Cities seen through a relational lens

in Geographische Zeitschrift (2020), 108(2), 74-98

This paper applies a relational approach to global urbanization with respect to the economic flows and relationships that help local places to position themselves globally. The paper ties in with the ... [more ▼]

This paper applies a relational approach to global urbanization with respect to the economic flows and relationships that help local places to position themselves globally. The paper ties in with the increasing functional and economic integration of urban areas – an integration that is not primarily related to economic or population size but an outcome of specialization and a politics of niche sovereignty. Empirically the paper draws upon case studies of three different places: Geneva (Switzerland), Luxembourg City (Luxembourg) and the citystate of Singapore. We reconstruct the different ways in which these three became part of global networks, and how the crafting of political frameworks based on niche making has fostered their rise in global significance. [less ▲]

Between planning and spontaneous order: the 'equifinal' production of urban space in colonial Phnom Penh (1860s-1930s)

in Geographische Zeitschrift (2014), 102(2), 86-105

This paper examines the roles of both ‘coloniser’ and ‘colonised’ in the spatial construction of Phnom Penh. This key site of French colonisation in Cambodia was part of a network of French-ruled cities ... [more ▼]

This paper examines the roles of both ‘coloniser’ and ‘colonised’ in the spatial construction of Phnom Penh. This key site of French colonisation in Cambodia was part of a network of French-ruled cities in Indochina, established to steer and enhance the productivity of the colonial society. The production of this particular space in Phnom Penh, however, was at no time simply a top-down process, imposed by the coloniser on the colonised. At the very moment of the foundation of the colonial town, indigenous actors used the city as an opportunity to pursue their own interests. Two contradictory phenomena – the constraints of colonial structures and the agency displayed by individuals – converged to produce a new, ‘equifinal’ urban space. Based on a historical analysis of the expanding urban morphology (in a historico-geographical approach), this article examines the ‘mise-en-valeur’ (capitalistic valorisation) of city space as a bilateral process: com-modification of urban estates and formalisation of planning by the colonial administration with indigenous bandwagoning and – vice versa – freeriding of the colonial state with regard to indigenous common property resources. The supposed opposition between the action of planning and the reaction to being ‘planned’ thus turns out to be a false dichotomy: Phnom Penh’s colonial space emerged as a joint venture in a settlement process that was both formal and informal. [less ▲]

Urbanität als Habitus

in Geographische Zeitschrift (2013), 100(2), 121-122

Resilient suburbs. Ungleiche Entwicklungsdynamik und Regenerierungspotenzial suburbaner Räume in Nordamerika

in Geographische Zeitschrift (2010), 96(4), 228-249

Postmoderner Urbanismus. Gestaltung in der städtischen Peripherie

in Geographische Zeitschrift (2007), 94(2), 118-20

Der Verkehr als Gegenstand raumbezogener Forschung. Theoretische Überlegungen zur Bedeutung der Transport- und Transaktionskosten.

in Geographische Zeitschrift (1998), 86(4), 225-235