollmer M.A.      

S  Mind your own business”      

Content
Small business communities, ethnic entrepreneurs, informal economic practices requirements: presentation in class, hand-out, research report 

Economic activities are a central force that shape urban developments. The regulation of economic activities in urban contexts can take various forms. The localization of economic strategies is part of the new economy. A prominent example of neoliberal governance is the instalment of so called Central Business Districts, concentrating economic power in a small inner-city area. This seminar wants to take a look at the other end of the spectrum and investigate how small scale economic activity from small business communities to informal economic practices are carried out and governed. While on the one hand street vending, bottle collecting and small scale manufacturing are tried to be pushed out of the city, other decentralized activities like small scale ethnic entrepreneurialism, so called street food, local place-branding and temporal uses are increasingly incorporated into and promoted by a neoliberal urban regime.

This seminar wants to take a look at the diverse economic practices and their governance throughout the globe.

Module:  Project Development               2 SWS/ 3 CP
Dipl.-Ing. K. Hoffmann, Prof. Dr.-Ing. B. Nentwig  

S  Real Estate Project Development

Content
Constitutive on the course Basics and Methods of Real Estate Project Development a development task is the main topic of this course. Characteristics are market and location analysis, concepts for estimated usage and economic calculations. Additional information will be given in the first course.

Module:  Project Development               2 SWS/ 3 CP
Antonia Herten M.Sc., Prof. Dr.-Ing. B. Nentwig

S  Real Estate Project Development 

Content
Constitutive on the course Basics and Methods of Real Estate Project Development a development task is the main topic of this course. Characteristics are market and location analysis, concepts for estimated usage and economic calculations. Additional information will be given in the first course.

Module: Urban Planning / Urban Design      2 SWS/ 3 CP
Maria Skivko M.A., Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Philippe Schmidt M.Sc.            

S  Reconstruction, Development and Citizens’ Voices: 
Using quantitative analysis with SPSS as supportive tool for urban planning

Content
This course is a preparatory module for students with a background in (landscape) architecture, design, urban planning, geography. Its main idea is to get a notion how to use social research methods in creating urban design and planning urban changes. The focus of seminars goes on the method of interview as a methodological tool to get data from recipients. Practically the course is oriented on doing a survey with the SPSS statistics, a software package for statistical analysis, as an approach of analyzing and interpreting data. 

Within an interactive form of seminars the course gives students an opportunity to denote the specifics of social methods in urban research, to critically reflect contexts and applications of the method of interview in a survey, to discuss issues and cases where social research functions for efficiency and productivity of urban planning and urban design. Furthermore, the course is planned as a knowledge-sharing platform where students with different backgrounds and working/scientific experience exchange opinions, ideas and skills for doing social and urban research. Moreover, being a studying project, the course has a research case of Jena’s Eichplatz which gives the students an opportunity to work with real data, to cooperate with several social institutions and to find practical ways of solving problems in the field of urban planning. The course is in English but it is of advantage, if you also bring some German knowledge to conduct the interviews. (Maximum Number of participants: 20)

Module: Urban Planning / Urban Design             2 SWS/ 3 CP
Vertr.-Prof. Dr. Steffen de Rudder 

S  Theories of Urban Design: Reading Rem Koolhaas

Content
The Dutch architect und urban planner Rem Koolhaas is not only known for spectacular projects like CCTV headquarter in Beijing or Nederlands Dans Theater in The Hague, he is a highly productive urban essayist as well. His 1.300-page-long reader “S, M, L, XL” once stood like a bible on the drawing tables of architects and urbanists all over the world. His other book, an influential manifesto “Delirious New York”, became a mythic bestseller of urban theory. He coined expressions like “bigness” or “generic city” that were largely discussed among academics and practitioners. 

In this seminar we will read some of his works, from one-page samples to the whole essays. We will discuss his writings and try to understand what lies behind his sometimes enigmatic assumptions. 

