Deutsche Version

In the Research division of the Institute interdisciplinary research projects are initiated and conducted. The range of research projects extends from theoretical and methodological basic research to practice-oriented forms of policy advice and participatory planning. The research of IRPUD interconnects discipline-specific research perspectives, methodologies and theories by emphasising their common spatial dimension in order to contribute to the development of an autonomous discipline of spatial planning.

The bulk of the research work is financed by third-party funds. In this respect the following institutions are of particular important for IRPUD's research portfolio: European Commission, ESPON (European Spatial Planning Observation Network), the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR) or the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Many research projects at the Institute address problems of structural change in agglomerations particularly visible in the Ruhr Area and other old industrial regions in order to investigate their causes and to develop strategies and policies to cope with their spatial consequences. The monitoring of education and practice of spatial planning is a contribution of the Institute to the improvement of the curriculum of the Department and its presentation to the outside world.