The co-evolution of built environments and set-up of formal and informal rules and actions contribute to path dependencies concerning the material-, energy-, and carbon-intensive technologies and settlement patterns that drive the climate crisis and social-ecological inequalities. Cites play, here, an important role as they accumulate high shares of built environments. Compact urban forms are widely discussed to increase energy and material efficiency but only when supplemented with other low-carbon interventions and considering the quality of life.

My dissertation project is an explicit interdisciplinary endeavor connecting the socio-metabolic lens on urban built environments with informal and formal rules and actions shaping their materialization, while in turn, they are shaped by the existing long-lasting material structures. I research two examples, firstly, experiments with superblocks in Vienna; secondly, 35 years of expansion and densification patterns in the city of Vienna. In both examples, I applied mixed methods, i.e., statistical analysis, geodata analysis, document analysis, stakeholder interviews, and explorative expert interviews. Further, I design my research in cooperation with partners from the field of traffic modeling, health assessments, remote sensing, and spatial data science. I am currently preparing the submission of my first paper.

By the time a writing-up fellowship would start, all data for my second paper will be collected and a first version of the manuscript at hand. I intend to engage with the KLI community by regularly participating in small exchange groups to collectively reflect on experiences conducting interdisciplinary research, writing interdisciplinary papers and to discuss the concept of co-evolution. Further, I would love to hold an excursion in which we go on a bicycle trip to experience the spatial patterns I have mapped for Vienna.