But moreover, this is a seminar on reading itself, on how to understand and extract meaning from text and theory. The seminar will promote a knowledge-based, critical understanding of text and encourage taking up a personal position to become an autonomous reader.

Module: Urban Sociology            2 SWS/ 3 CP
Jennifer Plaul M.A.          

S  Creative Urban Renewal

Content
Changes to the urban fabric can originate from city administration and city planners, or private initiatives but also from residents or urban activists. In the latter case, often creative, low-budget interventions, projects or social networks are initiated which can have a short-term but sometimes lasting effect on the space being used. This seminar will explore not only the effects on the built environment of different forms of creative urban renewal, but will primarily focus on the social processes which lead up to and follow such interventions. Can bottom-up approaches to neighborhood improvement manage to integrate local residents? Does gentrification go hand in hand with successful creative interventions? Examples in German and international cities will be discussed.

Module: Applied Geography     2 SWS/ 3 CP
Dr. phil. Liza Wing Man Kam        

S  ‘Development is the absolute Principle’?
Understanding Chinese Cities with methodological and critical Approach

Content
‘Development is the absolute principle.’ The motto, emphasised by the Chinese Communist Party’s former Chairman Deng Xiaoping in a speech during his last Southern Tour in 1992, set the keystone of the country’s subsequent economic development. The opening up and ambition have led to intensive modernisation, high economic growth as well as rapid globalisation. Chinese cities have been undergoing fundamental transformation since then. ‘Let part of the population get rich’, as another objective set by Deng, is seemingly achieved, backed by the continuous growth of GDP in the last decade. 

This development is, however, accompanied by long term consequences in many aspects. Does the gained materialistic fortune compensate the drawbacks resulted by the hastening urban planning strategies? Severe pollution of air, water, agricultural land as well as disappearance of the real ‘Chinese traditions’, building heritage and etc. are observed.  To understand Chinese cities, therefore, involves an understanding of the broad discussion, ‘Who were/ are the actors contributing to the formation of the current China, how and, why?’ In this seminar students will throw a glance to both the traditional and contemporary built environment in the Chinese region through an interdisciplinary approach.  

The course provides an introduction to some selected Chinese cities on a thematic basis.  Discussion are devoted to current planning strategies and phenomena such as heavy industrial buildings built next to residential areas; artist village and its formation in Peking; mega events in Peking and Shanghai and their impact to the cities; traditional vernacular architecture and urban settings for the Hakka tribe in the Southeast Region of China; neo-colonialism in the postcolonial Hong Kong; internal migration in between rural and urban areas-- to name but a few. Students are required to work with interdisciplinary undertakings (political history, architectural history and theory, art history, topics in urban sociology, cultural studies, postcolonial theories, governance, policies and more) by reflecting cities in different methodological approaches. Since the Chinese culture is foreign to most of the students, the seminar shall commence the investigation with Chinese cities/ settlements with the aid of different resources such as films, photography, documentaries and paintings, as well as academic journals and literature.  

The course includes a sequence of lectures and student presentations. The lectures will provide the historical and theoretical background necessary for commencing the discussion of development issues in a broad perspective, while student presentations will focus on independent research including observations, literature reviews and hence, critical thinking.  

Note: Participation is mandatory for AdUrb students in the first semester.

Module: Model Projects             2 SWS/ 3 CP
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) P. Schmidt M.Sc. 

S Introduction to Model Projects 

Content
The seminar serves as preparation for the Model Project semester in spring/summer 2015. Besides an introduction to the 'Model Projects European Urban Studies', students will learn to present their personal portfolios for the prospective model project partners at an early stage in the semester. This also consist of individual presentations. The first semester students (only European Urban Studies) are also invited to participate in the third semester's meetings of the model project seminar to get first impressions of content and form of different experiences from last semester’s model projects. 

Participation is obligatory and only for EU students and will be credited as part of the Model Projects.

