Urban development

Urban development is concerned with the manifestation, emergence and transformation of urban spaces, and is closely networked with the development of transportation systems. When planning this spatial development, the diversity of structural elements is taken into consideration, as well as their interactions, processes and actors, in a functionally defined urban area.

Urban development is always subject to the conflicting forces of diversification and specialization, allowing a range of activities at certain locations while at others creating spatial clusters for optimized value chains.

The connectivity between the locations overcomes the boundaries between built and unbuilt spaces, different levels of scale, administrative territories and competencies. As a result, polycentric urban areas are linked at the level of metropolitan regions to cultural landscapes with a rural character in formal and informal socio-spatial production processes. With accessibility planning, the focus shifts to the interconnections between transportation networks and urban development, revealing the potential of integrated land-use and transport planning.

The mobility spaces serve as integrators across multiple spatial scales. In street spaces, a balance must be found among the contrasting expectations regarding the quality of connectivity, ease of access, and the spatial experience. The experimental transformation of streets and public spaces is a task that combines the sectoral perspectives of the respective disciplines, thus contributing to the systematic transformation of urban mobility.