AG Urbanism is an interdisciplinary network based at the CCCA – Climate Change Centre Austria that explores the intersection of research, practice, and policy advisory. It examines how cities, landscapes, and territories can actively contribute to climate resilience, ecological regeneration, and social well-being in times of socio-economic and socio-ecological transition.
We operate through a territorial urbanism framework that understands landscapes and cities as interconnected systems. By working across scales and timeframes, we align spatial processes with the ambitions of the Global Goals. Our mission centres on inclusive, intersectional urban and landscape design with a dedicated focus on climate resilience and empowerment for action, bridging the gap between Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Planning and the Arts, through a new generation of interdisciplinary practitioners and researchers.
The working group connects expertise from TU Wien (Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Planning - Research Unit Urban Design), BOKU University (Institute of Landscape Architecture) and the University of Arts Linz (Institute of Architecture - Studio Städtebau), creating a shared platform where design, spatial research, environmental sciences, and cultural practices intersect. Our ambition is to foster a holistic understanding of urbanisation as a spatial, ecological, social, and cultural process, operating across multiple scales, from territory and regional scale to neighbourhoods and public space.
We understand Territorial Urbanism as a knowledge-based, design-oriented, and multi-scalar discipline, capable of translating complex climate, environmental, and societal challenges into spatial strategies and actionable discourses. Our approach engages with complexity, uncertainty and interdependence, recognizing cities and territories as shared habitats shaped by human and more-than-human relations. AG Urbanism moves beyond mitigation and adaptation as technical responses. We focus on nurturing urban and ecological systems, supporting regenerative processes, strengthening social equity, and cultivating long-term spatial quality and resilience
Mission and Focus
The aim of the working group is to collaboratively advance, share, and apply intersectional knowledge on how the built environment and social spaces can address climate change and societal transformation. We achieve this through the application of integrated spatial thinking.
- Develop interdisciplinary research agendas connecting climate and environmental science, spatial design, and cultural production
- Explore regenerative approaches to territories in transformation from a human and more than human perspective
- Contribute to reflective and evidence-based design, planning, and policy discussions in Austria and beyond
- Strengthen international exchange and situate Austria within broader dialogues on contemporary urbanism
Approach
Our approach is holistic and interdisciplinary, bringing design into conversation with science, engineering and the arts. We work across scales, engaging territorial systems as well as situated, local interventions. Spatial design is understood as a form of inquiry and synthesis, a way of thinking through complexity rather than merely producing solutions.
Our work is context-specific and grounded in ecological, cultural and social conditions. It is guided by care, responsibility and reciprocity, with attention to long-term ecological and collective well-being, including more-than-human life.
The working group operates as an open platform, research network and think tank dedicated to generating and exchanging knowledge with relevance for both research and practice. We are committed to fostering collaboration across disciplines, communities, and boarders. The working group is achieving this through facilitating collaboration, workshops, research by design projects and public discourse. With the aim to advance critical dialogue in Austria, at a moment in time when climate change demands both structural transformation and imaginative spatial responses.
For exchange and collaborations centered around the above discussed topics, don’t hesitate to reach out and contact us.
Projektass. Jakob Pesendorfer, M.Sc.
Institute of Urban Design and Landscape Architecture
Research Unit: Urban Design, TU Wien
mail: jakob.pesendorfer@tuwien.ac.at
Univ.Ass. Jennifer Fauster, M.Sc.
Institute of Landscape Architecture
BOKU University
mail: jennifer.fauster@boku.ac.at
Univ.Ass. DI Therese Eberl
Institute of Architecture – die architektur
studio städtebau, University of Arts Linz
mail: therese.eberl@kunstuni-linz.at