Module: Model Projects             4 SWS/ 6 CP
Prof. Dr.-Ing. B. Nentwig, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) P. Schmidt, M.Sc 

S Model Project Forum/Seminar

Content
The seminar’s goal is to exchange about and learn from different projects in the field of urban practice where second semester students have been involved in during their Model Project semester in summer 2014. The seminar challenges students to contextualize the own individual practical work and research experience into a broader context of urban research. This allows participants to deepen the understanding between practice and theory, to contribute real-world-experience in a reflective way and to develop a own set of interdisciplinary action approaches within their individual professional appreciation. Finally, the seminar also prepares students to hold a lecture for the International Model Project Forum in front of audience that is dedicated to an overarching conference title. The seminar mainly consist of three phases: 1.) Reporting and evaluating the Model Projects through individual presentations and group discussion, 2.) Introduction to the Model Project Forum including the preparation of and feedback on individual presentation concepts for the forum, 3.) Coached rehearsals for presentations, and last but not least the final presentations at the 15th International Model Project Forum (end of February or March 2015).

Note: Participation is mandatory for third semester EU students! Class based on continuous and active participation. Attested absence of more than two meetings leads to credit failure.

EXERCISE COURSES

Module: Transfer of Methods and Expertise     2 SWS/ 3 CP
Dipl.-Kaufm. T. Dobberstein       

E  Introduction to Moderation

Content
Meetings with representatives of different interest groups are important milestones in today’s planning processes. The different expectations regarding the outcome of the meeting and the different backgrounds of the participants challenge the diplomatic skills of the planners who lead the discussion.The lecture teaches fundamental tools to guide group meetings and planning workshops towards a productive output. Practical exercise sessions address techniques to visualize and to moderate planning related issues.A consensus on multi-interest decisions in the urban context depends on the accurate detection of all different interests of the stakeholders involved and the right analysis of potentially conflicting positions. The implementation of informal planning strategies and dialogue based communication are discussed in the course.

Module: Transfer of Methods and Expertise     2 SWS/ 3 CP
Dipl.-Kaufm. T. Dobberstein  

E  Introduction to Moderation 

Content
Meetings with representatives of different interest groups are important milestones in today’s planning processes. The different expectations regarding the outcome of the meeting and the different backgrounds of the participants challenge the diplomatic skills of the planners who lead the discussion.The lecture teaches fundamental tools to guide group meetings and planning workshops towards a productive output. Practical exercise sessions address techniques to visualize and to moderate planning related issues. A consensus on multi-interest decisions in the urban context depends on the accurate detection of all different interests of the stakeholders involved and the right analysis of potentially conflicting positions. The implementation of informal planning strategies and dialogue based communication are discussed in the course.

Module: Transfer of Methods and Expertise     2 SWS/ 3 CP
Justin Kadi, PhD                

E  Academic Skills           

Content
At the beginning we will deal with the process of production of scientific knowledge as such considering basic ‘rules’ of scientific work. As learning by doing is usually a successful way which makes us experiencing the specific demands of a research process you will work in the course in small teams defining and planning your own research project. Starting the practical work we will first deal with different sources of information, how to decode and evaluate them as wells as how to quote and organize them properly in scientific working and writing. Now having an idea how and where to gather information you will define your own research question and develop a research concept step by step going from a proper wording of the research question to the selection of fitting research methods, time planning and documentation.

Module: Transfer of Methods and Expertise     2 SWS/ 3 CP
Justin Kadi, PhD             

E  Academic Skills           

Content
At the beginning we will deal with the process of production of scientific knowledge as such considering basic ‘rules’ of scientific work. As learning by doing is usually a successful way which makes us experiencing the specific demands of a research process you will work in the course in small teams defining and planning your own research project. Starting the practical work we will first deal with different sources of information, how to decode and evaluate them as wells as how to quote and organize them properly in scientific working and writing. Now having an idea how and where to gather information you will define your own research question and develop a research concept step by step going from a proper wording of the research question to the selection of fitting research methods, time planning and documentation.

