Small and Medium-Sized Cities: New Deal, New Ways of Dialogue?

About

Small and medium-sized cities have received only little systematic attention in academic discussions on spatial development. Over the past decade, discussions mainly focused on either metropolises and agglomerations, their economic growth, or on peripheral rural areas with economic decline, low population density and poor infrastructure.
Therefore, the question about the role of small and medium-sized cities in spatial planning and development remains open. Consequently, research on small and medium-sized cities offers different approaches, focusing for example on regional governance concepts, hegemonic (distribution) processes, and relationships between different actors across various scales.
The summer school takes an interdisciplinary approach to the study of small and medium-sized cities.
We invite applications from advanced doctoral students with a background in geography, urban and European studies, political sciences, sociology, spatial planning, public administration, social design, and related fields.

Your application should include a motivation letter (max. 1 page), a short CV (ca. 1-2 pages), and a short description of the project that you are going to present focusing on your approach towards small and medium-sized cities (max. 1 page).
For more information please visit official website.

Course leader

The German Academy for Spatial Research and Planning (ARL) realizes the International Summer School 2018 in cooperation with the Department of Geography and Regional Planning at the University of Lille, France.

Target group

We invite contributions from young PhD students whose approaches and early-stage analyses demon-
strate an interest in:
> theoretical, conceptual, or methodological advances or comparative (cross-national/cross-regional) studies on
small and medium-sized cities
> reflecting the role of stakeholders, institutions and agency
>studying the role of regional (or territorial) collective identities of small and medium-sized cities and their in-
tegration in spatial planning and governance
> exploring relationships between small and medium-sized cities and metropolitan cities or regions
> deploying the importance of small and medium-sized cities in rural areas,
> examining a perspective on economic conditions, transportation issues or social aspects
> focusing on the specific social coherence
> focusing on the political system of small and medium-sized cities

Course aim

Participants will discuss conceptual, methodological, and empirical contributions that explore small and medium-sized cities in an innovative perspective, focusing on the relations between surrounding cities and regions, their impact on urban and regional development and consequences of/for spatial planning and development strategies.

As academic institutions, the organizers encourage scientific publications and aim to compile an edited volume on the theme of the summer school. Participants should be willing and prepared to discuss their paper drafts during the summer school and to develop their papers afterwards.