Urban Transformation - Sustainable Action Through Integrated Urban Development Policy

by Dr. Oliver Weigel & Martin Schulze

Date: Wednesday, May 11, 2022 | 16:00-17:00 CET


Abstract: Global challenges such as the Corona pandemic, digital transformation or climate change have a direct impact on the local living conditions of our society. In this context, cities have a special responsibility to foster social, economic and ecological transformations in the coming years. To realise a transformation toward just, green and productive cities integrated urban development strategies are definitely needed.

At the end of a nearly three-year participatory working process, the "New Leipzig Charter: The Transformative Power of Cities for the Common Good" has been adopted by the EU Member States under the German EU Council Presidency in November 2020. The Charter serves as a guideline for integrated urban development policy rooted in shared European values. In this talk, we will focus on how the implementation of the New Leipzig Charter will foster sustainable development. In this regard, we will present the National Urban Development Policy in Germany. Furthermore, we will take a look at the importance of a participatory and co-creative approach to create livable neighborhoods.

Dr. Oliver Weigel

Speaker Biography: Dr. Oliver Weigel is head of the Urban Policy Division in the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building. After having studied Economic Geography at the Mannheim and Gießen Universities, he started work as an academic at a Leipzig based Research Institute (1993). In 1995 he became responsible for setting up a strategic urban development department within the Leipzig City Council. Parallel to that he finished work on his PhD at Leipzig University in 1997. Until 2006, he headed the Urban Development Department of the City of Leipzig and the Olympic Planning Staff (2002 - 2004).

Since 2006, he has been working at the Federal Ministry, where he is responsible for the National and International Urban Development Policy. He was also entrusted with drafting the "New Leipzig Charter - the transformative power of cities for the common good" under the German EU Presidency 2020. Since 2001 he teaches applied urban development policy at the University of Leipzig, since 2020 also at the TU Kaiserslautern. He is also Member of the German Academy for Urban Development and Regional Planning (DASL) and the SRL.

Martin Schulze

Speaker Biography: Martin Schulze is a policy advisor in the Urban Policy Division of the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building. After having studied Urban and Regional Planning at the Brandenburg University of Technology, he started a two-year governmental trainee-program in Baden-Württemberg. During this time, he worked for several urban departments, regional authorities and ministries. Following his graduation as an Assessor, he worked as a policy advisor in the Ministry of Economic and Housing in Baden-Württemberg, mainly in the field of sustainable land management. Since 2020, he has been working in the Federal Ministry and is responsible for the implementation of the National Urban Development Policy, especially for pilot projects and annual congresses. In addition, he is entrusted with the topics of urban development within the framework of the German Sustainability Strategy, in particular on the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11.


Video Recording