MASTER - COLLOQUIUM

Module: Masters´ Thesis             2 SWS/ 3 CP
Justin Kadi PhD /Prof. IfEU        

Master - Colloquium EU/AdUrb              

Content
The course is the platform for presentation and discussion of the Masters theses. The candidates will present the intermediate results of their work on their individual topics. Suggestions for further action will be made by fellow students and academics attending the colloquium. Admission for the Master examination is required for participation. Performance record (attestation) will be achieved by giving an oral presentation.

COMPULSORY ELECTIVES

Module: Urban Planning/Urban Design               2 SWS/ 3 CP
Prof. Dr.-Ing. B. Schönig                

L Lecture series “Welcome to Weimar.
Architecture and Urbanism in Weimar and beyond”

Content
Welcome to Weimar! This lecture series will give international and German students insight into research at Bauhaus university’s faculty “Architecture and Urbanism”. Starting from Weimar the lecture series will provide an understanding of the latest developments in German scholarship concerning urban design, urban planning, and urban development as researched by the departments professors and staff. From landscape architecture, the historical Bauhaus and heritage conservation to sustainable mobility, the redevelopment of large housing estates and growing and shrinking cities – the topics of this lecture series will take you on a journey into the most important issues discussed in German cities and urban studies as seen by the university's teaching staff.

The lecture series will be given in English and is open to students of all departments. Each lecture will be held by another faculty member or invited guests. Students will have the opportunity to take part in an exam to acquire credit points and a grade.

Module: Urban Planning / Urban Design             2 SWS/ 3 CP
Holger Gladys, M.Arch.                 

S  European Metropole - Moscow 

Content
From socialist realism to capitalist realism. Moscow is next to Paris, London and Istanbul, the largest European city and metropole region. Although its history is intensively interconnected with the Western European history, the metropole all too often seems to elude our perception. Surprisingly enough, with a few prominent exceptions, its 20th century development and current urban planning issues are rarely inspiration for study and research. Bart Goldhoorn, the editor or the magazine Russia Project, pointed out that "nowhere the confrontation of the leading ideological systems of - the Communist revolution - but also after 1991 - the fall of Communism." And the historian Thomas Flierl noticed that "there is no other city where it becomes more visible, of how the urban planning of an Eastern European capital steadily oscillates between Western European and American urban development concepts and the search for alternative concepts." Consequently, the seminar encourages to locate and understand possible correlation of politics, architectural form and the city at large. The seminar mainly addresses the transformations of the city during the mid-1930s and after the 1990s. To create ourselves a vantage point and toolbox for discussion and writing, the studio will engage into a series of contemporary and precedent concepts in urban planning and reflect them in relation to the Russian capital. Additionally to studying the city through plans and literature, we will visit Moscow. Walking in city is an essential act in understanding the physical urban structure and spatial textures. During a one week excursion, the studio will meet and discuss with among others, urban and architectural design professionals and have a workshop at one of the Moscow architectural schools.

