KIT Students at the 9th University Day of National Urban Development Policy

On June 5 and 6, 2025, around 200 professionals in urban and spatial planning from practice, politics, administration, academia, and the next generation of experts gathered at the 9th University Day of the National Urban Development Policy in Berlin, held at the Center for Contemporary Art (KINDL). Students from KIT also participated in the event. Under the motto “Acting Together – Urban Practices of Change,” experiences and new approaches to future-oriented and transformative urban development were discussed.

The central question of the event was how to better connect scientific knowledge, political will, and civil society engagement in order to initiate and sustain necessary transformation processes and to establish a transformative planning practice. In various workshops, participants discussed different models of action, reconsidered core planning and urban development questions related to inner-city development in a transformative context and emphasized the role of universities as knowledge repositories and resources for urban development. Effective forms of communication play a vital role in this. Understanding opposing arguments and personal exchange are essential – change cannot be achieved through factual debates alone.

A policy paper summarizing recommendations for “Acting Together in Transformation” will be produced following the conference and presented in September at the Federal Congress of National Urban Development Policy in Rostock.

The event was organized by the German Academy for Urban and Regional Planning (DASL) in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Housing, Urban Development and Building, as part of the National Urban Development Policy (NSP). The content was shaped by Prof. Dr. Barbara Engel, Professor of International Urban Planning and Design at KIT and Vice President of the DASL, along with Prof. Mario Tvrtković from Coburg University of Applied Sciences, Faculty of Design, Architecture Program.

More on the National Urban Development Policy:
https://www.nationale-stadtentwicklungspolitik.de/NSPWeb/DE/Home/home_node.html

More on the University Day:
https://www.nationale-stadtentwicklungspolitik.de/NSPWeb/SharedDocs/Veranstaltungen/DE/AktuelleTermine/2025/0605_hochschultag.html

The academic lead lies with a professor specializing in sustainable urban development and the scientific secretary of the DASL, who significantly shapes the direction of the University Day. Cities reflect societal processes and are in a constant state of change. Thinking about them means understanding their complexity. Sustainable urban development follows the objectives described in the Leipzig Charter on the common good-oriented city: building alliances, defining shared goals, developing new narratives, and creating innovative planning approaches to actively shape transformation.