Flexible Electric Grids I

As part of the BMBF research cluster Flexible Electrical Networks (FEN), the Institute for Urban and Regional Planning investigates the impact of innovative electrical network structures bas on dc technology on urban structures and systems.

Period: 2015 to 2020

Graduate School „Energy Efficiency in the District - clever supply. rebuilt. activate.“

The College has the aim to better understand relationships that are relevant for improving energy efficiency and thus infer strategic approaches for the implementation of energy efficiency measures in urban districts.

Period: August 2014 to December 2018

Urban Factory - Launching Ressouce-Efficient Production wihtin Inner City

The research project Urban Factory is looking for methods which would enhance the potential of the resource efficiency of both factories and cities by their closer interaction. The project is formed by the multi-disciplinary 'Urban Factory Research Network', which brings together the disciplines urban planning, urban design, industrial construction, factory planning, logistics and energy design while also involving private companies, municipalities and citizens.

Period: 2015 to 2018

Map of the Ruhr energy system transformation

The map of the energy system transformation is an interactive online map. It shows the variety of social, municipal and economic transformation activities towards a sustainable society that are taking place at different levels in the Ruhr Area and were initiated by various actors.

Period: September 2014 to April 2018

Village Development Concept Venrath and Kaulhausen

The aim of the project is the elaboration of a village development concept for the preservation of the village structure of the Erkelenz districts of Venrath and Kaulhausen against the background of the approaching open-cast mine as well as the general conditions in the rural area.

Time Frame: 2016 to 2018

Integrated action plan Kall

In addition to the functional strengthening, the integrated action concept prepares for design upgrades. A large number of individual measures are intended to (further) develop existing or new residential and commercial locations, improve the quality of public spaces and reduce the dominance of motorised individual transport in favour of sustainable mobility concepts.

Period: 2015 to 2016

Partnerships with the Universities of the Kasayi, Kongo

The collaboration with the Universités Notre-Dame du Kasayi and RWTH Aachen was initiated in 2001 through personal contacts. By now, it has grown into a project with partners from RWTH Aachen and outside the University. In 2006, a partnership agreement was signed, and establishing an Haute Ecole de Construction et Architecture at U.KA in Kananga became a major focus of the partnership. 

Period: 2007 to 2010 and 2013 to 2016

Design survey for the municipality of Roetgen

After an intensive public and political discussion about several current building projects, which do not fit into the context in terms of urban development and architecture, the municipality of Roetgen commissioned the Institute for Urban Development with a design expertise. 

Period: 2014 to 2015

Moderated Development Plan Process for the Relocation of the Districts Keyenberg, Kuckum, Ober- und Unterwestrich, Berverath

As part of the final relocation measures for the Garzweiler surface mining project, the working group of the Institute of Urban and Regional Planning is collaborating with various planning agencies, RWE, and the City of Erkelenz on a development plan for a new location for the five villages Keyenberg, Kuckum, Berverath, Unter- und Oberwestrich.

Period: 2013 to 2015

Patterns of Urbanization and Settlement Development in Oman

While the historical oasis settlements are increasingly deteriorating, a corridor of urban sprawl and urbanization is developing along the coast between Muscat and Musandam. At the same time, transformation processes in rural regions results in similar ‘sprawl landscapes’.

Timeframe: 2014

Revitalisation of the old town of Blankenheim

The project is a cooperation project with the planning office RaumPlan within the framework of the preparation of an inter-communal action plan of the municipalities Blankenheim and Nettersheim for inclusion in the development programme of the state of NRW.

Period: 2014

Summer School Theodosian Landwalls & Urban Agriculture Istanbul

The Summer School sought to develop future-proof concepts for the land walls. The project was implemented by the UNESCO Chair in collaboration with the Chair of Landscape Architecture, the Teaching and Research Area Urban Development History, and several Turkish universities (Kadir Has University; Okan University; Istanbul Technical University; Bilkent University, Ankara)

Period: 2013

LEADER Project - Internal Village Development, East Belgium

The image and significance of rural areas has changed significantly in recent decades as a result of the far-reaching consequences of agricultural structural change, demographic change, globalisation and increasing mobility. The aim of the project is to bring this topic closer to the population of the LAG area and to sensitize them to it.

