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The ReSource Mannheim project addresses the challenges of climate change for cities, particularly droughts and heavy rainfall events that put stress on infrastructure and green spaces. In collaboration with GBG – Mannheimer Wohnungsbaugesellschaft and an interdisciplinary team of seven partners, a blue-green residential development is being implemented in Mannheim that integrates all local water flows and uses them efficiently. In addition to innovative rainwater and greywater management—providing service water for toilets, washing machines, and green spaces—a naturally designed pond system serves as both a storage buffer and flood protection, mitigating extreme rainfall and relieving the city’s drainage infrastructure. At the same time, the system enhances the quality of life for residents through pathways, plazas, and cooling effects during summer months. The project is funded by the German Federal Environmental Foundation (Deutsche Bundesstiftung Umwelt).
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The concept for an innovative water management system emerged from the experience gained in the Semicentral research project. In cooperation with project partners and Tongji University in Shanghai, and under the lead of the Department of Design and Urban Development, the work focused on researching and developing a housing project based on a holistic consideration of water flows. The concept was funded by the BMBF as part of ReSource Water – 01DO18009 – within the program Client II – International Partnerships for Sustainable Innovation. It was presented at a workshop at Tongji University (2018) to academic and non-academic partners and discussed with developers.
The aim of the German-Chinese research project was to implement an innovative water management system in residential construction that meets the needs of future cities for a healthy, water- and energy-efficient environment. For a housing project, scenarios were developed that integrate different variants of rainwater and greywater use into model planning. For resource-efficient water management, the project developed (1) an adaptable, modular concept for energy-autonomous operation in residential buildings, and (2) an innovative service program for online system operation. The definition phase served to prepare the project and outline the program requirements for the modules of the water management system. The research contributed both to China’s “Sponge City” program, which promotes innovative water-management concepts as model projects, and to the German innovation program “Zukunftstadt”.
Unfortunately, the project could not be pursued further due to the Covid-19 pandemic and changes in funding guidelines. The concept and the control technology developed were implemented in the ReSource:Mannheim project.
The Research Hub “Towards Urban Resilience”, organized in cooperation with the UN-Habitat City Resilience Profiling Programme (CRRP), took place on May 23 and 24, 2017, in Barcelona. The increasing complexity of urban systems and the growing uncertainty regarding the impacts of urbanization and climate change call for new approaches to planning objectives and collective action. Cities are complex, adaptive structures composed of interconnected services and infrastructures. Rapidly growing populations, the concentration of resources and capital, unclear contingency and preparedness planning, often inadequate or environmentally unsound water and wastewater systems, the ongoing destruction of ecosystems, and outdated infrastructure and buildings pose tremendous challenges for urban planning worldwide.
The joint research hub, the Urban Resilience Institute (URI), works closely with UN-Habitat CRRP to investigate practices and processes for designing resilient and sustainable cities. Researchers from Germany, India, Italy, Kenya, Lebanon, Uganda, and Spain, currently working at European academic institutions, presented their work in four sessions. These sessions opened a space to discuss the diversity of conceptual approaches “towards urban resilience” in dialogue with international scholars as well as Master’s and PhD students.
The Proceedings can be downloaded by using this link
Semizentral Germany is an approach to sustainable housing development in fast-growing urban areas. Sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and headed by Prof. Dr.-Ing. Peter Cornel at the Technical University of Darmstadt, this Sino-German infrastructure project has been undertaken in cooperation with Tongji University, Shanghai together with cooperation partners from science and industry. The Department of Design and Urban Development (Prof. Dr. Annette Rudolph-Cleff) was involved. The project has received both public and private funding.
