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Research project (§ 26 & § 27)
Duration : 2024-01-01 - 2024-12-31

The project supports the revision and creation of a guide for integrating relevant provisions of the Alpine Convention and its protocols into the practice of municipal spatial planning. To this end, the project will carry out a legal dogmatic analysis and develop indicators for assessing planned planning decisions. The results are validated in stakeholder workshops and then published. The project thus contributes to better consideration of the Alpine Convention protocols in planning practice.
Research project (§ 26 & § 27)
Duration : 2024-02-01 - 2026-07-31

Cities and municipalities are particularly affected by climate change and its impacts. All Austrian cities therefore need to take measures. The planning sector in particular is called upon to provide appropriate adaptation services, as every spatial planning decision has a climatic impact, and the consequences of climate change have a spatial impact. Some Austrian cities have currently prepared urban climatic analysis and are partially integrating them in their spatial development policies. These urban climatic analysis usually contain two components: an urban climatic analysis maps and an urban climatic planning recommendation maps. As there are no standardized methods for the generation of urban climatic analysis worldwide the project “OSCAR - Objectifying and standardizing urban climate analyses for climate-resilient urban planning” aims to close that research gap by researching and preparing the basis for the standardization and objectification process. The OSCAR project has thus the following overall objectives: (1) Development of an objectified and standardized model for UCM, (2) Accelerate the assessment of urban climate conditions, (3) Provide the basis and method to make climate adaptation measures numerically and rapidly tangible on a city scale level, (4) Enable comparability of urban climate conditions of a city over time or with other cities and (5) Provide secured planning recommendations through validated methods. The overarching methodological approach is inter- and transdisciplinary as well as a user-centred. By combining individual contributions and methods from 3 scientific fields - natural science (meteorology, climatology), engineering science (planning) as well as social science (participation), OSCAR uses a mixed method approach to unite these crucial fields of science. The results of the basic research oriented project OSCAR will support both science and practice. The central outcome of the project is the creation of a scientific and methodological basis for the production of objectified and standardized urban climatic analysis.
Research project (§ 26 & § 27)
Duration : 2023-10-01 - 2024-06-30

The applied research project aims to develop concrete solutions for integrating climate change adaptation measures into spatial planning in Vorarlberg and to derive recommendations for comparable use cases in Austrian planning law. Based on high-resolution climate analysis and planning information maps at regional level (Rhine Valley), which are available for the first time in Austria, specific development areas (vacancies, brown fields, settlement expansion areas) are examined for their bioclimatic assessment and targeted adaptation measures are derived from them. The project examines how the information from these climate analyzes and planning advice maps can be translated into adaptation measures and determinations at the municipal or regional level and what adjustments need to be made in spatial planning instruments or planning law. The focus is not on adaptation measures in the existing settlements, but on development areas for which future development and use should take into account the climate analyses. The research project can draw on the results of a current project in Vorarlberg (climate analyzes in connection with the creation of the Rhine Valley 5th Generation agglomeration program).

Supervised Theses and Dissertations