Period: 2012 to 2013

Site Studies on the Resettlement of Keyenberg, Kuckum, Berverath, Ober- and Unterwestrich

In order to carry out the resettlement of the districts Keyenberg, Kuckum, Berverath, Ober- and Unterwestrich, which is planned to start in 2017, decision bases for the location finding had to be worked out and formulated with regard to the following preparatory and binding urban land-use planning. For this purpose, the above-mentioned old sites were to be analysed using different criteria and a rough profile of the sites was to be presented in the form of a profile.

Period: 2011 to 2012

Accompanying Research on the Wireless Charging of Electric Vehicles

As part of the project "Accompanying Research on the Wireless Charging of Electric Vehicles" commissioned by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, the Institute investigated the impacts of the necessary charging infrastructure in public space on urban development.

Period: 2010 bis 2011

Planning, Building and Design - Building Culture, LEADER Region Eifel

The unmistakable shape of the Eifel villages, which has grown over centuries, is becoming increasingly influenced by atypical and unscaled village expansions, individual construction measures, reshaping, and traffic-oriented adaption of public spaces, and greening efforts that don't do the landscape justice. These disruptions and undesirable developments, leading to a loss in the village identity, of touch upon ignorance and a lost awareness of the defining village development principles and the types of construction, materials, craftmanship, and plants typical to the region. If the rural settlement area with its villages are not reshaped, new adapted principles for design are necessary.

Period: 2009 to 2011

Study on intermunicipal cooperation and the Burmerange-Schengen-Wellenstein association of municipalities in the canton of Remich, Luxembourg

The Institute of Urban and Regional Planning accompanies the process of merging the municipalities into the new Schengen municipality and the preparation of a development concept for the merged Schengen municipality.

Period: 2009 to 2010

Contemporary Spaces - New concepts for urban spaces

The aim of this research project is therefore on the one hand to record exemplary projects in NRW for the temporary use of open spaces. On the other hand, the project will analyse different categories of brownfield sites in North Rhine-Westphalia and develop strategic concepts for their interim use.

Period: 2007

GUtech – German University of Technology in Oman

The Chair of Urban and Regional Planning has been cooperating with the German University of Technology (GUtech) in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman, since its foundation in 2007.

Period: since 2007

Urban History Aachen - a public platform

"Stadtgeschichte Aachen" offers a local and regional platform for joint work on the history and development of the city of Aachen. At the beginning, the focus is on building up public information about the traces of earlier construction and settlement periods found or expected to be found under the ground. The aim is that every architect and builder can use this Aachen portal to obtain an initial overview of any expected ground finds in the vicinity of his plot, so that he can adjust his planning accordingly.

Period: 2006

Development Perspectives

With the realisation of a deconcentration road north of the town centre, the town of Heiligenhaus not only experiences an optimisation of its traffic flows, but also has the chance of a comprehensive functional and creative reorganisation of large parts of the town centre.

Period: 2005 to 2006

Future in the Village - Workshops on Village Development: Eicherscheid, Floisdorf, and Vlatten

Multi-step process to search for innovative approaches to initiate and strenghten an attractive building culture in the Eifel villages in NRW

Masterplan for the Facultés Catholiques de Kinshasa, D.R. Kongo

The aim of the FCK project was to develop a masterplan for a new campus of the university. On a site at the outskirts of the Congolese capital Kinshasa an urban structure for five faculties and central university institutions, including a lecture hall, a library, a church, a clinic, student dorms, a seminary, and sports and recreational areas, was developed.

Period: 2001 to 2006

Temporary Architecture

Semesterly student competition, initiated and supported by the Ministry for Urban Development and Housing, Culture and Sports of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia as part of the initiative 'StadtBauKultur'.

Period: 2004

Solar Urban Development – Models and Potential

This is an interdisciplinary research project investigating the use of renewable energy, in particular concerning the conversion of existing buildings for the use of solar thermal energy in Germany. 

Period: 2003 to 2004

Université Notre-Dame du Kasayi, Kananga, D.R. Kongo

Establishment of a Long-term Research Collaboration between the RWTH Faculty of Architecture and Notre-Dame University of Kasayi (U.KA), Exchange of researchers and students, Development and implementation of an urban development masterplan, Development and realization of various construction projects on the U.KA campus, Development of sustainable supply and waste management concepts, integration of sustainable energy concepts, Development of marketing and implementation strategies.

Period: 2001