The DFG-funded doctoral program “Urban Future-Making” researches the design of the built environment in light of pressing current challenges. The German Research Foundation (DFG) has now decided to extend funding for doctoral training within the program until 2031. The program at HafenCity University is run jointly with TU Hamburg and the University of Hamburg.
Thus, the interdisciplinary research and qualification of doctoral candidates on the future of the built environment in the context of socio-ecological transformations will be continued and further developed in the second funding phase from October 1, 2026, to March 31, 2031. The program has been successfully established since March 2022: in the first funding phase, twelve funded doctoral candidates and nine associated members were supervised, most of whom were able to complete their doctorates within three years. The current second cohort, again with twelve funded and nine associated members, including two postdoctoral researchers, is currently continuing the research work in its third semester.
In the second funding phase, the doctoral program examines how actors in the built environment, such as architects, engineers, and planners, remain capable of acting and shaping the future under conditions of growing urgency and increasing uncertainty. The focus is on cities as central places of socio-ecological transformation, where climate policy, urban planning, housing, infrastructure, and energy supply are renegotiated. The research program builds upon the results of the first funding phase and deepens the analysis of professional scopes of action along three thematic focuses: meanings and values, rules and organizations, as well as tools and techniques. In this way, the doctoral program makes an important contribution to understanding how societal future processes in the built environment can be shaped under changing conditions.
Future questions of cities and regions
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Andreas Timm-Giel, President of TU Hamburg: “Urgent issues of our time, such as climate change, climate-neutral and secure energy supply, or the transport turnaround require scientifically grounded technological solutions like those developed at TU Hamburg. Interdisciplinary cooperation, as it successfully takes place here in the doctoral program with our partners at HCU and UHH, is just as important for developing solutions as it is for their implementation. We are pleased to continue contributing to these topics and training doctoral candidates together within the framework of the DFG-funded doctoral program. The approval of the second funding phase is proof of quality. My thanks and respect go to all successful participants.”
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Carsten Gertz, Institute for Transport Planning and Logistics, TU Hamburg: “I am very pleased about the approval of the second funding phase of the doctoral program ‚Urban Future-Making‘ because another generation of early-career researchers can engage with the future questions of cities and regions. Mobility plays an important here and requires an interdisciplinary perspective, which makes the inspiring cooperation between HCU, TUHH, and UHH especially important for us in transport research.”
Prof. Dr. Monika Grubbauer, spokesperson of the doctoral program: “The DFG’s commitment to the second funding phase is great recognition of our work so far and an important signal of the relevance of our topics. Cities face enormous transformation pressures today, while uncertainties about how socio-ecological changes can be concretely shaped are growing. Since 2022, together with doctoral candidates from different disciplines, we have been researching how actors in the built environment remain capable of acting and actively shape the future under these conditions. The second funding phase allows us to continue qualifying excellent doctoral candidates in an interdisciplinary and internationally oriented environment and to further deepen the collaboration among HCU, TUHH, and UHH.”
Prof. Dr. Jörg Müller-Lietzkow, President of HafenCity University Hamburg: “The extension of the doctoral program ‚Urban Future-Making‘ is an important recognition of the outstanding work that HafenCity University Hamburg, together with its partner institutions, has accomplished over recent years. The renewed funding particularly honors the innovative inter- and multidisciplinarity of the cooperation, the high scientific standard of the program, and the great dedication to qualifying doctoral candidates. At the same time, it highlights the societal relevance of research on urban transformation processes.”
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Annette Bögle, Vice President for Research and Internationalization at HafenCity University Hamburg: “With the approval, the innovative research of HCU and its partner institutions receives clear confirmation. I am all the more pleased about the DFG’s appreciation, especially with regard to the exceptional multidisciplinarity and strong scientific collaboration in the doctoral program, which serves as a model beyond Hamburg.”
Prof. Dr. Hauke Heekeren, President of the University of Hamburg: “The extension of the doctoral program underscores that the big questions of urban transformation can only be answered through the interplay of technical, planning, and social science perspectives. The University of Hamburg contributes with sociology as well as political and peace research those perspectives that understand cities as social spaces of negotiation. The fact that HCU, TU Hamburg, and University of Hamburg bundle these strengths over eight years makes the performance of the Hamburg scientific location highly visible in the qualification of doctoral candidates.”
Use of AI in architecture
The doctoral program deals, among other topics, with mobility, energy supply, and resources and researches scopes of action and strategies in view of expected threats and increasing risks for urban societies. Concrete topics include strategies for dealing with the existing building stock, the future of wood as a building material, the use of AI in architecture, and the planning of extreme weather and disaster events.
The project brings together researchers from various disciplines and enables interdisciplinary knowledge production for the future of cities. Participating at HCU are scientists from urban planning and civil engineering, at UHH from sociology and geography, and at TUHH from transport planning.
Doctoral programs are university institutions to support researchers in early career stages and are funded by the DFG for a maximum of nine years. The focus is on qualifying doctoral candidates within a thematically focused research program as well as a structured qualification concept. An interdisciplinary orientation of doctoral programs is explicitly desired by the DFG. The goal is to prepare doctoral candidates for the complex academic job market while fostering their early scientific independence.
Participating researchers include:
- Prof. Dr. Monika Grubbauer (HCU), History and Theory of the City (spokesperson)
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Annette Bögle (HCU), Design and Analysis of Structures
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Carsten Gertz (TUHH), Institute for Transport Planning and Logistics
- Jun.-Prof. Dr. Benno Fladvad (UHH), Natural Science Peace Research with a focus on Climate and Security
- Prof. Dr. Christine Hentschel (UHH), Sociology of Security and Resilience
- Prof. Dr.-Ing. Gesa Kapteina (HCU), Building Material Technology
- Prof. Dr. Katharina Manderscheid (UHH), Sociology, in particular Conduct of Life and Sustainability
- Prof. Dipl.-Ing. Antje Stokman (HCU), Landscape Architecture and Planning
- Prof. Dr. Joachim Thiel (HCU), Urban and Regional Economics
The doctoral program unites scholars from the social sciences (including sociology, urban research, geography) as well as the built environment disciplines (architecture, engineering, planning). The international orientation with English as working language, international recruitment, and international guest researchers and events has established itself as a central component of the research work.
More information on the website of the doctoral program: https://urban-future-making.hcu-hamburg.de/
