Press Releases

Görlitz and similar small and medium-sized towns far from large metropolises have the potential to offer creative people, freelancers and young families a new home. The special characteristics of these municipalities play a central role in this. The Corona pandemic and the associated trend towards working from home also offer opportunities for small and medium-sized cities. However, some framework conditions also stand in the way of an influx from the big city. These are some of the scientific results of the accompanying research in the project "Testing the City - Living and Working in…

Many great potentials are lying dormant in historical towns and small cities along the Saxon-Polish border. Their cultural heritage could be exploited to raise the attractiveness of these locations and their quality of life of. How to achieve this was the objective of the EU project "REVIVAL! – Revitalization of historic towns in Lower Silesia and Saxony", led by the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER). Strategy recommendations are now on hand for the region as well as the four Saxon and six Polish towns involved in the project.

With their historical centres, many towns and small cities in Germany and Europe have a unique quality of life. However, most studies on urban life as well as city rankings ignore the potential of this cultural heritage. Now scientists from the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER), the International Institute (IHI) Zittau of the Technische Universität Dresden and the Polish Institute for Territorial Development (IRT) have developed a list of relevant indicators to ensure that the quality of life in smaller municipalities is more easily recognized and visualized…

Roofs are not the only suitable places for installing photovoltaic modules to generate electricity from the sun’s rays. Facades could also play a much more significant role in Germany’s energy transition towards renewables as well as helping to reduce land consumption for energy parks. Together with the Fraunhofer ISE, the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development has calculated the potential area of Germany’s building facades for the installation of PV systems. It is twice as large as that of roofs. They published their findings in the journal "Transforming Cities".

As part of the BMBF project "Scientific support of the transformation process in Lusatia Region" of the Interdisciplinary Centre for Ecological and Revitalizing Urban Transformation (IZS) in Görlitz, a planning lab will develop spatial visions for the future of the transforming region from March 2021. Applications are open to interested participants until 8 February 2021.