The goal of the research project is to explore governance approaches and the ways of their development that can support the integration of resilience and sustainability principles in the urban development of historic urban areas. The project aims to examine key issues, such as fostering locally adapted understandings of resilient sustainability for built heritage, encouraging collaboration among urban administration, politics, and civil society, and identifying ways to integrate these principles in urban planning, monument preservation, and housing management instruments, to provide insights and recommendations that may inform transferable strategies.
Lead: Prof. Crista Reicher (Chair of Urban Design and Institute for Urban Design and European Urbanism, RWTH Aachen University) together with Dr. Elena Batunova and Albina Davletshina M.Sc. (both RWTH Aachen University).
Research Questions:
The main research question of the project is: How can governance approaches be developed and implemented to integrate resilience and sustainability principles in urban development, focusing on Soviet-era residential heritage in three post-Soviet cities?
The project explores the following interconnected subquestions to address the main research question:
- What is the local understanding of resilience and sustainability in the case study cities?
- How can governance approaches be co-produced with local actors to address urban heritage challenges in these contexts?
- What procedural and instrumental innovations can support integrating resilience and sustainability goals?
Cases:
Subproject “Integrated Action Approaches” is working in three selected cities of the post-Soviet region, characterized by diverse residential heritage, multiple crisis experiences and risk situations, as well as contrasting institutional-political contexts:
- Gumri, Armenia
- Daugavpils, Latvia
- Narva, Estoia
Work Packages:
WP1: Basic Development & Preparation of Case Studies.
This work package focuses on laying the foundation for the project's case study research. It includes a review of international literature and the initiation of monitoring professional debates in the post-Soviet space. In collaboration with partner organizations in Armenia, Estonia, and Latvia, the research designs for the case studies will be finalized, and workshop formats and dialogue-oriented methods will be developed to support on-site research.
WP 2: Local Conceptualizations of Resilience and Sustainability:
This work package aims to explore and connect local understandings of resilience and sustainability, with a particular focus on residential building heritage. Context analyses of the three case study cities, including selected planning and project examples, will provide insights into local actors, institutions, and instruments. Using document analysis and expert interviews, local perspectives on resilience and sustainability will be reconstructed and further explored in on-site workshops with stakeholders from administration, politics, housing management, and civil society. The findings will be synthesized to identify conflicts, gaps, and synergies, and these will be discussed in an international expert workshop to broaden the dialogue and refine the analysis.
WP 3: Local Instruments and Cooperation for Resilient Sustainability:
This work package focuses on identifying and understanding the local challenges and opportunities for aligning resilience and sustainability goals in urban development. In-depth analyses of instruments and actor relationships in urban planning and monument preservation will be conducted through document reviews in the case study cities. These findings will be further explored through local expert interviews and on-site workshops. The results will be synthesized and shared with international experts.
WP 4: Local Action Approaches:
This work package aims to formulate governance approaches tailored to local contexts for implementing resilience and sustainability principles in urban development. Drawing on the findings from previous work packages, problem- and solution-oriented strategies will be co-developed and further refined through on-site workshops with local stakeholders. These workshops will help identify and discuss actionable approaches. The outcomes will be reviewed and enriched through discussions with international practitioners and researchers in an online workshop, culminating in a synthesized presentation of the proposed governance approaches.
WP 5: Conceptual Conclusions & Dissemination:
This work package focuses on validating and expanding the location-specific results by incorporating feedback from additional international practical examples. Insights will be gathered from the monitoring of professional debates and discussed in an online workshop with relevant stakeholders. Based on these discussions, generalized conclusions will be developed and synthesized. The results will then be disseminated through presentations at conferences, professional articles, and practice-oriented contributions.