The special feature of Semicentral is its integrated approach. Conventional systems rely on a strict separation of water supply, waste water purification, and waste treatment. Semicentral integrates these three sectors in a holistic approach. It enables the sectors to be coordinated with each other, creating synergy effects such as a self-sufficient energy supply and the reduction of greenhouse gases. An advantage over conventional infrastructure systems is the large savings potential: water savings of 30-40% and more, all energy required for sewage and waste treatment, greatly reduced need for transport, a secure water supply around the clock with consistent quality, and high planning security. The same applies on the sewage and waste side. Semicentralized supply and disposal systems offer a future-oriented and resource-saving alternative to conventional central infrastructures (semizentral 2015).
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After a two-year conception and planning phase, the world’s first semicentralized resource and recovery center focusing on the recycling of water and material flows was opened on the occasion of the “World Horticulture Exposition 2014” in Qingdao, China. It is the first reference system for the semicentralized, integrated approach to infrastructure. With a key contribution made by the TU Darmstadt, the system will supply some 12,000 people. Approximately eight million people live in the burgeoning metropolis of Qingdao, which has been suffering for years under a major water shortage. Only about one-seventh of the average per capita water supply in China is available to the inhabitants here. As in other metropolitan regions worldwide, water and energy play a central role in housing development. In two years of monitoring, the systems and their components have been evaluated and further improved by way of simulations for future projects.
The forward-looking infrastructure approach is able to decrease the need for fresh water as well as the volume of waste water in the catchment area. One example is the use of process water for street cleaning, irrigation, and water reserves for firefighting allows for significantly greater savings. Biogas and energy are generated from sewage sludge and organic household waste. As a result, the urban infrastructure system in Qingdao has an independent energy supply. and its work is largely carbon-neutral. A key objective of the project is an adaptive, resource-efficient water infrastructure that can grow flexibly along with its urban surroundings.
Semicentral Germany has received the GreenTec 2015 award in the category “Urbanization” because it has made an impressive contribution to improving the quality of life in megacities. This award is one of the most highly regarded environmental and business prizes in Europe. The GreenTec award is presented annually to recognize innovative environmental technologies and ecological commitment.
The recognition of Dr.-Ing. Simon with the Ernst Ludwig Mobility Scholarship gave him the opportunity in 2019 to continue his research in Australia and focus on best-practice examples in the country that has shaped Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD) for more than 30 years. Learning from “water-sensitive urban design Down Under” was his declared goal. During his six-month research stay at RMIT University in Melbourne, Dr. Gehrmann worked with colleagues at RMIT to develop a comprehensive catalogue of more than 60 outstanding projects that place sustainable water cycles at the center of design across a wide range of scales. This collaboration was further enriched by exchanges with renowned research groups at Monash University and the University of Technology Sydney. Despite the challenges posed by the devastating bushfires, Dr. Gehrmann was able to visit 23 of the projects in person and conduct valuable expert interviews. The Ernst Ludwig Mobility Scholarship thus provided crucial scientific momentum and strengthened international collaboration in the field of water-sensitive urban design.
As part of the DAAD-funded network Clean Water China and Southeast Asia, doctoral candidates from the department have been participating in Research Weeks and research stays at the partner universities since 2013.
The network’s partners include Tongji University in Shanghai (China), Qingdao Technological University (China), and Hanoi University of Civil Engineering (Vietnam), as well as the German water industry association German Water Partnership, the China Urban Water Association, and the Vietnam Association of Civil Engineering Environment.
The network also includes Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, where a doctoral candidate from the department completed a six-month research stay in 2015/16.
The Graduate School KRITIS (2016–2025) researches critical infrastructures in urban environments, focusing on their vulnerability, resilience, and societal context, based on the understanding that these systems are shaped historically, culturally, and socially, not just technically. TU Darmstadt provides ideal conditions through its interdisciplinary tradition, the Urban Research Centre, previous graduate school experience, and Ingenium, with involvement from the Department of Design and Urban Development under Prof. Dr. Annette Rudolph-Cleff. The programme adopts an interdisciplinary approach, examining technical and socio-cultural processes, the long-term stability of infrastructures, and urban spaces as both vulnerable zones and sites of socio-technical innovation. Key research areas include the social construction and perception of infrastructures, vulnerability and functional crises, and resilience, adaptability, and risk cultures. Doctoral researchers receive broad training, preparing them for academic careers as well as roles in infrastructure policy, planning, management, and security.
