Sustainable Urbanism: Research-based collaboration of intercultural and transdisciplinary student teams towards resourceefficient solutions for challenges of current urban planning on exemplary neighbourhoods in Hamburg

Abstract

Sustainable urbanism leads socio-cultural setting and resource-efficient use of materials, water, energy and traffic to a synthesis. Aspects of sustainable urban planning are densification, mixed use, urban sprawl, green technology or human scale neighbourhoods. This can be reached by promoting diverse urban sub-centres, in a so-called polycentric city like Hamburg. In order to apply this conceptual framework in a comparative way, seven teams of international graduate students proposed solutions on sub-centres in Hamburg, based on an in-depth analysis of those neighbourhoods. Participants have different academic and professional backgrounds in order to be able to analyse, discuss and propose in a broad, interdisciplinary way. Also, they have a diverse cultural background, which constitutes a global understanding with regards to technology, politics, culture and climate. The aim of this collaboration is to derive strategies for the improvement of livability and sustainability of urban neighbourhoods through extensive communication among diverse perspectives. The presented outcome is based on critical theoretical discussions, case study analysis and contextualised, detailed physical interventions which shall be adapted to other locations in a useful way.