Our research focusses mainly on four main topics:

Convergence of sustainable and digital city research

In projects like „Sustainable Development of Urban Regions“ or the Grasbrook City Scope we explore how two megatrends of current urban research – the digital transformation of cities and the demand for sustainable urban development – can be converged within a unified scientific framework.

Multi-layer Analysis of Urban Systems

In projects like Grasbrook City Scope (a cooperation with the MIT Media Lab) we investigate how multiple functional and physical layers of urban systems can be analysed and cross-connected, e.g. social activities, transportation and accessibility, noise emission, or stormwater runoff, or. The key instrument here is Agent-Based-Models.

Smart Quarter and Smart Building Data

In investigations on smart buildings and neighbourhoods in the context of the HafenCity and Kleiner Grasbrook urban development, as well as in teaching courses like „Data Café“, we explore how data from the „internet of buildings“ can be used for the purpose of intelligent urban development.

Integrated Urban Development worldwide

In international cooperations with the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ), among others, we search for new approaches how the rapid evolution of urban agglomerations and informal settlements especially in the Global South can be supported by open source tools like the „TOSCA Toolkit or Open and Sustainable City Planning and Analysis“.