Spatial transformation – processes, strategies, research designs

What can be understood by spatial transformation, how does it manifest itself and what are the characteristics of transformation processes? This Research Report addresses these questions and presents current research projects and approaches from an academic and practical (planning) perspective. A central point of reference is the concept of a Great Transformation, which stems from an expert report by the German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU). It outlines the profound changes in the economy and society towards sustainability that will become necessary in the future, describing them as a Great Transformation. Likewise, social upheavals also manifest themselves in space, enabling spatial changes to be understood as spatial transformations. However, on a detailed level it remains unclear what is to be understood by spatial transformation processes and how they manifest themselves. Against the background of this need for (further) research, this Research Report addresses concrete issues in the research and shaping of spatial transformation processes. The aim is to systematise the largely unordered or disordered knowledge of spatial transformation processes and to contribute to a common understanding of the associated concepts, which can form the basis for further research and for the steering of these processes.