Postal address:

Technische Universität Dortmund

Fakultät Raumplanung

Fachgebiet Raumplanung in Entwicklungsländern

August-Schmidt-Str. 6

D-44221 Dortmund

Here you can find our location on Google-Maps and an additional location map (The department is located in building 29).

Analyzing and imparting planning experiences

The Department of „Spatial Planning in Developing Countries“ focuses on topics of spatial planning in urban and rural areas in developing countries. The objective of our work is to device planning strategies that respond to the challenges of country-specific local and regional conditions. However, we also take into account and draw on planning experiences in Germany and other industrialized countries.

The Department of Spatial Planning in Developing Countries evolved from the former department  “Geographical Foundations of Spatial Planning”, which had already focused on emerging and developing countries. In the year 2000 the Master Programme SPRING (Spatial Planning for Regions in Growing Economies) became part of the department, however in 2008 it was assigned to the then-founded “International Spatial Planning Centre (ISPC)”.

The history of the Department has shaped its research and lecture focus. We are particularly interested in the interplay between socio-economic processes and spatial development. Also, we intend to combine studies on specific localities with a global perspective on social and economic development: This is important due to, for instance, the increasing social, economic and political interdependencies between the North and the South and growing international mobility induced by migration.

Present research projects and lectures of the Department include the following topics:

• Rural-urban migration, multi-locality and prospects for poverty-oriented regional development
• Transnational social spaces, spatial development and the implications for planning processes in countries of origin and destination
• Sustainable territorial planning which reconciles livelihood development with the conservation of natural resources
• Integration of informal settlements in big cities of developing countries
• Ecotourism and sustainable local development