Grundlagen Städtebau – Fundamentals of Urban Planning and Design

This course is a compulsory part of the bachelor program Architecture and Urban Planning and consists of a lecture with supervised exercises.

The city with its dynamic change processes is an extremely exciting and relevant field of activity for architects, urban and landscape planners as well as for specialists of various disciplines. Currently, more than half of the world’s population lives in cities, and the trend towards urbanization continues: according to the latest UN statistics, 68% of humanity is expected to live in urban areas by 2050. This global urban growth poses many challenges for planners and decision-makers as well as for civil society.

In their present form, the cities present themselves as the result of sometimes centuries of transformation processes and a variety of current influences. Their cityscape is characterized by traces of historical developmental stages, topographical conditions as well as cultural, economic and social developments.

The aim of the course “Basics Urban Design” is to open the eyes for this multi-layered “city phenomenon” and to convey an overview of urban planning as a professional field. The course consists of a lecture, in which basic knowledge of the vocational field is taught and of an exercise part, in which this knowledge is practically applied.