Betreuung: Dr. Letizia Imbres (ROP)

Although Polycentric Urban Regions (PURs) have a long tradition in urban research (Dielemann & Faludi, 1998; Kloostermann & Musterd, 2001; Davoudi, 2003; Burger & Meijers, 2012; Rauhut, 2017), the term “polycentricity” still lacks consistency and conceptual clarity, reason why the scholarly literature sometimes refers to it as “a vague, fuzzy and wobbly catch-all concept that can be stretched to mean practically anything” (Rauhut, 2017). In the field of urban studies, general agreement exists around the notion that “polycentral spatial structures are characterized by a spread of residents, enterprises, work places, infrastructure facilities, and building structures over a number of spatially separated centers and functional exchanges between them” (Wiechmann & Siedentop, 2018). Advancements in planning research have also shed light on the multiple dimensions of polycentricity (e.g. morphological and functional); different spatial scales are applied to the concept (e.g. intra-urban and inter-urban) which, in turn, are associated with different meanings and policy issues. Yet, recent studies on the topic aim at investigating the development of polycentric spatial structures as well as addressing the diverse economic impact of different spatial configurations. In particular, in economics, the focus is on the specific features of monocentric or polycentric spatial structures that have an impact on the creation of growth and agglomeration effects. In this regard, city size is normally positively correlated with economic output, income and innovation capacities, thus giving Monocentric Urban Regions (MURs) a comparative advantage over PURs. Moreover, if plagued by fragmented, spatially isolated urbanity, PURs may suffer from a low attractiveness for “high potentials”. Indeed, as some scholars point out, well-educated people (a.k.a. “high potentials”, “creative class”, “knowledge workers”) favor urban spaces with high centrality and density (Florida & Adler, 2018; Hochstenbach & Boterman, 2018; Spencer, 2015). That said, some experts in the field are of the opinion that the disadvantages of polycentric regions can be compensated if cities establish functional integration and effective cooperation, and if they have dense and well connected urban centers (Meijers & Burger, 2017; Meijers, 2005; Hall & Pain, 2005). However, the thesis that collaboratively organized PURs enjoy competitive advantages is still highly debated (Wiechmann & Siedentop, 2018).

Known as the “cradle of the automobile”, Stuttgart PUR stands out as an exception against the mainstream view. With 2.7 million people living in the city’s administrative region and another 5.3 million people in its metropolitan area, Stuttgart is the fourth largest metropolitan area in Germany. It is constantly ranked among the top 20 European metropolitan areas by GDP; human-resource consulting firm Mercer listed Stuttgart as 21st on its list of cities by quality of living and innovation agency 2thinknow ranked the city 24th globally out of 442 cities (Mercer, 2015; 2thinknow, 2015). These numbers do not come as a surprise if considering that Baden-Wurttemberg has one of Germany’s most innovative high-tech clusters as well as one of the country’s strongest regional economies. Some of the most prominent companies include Daimler AG, Porsche, Bosch, Mahle, Celesio, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Sika – all of whom have their world or European headquarters in Stuttgart PUR. Hundreds of SMEs are also based in the region, many still in family ownership with strong ties to the automotive, electronics, engineering and high-tech industry. In addition, the area currently has Germany's highest density of scientific, academic and research organizations, and tops the national league for patent applications.

Against this background, the M-Projekt will take the form of a group work in which participants conduct a study on the Stuttgart PUR aiming at investigating whether inter-urban polycentricity is an asset for regional innovation and economic competitiveness. To accomplish this goal, students are expected to become acquainted with the empirical/analytical and the political/normative view of polycentricity as well as to explore the concept of Regional Innovation System (RIS) in its spatial and relational dimensions.

Notice:

The M-Projekt will be carried out in cooperation with the Verband Region Stuttgart (VRS). Working language of the M-Projekt is English.

Zeit und Ort

Literatur

 There is no pre-requisite reading that needs to be done, but participants may find the following articles/books interesting and informative at a general level:

Asheim B.T., Lawton Smith H. & Oughton C. (2011). Regional Innovation Systems: Theory, Empirics and Policy. Regional Studies, 45(7), 875-891.

Brezzi M. & Veneri P. (2015). Assessing Polycentric Urban Systems in the OECD: Country, Regional and Metropolitan Perspectives. European Planning Studies, 23(6), 1128-1145.

Burger M.J. & Meijers E.J. (2012). Form Follows Function? Linking Morphological and Functional Polycentricity. Urban Studies, 49(5), 1127-1149.

Danielzyk R., Münter A. & Wiechmann T. (2016, eds.). Polyzentrale Metropolregionen. (Planungswissenschaftliche Studien zu Raumordnung und Regionalentwicklung, 5), Lemgo: Rohn. [In German and English]

Davoudi S. (2003). Polycentricity in European spatial planning: from an analytical tool to a normative agenda. European Planning Studies, 11(8), 979–999.

Kloostermann R.C. & Musterd S. (2001). The Polycentric Urban Region: Towards a Research Agenda. Urban Studies, 38(4), 623-633.

Rauhut D. (2017). Polycentricity – one concept or many? European Planning Studies, 25(2), 332-348.

Wiechmann T. & Siedentop S. (2018). Polyzentralität. In Akademie für Raumforschung und Landesplanung (ed.). Handwörterbuch der Stadt‐ und Raumentwicklung. Hannover: ARL, 1791-1797. [In German]

Voraussetzungen

 Eine digitale Voranmeldung (Stimmungsbild) erfolgt in der Woche vor Vorlesungsbeginn. Die Verteilung auf alle angebotenen M-Projekte und M-Entwürfe findet zur ersten Veranstaltungszeit des Semesters statt. Bitte die Informationen auf der Homepage der Fakultät beachten.

Leistungsnachweis

M.Sc. Raumplanung (2012): Das Modul wird mit einer benoteten Modulprüfung abgeschlossen. Weitere Informationen in Prüfungsordnung, Modulhandbuch und Projektwiki.