Type and Duration
FFF-Förderprojekt, November 2024 until December 2025Coordinator
Urbanism, Architecture & SocietyMain Research
Sustainable Planning and ConstructionDescription
Urban infrastructure, from housing to energy and water provision and transport systems, underpins livelihoods in contemporary cities and regions. These relationships can encompass enormous territories, extending urbanization into new dimensions and altering the material, political, and social dimensions of space. This project brings together global dimensions of this research into extended urbanization with ongoing empirical research into urbanization processes in the Alpenrheintal (Alpine Rhein Valley) of Central Europe and the Gauteng City-Region of South Africa. It draws on this previous research conducted at the University of Liechtenstein in concert with methods from the social sciences to examine the way urbanization“stretches” between established urban centralities and geographical peripheries, attempting to determine the form and impact of ongoing urban transformations in two case study areas. Within this, we
will specifically work with comparative methods from urban and political science to focus on the production of housing, transport systems, and people experience of everyday life in selected areas within the cases. Juxtaposing these regions also contributes to cuttingedge theory in urban studies, and brings together
scholars from many regions around the world to reflect upon the problems of contemporary urbanization. The project results in a co-authored edited volume book publication, along with popular media
dissemination tactics for a broad audience, to bring the local concerns of Liechtenstein and Switzerland into conversation with global dialogues.