Further information availablehere
The Africa Fellowship Programme “Urban Infrastructures in Transition” (2014–2017) examined the development of urban infrastructures in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi, focusing on water, energy, sewerage, and telecommunications. It explored the tensions between internationally circulating planning models and local adaptation processes. Research was conducted from perspectives including the cultural history of urban technologies, formal and informal urban production, socio-technical assemblages, as well as marketization and technopolitics.
The Africa College, founded in 2014 at the Graduate School for Urban Studies (URBANgrad) at TU Darmstadt in cooperation with the Centre for Interdisciplinary African Studies at Goethe University Frankfurt, organized international PhD training, Research Hubs (e.g., in 2015 in Dar es Salaam and Grenoble), and in 2017 a book workshop, “Translating the Networked City,” with 23 international participants.
Involved professors: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jochen Monstadt (coordinator, Urban and Infrastructure Planning) and Prof. Dr.-Ing. Annette Rudolph-Cleff (Design and Urban Development).
Africa College graduates: Elisabeth Wamuchiri, Anshika Suri, Anais de Keijser, Jammie Adebisi Titiliayo, Lazarus Jambadu, Prince Guma.
The research project at the Department of Design and Urban Development (coordinator Lucia Wright-Contreras) examined, in collaboration with UN-Habitat, the role of global water operators and analyzed, using Vietnam as a case study, how Water Operator Partnerships (WOPs) can contribute to the sustainable improvement of water supply (2007–2010). The focus was an empirical case study of the VEI–DAWACO WOP in Da Nang, which received implementation support from the Dutch utility VEI from 2007 to 2010. Using the BEWOP analysis framework, the operational, organizational, and financial performance improvements of DAWACO were assessed, particularly regarding their sustainability and contribution to supplying urban households at risk of poverty. Based on seven expert interviews and a visit to the Cau-Do water treatment plant, the key phases of the WOP were traced—from initiation through development and implementation to impact pathways and final evaluation—with the aim of identifying the success factors of the VEI–DAWACO partnership model and evaluating the long-term durability of the achieved performance improvements.
Digital Germany – Smart City Ranking 2020: Digitalization and COVID-19 – Cities Facing the Challenges of Digitalization in a National and International Comparison
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From early 2021 to March 2025, the NaTourHuKi project explored how local recreation in the Kinzig Valley could be managed sustainably while strengthening the day-tourism potential of the Kinzig municipalities. The focus was on developing a nature-friendly “Kinzig Auen Route” along the existing R3 long-distance cycling path. A transdisciplinary team—including regional partners such as the Hanau Environmental Center, Spessart Tourism and Marketing GmbH, and the Regionalpark RheinMain, together with researchers from Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Hochschule Heilbronn, and TU Darmstadt—collaborated on the project, which was led by Prof. Dr. Jörg Dettmar of TU Darmstadt.
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Since summer 2022, the “Industrial Areas in Transition” project has connected municipal and district administrations, location and climate managers, and research institutions to develop sustainable strategies for industrial and commercial areas. In the face of climate change and limited land availability, the focus is on multifunctional land use, climate protection, and resilience. The network provides information, advice, and practical support, bringing together science and practice to help municipalities and businesses transform their sites into sustainable and resilient industrial areas.
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This edited volume, to be published by Springer Nature, builds on the outcomes of the 2019 DFG-funded International Conference on Cities and Change, organized by the Urban Morphosis Lab at TU Darmstadt. It explores urban transformation with a focus on inclusion and diversity across different spatial contexts, structured around four research strands: alternatives to growth in urban development, tourism-driven city transformations, diversification of urban identities through cultural heritage, and inclusive socio-spatial city-making practices. The volume also promotes networking, interdisciplinary exchange, and the dissemination of findings through Springer’s Diversity and Inclusion Research series.
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