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Department of Spatial Planning

Welcome to the Urban Development Group (STE)

Urbanization is a key factor of global change. In research and teaching, we are interested in the processes of urban and regional development, their demographic and socio-economic drivers as well as their spatial manifestations and impacts. This includes the complex and intertwined dynamics of land use, infrastructure systems and mobility. Our research projects also address the performance of transformative planning in local and urban-regional policy arenas. Prof. Dr Stefan Siedentop's (head of department) research focuses on the dynamics and structures of urban change, the strategies and instruments of transformative urban-regional planning and methods of urban spatial observation. Prof. Dr. Joachim Scheiner researches transport behaviour, everyday mobility, residential mobility and the interrelationships between spatial structure and transport.

Latest News

How have land prices developed in North Rhine-Westphalia?

© BORIS ​/​NRW
In recent years, land prices in Germany have risen in a way that was previously almost unimaginable. Particularly affected are prospering cities, where prices have often doubled since the turn of the millennium. In an article published in the journal “Raumforschung und Raumordnung”, Stefan Siedentop and Max Schartmann analyzed the spatial patterns of land price dynamics between 2012 and 2024 in North Rhine-Westphalia. The results show a strong market polarization with extremely strong growth rates in economically prosperous urban regions and real losses in value in some rural areas. The article can be downloaded here: