• Understanding and evaluation of current developments in cities and regions, as well as of approaches to managing them by urban and regional development stakeholders
• Knowledge and application of methods for formulating research questions, theoretical assumptions, research hypotheses, and study designs
• Ability to apply qualitative and quantitative methods in urban and regional research in a targeted manner
• Ability to design, conduct, and evaluate empirical research projects
• Ability to develop appropriate formats for presenting scientific findings

Cities are highly diverse spaces that must constantly adapt to new developments. This raises growing questions about social justice and quality of life: Who benefits from urban development processes, and who bears their burdens? The course addresses current topics in urban and social geography (such as urban inequality, environmental justice, or climate change adaptation) and uses them as the framework for a two-semester research project. In the process, students learn both theoretical foundations and qualitative and quantitative methods of urban and regional research, applying them to concrete case studies and empirical investigations. In addition, empirical findings from current urban-related research will be analyzed and discussed.

The first part involves familiarizing oneself with the subject matter, analyzing specific case studies, and developing research questions and research designs. In the second part, research designs are refined, appropriate data collection tools (e.g., guidelines, observation schemes, or standardized questionnaires) are developed and tested, empirical studies are conducted, and the collected data is prepared, analyzed, interpreted, and presented.
Following a joint orientation phase at the beginning of the winter semester, students choose a quantitative or qualitative focus within the project seminar. Subsequently, the corresponding courses take place in parallel and involve regular interaction with one another.
(Note: The decision between qualitative and quantitative is generally independent of the chosen specialization in the methodology courses.)

A list of introductory readings will be provided at the beginning of the project seminar

i.Understanding and assessing current urban and regional development issues and corresponding strategic and interest-based policies, projects and programmes;
ii.formulation of relevant questions and research hypotheses and identification of case studies in suitable problem contexts;
iii.conception and implementation of empirical research projects in teamwork with reflected application of empirical analytical methods of urban and regional research;
iv.communication and presentation of research methods and results, formulation of recommendations for action.

Cities are very heterogeneous spaces that are also forced to basically permanently adapt to new developments of various kinds. This is unavoidable and in many cases quite desirable. It becomes problematic where the health, quality of life and opportunities of the inhabitants suffer under the structures of a city or are endangered by development processes.
The course takes up precisely such current problem contexts of urban development (e.g. environmental justice, green/blue infrastructure, climate change adaptation) and makes them the framework topic of a two-semester study project. In the first part, the students are introduced to the topic, identify and evaluate concrete case studies and develop questions and research concepts. In the second part, the empirical projects are carried out, the collected data is processed, evaluated and interpreted, and the results are presented.
The field work concentrates on the areas of investigation jointly selected in the course of the seminar, which have turned out to be interesting individual cases/projects in the sense of the framework topic (presumably in the urban centres of the Rhine-Ruhr region).
After a joint familiarisation phase at the beginning of the winter semester, the participants decide on a quantitatively or qualitatively oriented seminar. Subsequently, the corresponding events take place in parallel and in regular exchange with each other. (Note: the decision between qualitative/qualitative is basically independent of the chosen specialisation in the methods courses!)

s. Contents

will be announced in the seminar