Urban research − understanding urban change in its diversity

ILS researcher Barbara Schröter, in collaboration with several colleagues, has published an article in the journal “ecosystem services”. The article covers how justice is conceptualized in ecosystem services research. They identified five different framings, that each render different (in)justices (in)visible. The diversity of framings emphasizes the importance of considering multiple perspectives on justice. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2025.101755. Further current selected papers can be found here.

Within the Horizon 2020 Project ReRoot, Cornelia Tippel, ILS-Scientist within the research group „Urban Social Space“ has co-authored the „Integration Otherwise Inspiration Kit“. The publication is a practical guidebook that centers bottom-up approaches on integration and moves beyond polarizing debates of newcomers failing to integrate or blames society as insufficiently welcoming. The authors introduce the concept of „arrival infrastructuring“, the interactive process through which newcomers, together with others, actively shape and transform their arrival situations. Through stories from the ground with concise takeaways, alongside tools for reflection and action, this guide equips practitioners, policymakers and community builders with a deeper understanding of the diverse forms of arrival infrastructuring, as well as the successes and challenges of everyday integration processes. https://doi.org/10.11116/9789461666758. Further current selected papers can be found here.

ILS-Researcher Kerstin Conrad has published a paper in the journal “Zeitschrift für Gerontologie und Geriatrie” in collaboration with Susanne Penger from the University of Siegen. The article covers the perception of extreme heat by elderly people. It covers the results of a survey of 211 persons aged 65 to 92 years in Stuttgart. A cluster of vulnerability factors was discovered, which led to a strong reduction in out-of-home activities during high perceived heat stress. This reinforces the necessity of targeted heat protection and prevention measures in local heat action schemes. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00391-025-02456-y. Further current selected papers can be found here.

ILS researcher Isabel Ramos, in collaboration with Heike Hanhörster from TU Berlin, has observed different forms of institutional discrimination, which deepen school segregation and counteract the function of elementary schools as places of encounter between different population groups. For their recent paper in the journal „Berichte. Geographie und Landeskunde“, they interviewed experts and parents and analyzed the interplay between institutional structures and practices and segregation at school. They identified three dimensions of institutional discrimination in access to elementary school: the strategic goals of a school in handling segregation, the admission process and the profile development and information policy of a school. These factors prove to be subtle, but decisive facets of institutional discrimination, that co-produce and perpetuate spatial and educational inequalities. https://doi.org/10.25162/bgl-2025-0013. Further current selected papers can be found here.

Simon Liebig from the ILS research group “ Urban Social Space” has published an article together with Jan Üblacker from the EBZ Business School in the journal “Berichte. Geography and Regional Geography“. The article examines online neighbourhood groups on various platforms as local communication spaces. Based on 20 interviews, the article analyses the extent to which spatial concepts shape the accessibility of these groups and how interactions are shaped under the conditions of virtual co-presence. The results show that online neighbourhood groups are to be understood as localized networked publics that are characterised by persistent contacts and a geographical location reference. The users’ ideas of space form the content-related communication framework, function as a symbolic connection between the group members and determine accessibility. https://doi.org/10.25162/bgl-2025-0016. Further current specialist publications can be found here.