Module: Compulsory Electives 2 SWS/ 3 CP
Dipl.-Ing. Nicole Baron   

S  Resilience – From the Urban to the Housing Scale

Content
Walker and Salt described Resilience in their much quoted book "Resilience thinking - Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World" in the following manner: Resilience is "the ability of a system to absorb disturbance and still retain its basic function and structure" (Walker and Salt 2006, 1). In our course, we are going to explore the concept of resilience and how it applies to Architecture and Urban Design.The overall goal of the course “Resilience – From the Housing to the Urban Scale” (UR) is for the students to learn about urban resilience, to understand its processes and elements, and to apply this understanding. “UR” is a mainly online-based course and has four main elements: workshop, video task, paper task, and evaluation. A two-day, introductory workshop (12.-13.10.15) starts off the course. Here, students will learn about resilience theory and its practical application as well as start working on their two course assignments in an environment of collaboration and exchange. While this part of the course takes place in the classroom, all further course elements are based on the e-learning platform "moodle".For the video task, which is the second course element, each student will be required to analyze as well as reflect a best- or worst-case example provided by the lecturer and present his or her findings in a short-video presentation. All videos are uploaded onto "moodle" and shared with the other students. In the third phase of the course – the paper task – students will apply their knowledge about (urban) resilience by doing field research and by writing a short  paper about it. The focus of this paper shall lie on the housing unit (its inhabitants, functionality, and construction) as the basic actor of urban resilience.The course will end with a detailed feedback by the teacher as well as an evaluation of the course by the students.

Module: Compulsory Electives Urban Sociology     2 SWS/ 3 CP
Ivana Sidzimovska           

S My House is your House! Giving space for making place -
creative approaches to facilitated co-existence      

Content
In reference to the ongoing project 'Welcoming cities' the Seminar focuses on creative possibilities for establishing fertile contact and communication between residents and refugees in Thuringia. The Seminar is of transdisciplinary nature, on the intersection between visual arts and urban studies, in which to examine possibilities of intervening artistic and social-scientific research for bridging gaps in cultural and religious differences. 

The aim of the Seminar is to facilitate a creative dialogue between 'hosts' (local residents) and 'guests' (Arabic refugees) in Thuringia by passing on relevant information about German and Arabic culture, presenting applicable research findings with regards to the project “Welcoming cities” and displaying works of art, to be produced in collaborative fashion and involving artists, researchers, refugees, local residents and students.

ELECTIVES

Module: Urban Planning / Urban Design             2 SWS/ 3 CP 
Maria Skivka, M.A.,  Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Philippe Schmidt M.Sc.  

S  Reconstruction, Development and Citizens’ Voices: 
Using quantitative analysis with SPSS as supportive tool for urban planning

Content
This course is a preparatory module for students with a background in (landscape) architecture, design, urban planning, geography. Its main idea is to get a notion how to use social research methods in creating urban design and planning urban changes. The focus of seminars goes on the method of interview as a methodological tool to get data from recipients. Practically the course is oriented on doing a survey with the SPSS statistics, a software package for statistical analysis, as an approach of analyzing and interpreting data.

Within an interactive form of seminars the course gives students an opportunity to denote the specifics of social methods in urban research, to critically reflect contexts and applications of the method of interview in a survey, to discuss issues and cases where social research functions for efficiency and productivity of urban planning and urban design. Furthermore, the course is planned as a knowledge-sharing platform where students with different backgrounds and working/scientific experience exchange opinions, ideas and skills for doing social and urban research. Moreover, being a studying project, the course has a research case of Jena’s Eichplatz which gives the students an opportunity to work with real data, to cooperate with several social institutions and to find practical ways of solving problems in the field of urban planning. The course is in English but it is of advantage, if you also bring some German knowledge to conduct the interviews. (Maximum Number of participants: 20)

Module: Elective Course                     2 SWS/ 3 CP
Carsten Pieper, Nija-Maria Linke, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Philippe Schmidt M.Sc., Dipl.-Geogr. Bitta Trostorff   

S  Introduction into GIS

Content
Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are a useful tool for different disciplines, among others urban and spatial planners. Collecting, managing, analysing and visualising data with GIS software can help in different states of planning processes – from identifying areas of work to spatial analyses it is possible to create easy understandable maps and to enable communication processes.

 In this online-course you will get:

•  a theoretical insight in what GIS is about
•  an idea of how to create maps by using ESRI ArcGIS software and
•  an insight in how experts are using GIS for different purposes related to questions of planning and design

The course will start mid-November. It is web-based with no requirement of physical presence.

Assignments and short tests have to be accomplished. You will get further information of how to use the online-course via e-mail after enrolling to this course in the registration list. (Maximum Number of participants: 20)