The Institute of Spatial Planning at the Dortmund University of Technology (formerly: University of Dortmund) was founded in 1974. It is the central research facility for the School of Spatial Planning and the only scientific institute in Germany that covers such a wide range of research interests.
The Institute aims at integrating different divisions of the School through inter-disciplinary research projects. Research projects vary from theoretical and methodological basic research to practice-oriented forms of policy advice and integrating planning. The trans-disciplinary research approach links sectoral viewpoints, methods, and theories, and contributes to the development of an independent discipline of spatial planning.
The IRPUD Documentation Unit supervises the School’s series of publications on spatial planning (‘Dortmunder Beiträge zur Raumplanung’). These series publish among others doctoral theses, collections of papers on specific topics, research reports, and selected students’ papers.
Other units within the IRPUD are the Centre for Student and Project Affairs (SPZ), which is responsible for the preparation, supervision and documentation of the annual 26 student projects. Its tasks are to guide and implement educational quality management: student advice service in all phases of the study, coordination of the school's courses and organisation of the project based learning in the School of Spatial Planning. Furthermore there are the ICT Service Unit and the Repro Centre which provide technical services.
Institute of Spatial Planning at the University of Dortmund (IRPUD)
Research
Documentation
Centre for Student and Project Affairs
ICT Service Unit
Repro Centre