Urban Systems

A number of ongoing projects are working to establish Urban Systems as an international leader across the broad spectrum of interdisciplinary metropolis research. This includes the foundation of a competence centre for urban water research in cooperation with local water management authorities and power companies, focusing on “Water and Energy”, “Water and Health”, and “Water and Environment”. The primary goal here is to establish a leading international centre for sustainable water management.

The diverse connections that the “Supply Chain Governance” excellence cluster has established in business and industry are currently leading to the foundation of a dialogue centre for logistics efficiency in the regional trade networks in the Greater Rhine-Ruhr Region: DIALOGistik Duisburg. Against the background of a modern understanding of logistics, this centre combines business consultancy, training and knowledge management in one integrated concept. The University of Duisburg-Essen’s leading partner in this endeavour is Duisburger Hafen AG.

Another developing field of research is “City and Health”, a subject heretofore largely neglected in Germany. Cities must provide space for their citizens, space to exercise and spend time outdoors in order to reduce obesity rates; cities must also take demographic shifts into account, for instance by becoming more amenable to citizens at risk of dementia. Urban Systems has already taken the first steps in this direction by bringing together epidemiologists, city planners and researchers working in the field of social space. Collaborations between city planners and geriatrics psychiatrists are also proving promising, and groundbreaking interdisciplinary research can be expected in this area.