Quality in New Urban Neighbourhoods
Quality in New Urban Neighbourhoods Strategies and Instruments for Quality Assurance in the Development of New City Districts
Quality in New Urban Neighbourhoods
Strategies and Instruments for Quality Assurance in the Development of New City Districts
The BBSR research project “Quality in New Urban Neighbourhoods” investigates how new urban neighbourhoods can be developed to be of high quality, affordable, and future-oriented. At its core is the question of why new urban developments – key levers for housing and urban development – often fail to meet their own ambitious goals. Rising land prices, extended planning and approval timelines, and increasing demands exacerbate the problem that initial aspirations are diluted, delayed, or abandoned during realisation.
The interdisciplinary consortium examines planning and development processes, the collaboration among diverse stakeholder constellations, and explores which instruments and strategies municipalities can use to ensure quality over the long term. The project aims to generate well-founded, practice-oriented insights for future development processes, thereby contributing to a viable, equitable, and sustainable approach to neighbourhood development.
The Chair of ARCHITECTURE CITY ECONOMY is actively involved in the project in multiple capacities. It leads the expertise area “New European Urban Neighbourhoods,” which expands the research project with a European comparative perspective. The project analyzes planning systems, governance and financing models, cooperation formats, and selected new urban developments across Europe. The pressing housing crisis is central to the analysis, but it is not considered in isolation. Instead, it is examined in conjunction with other key factors influencing neighbourhood quality: mixed-use development, social integration, climate protection, and climate adaptation strategies. The goal is to identify innovative and successful approaches and instruments that can inform actionable recommendations for rapid, cost-conscious, and high-quality neighbourhood development in Germany.
In addition, the Chair actively contributes to the national neighbourhood analysis of 50 districts. The analysis covers neighbourhoods at various stages of development – from planning to post-occupancy. Key aspects include the involved stakeholders, instruments applied, decision-making processes, and the conditions that either support or hinder quality development. Furthermore, the Chair leads the spotlight on gender-responsive urban development, strengthening a perspective often overlooked in planning practice: How can public spaces, housing layouts, mobility offerings, and participation processes be designed to respond to diverse life realities?
Quality in New Urban Neighbourhoods
Duration: 2026 – 2028
Funded by: Federal Institute for Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR)
Part of: Research Program Experimental Housing and Urban Development (ExWoSt)
Project Team: Univ.-Prof. Dr. Gabu Heindl, WM Lara Hesse, WM Helena Rafalsky
Project Partners: De Zwarte Hond (DZH) (Project Lead), Wuppertal Institute, GRETAS, University of Siegen, Ellery Studio