Viele Städte und Gemeinden klagen über ihre hohen Haushaltsdefizite. Nun gibt es Kommunen, die extrem stark verschuldet sind und sehr hohe laufende Defizite besitzen und Kommunen, bei denen das weniger der Fall ist, bis hin zu Städten, die Überschüsse erwirtschaften. Zu diesen Phänomenen existieren in der Fachwelt verschiedene Sichtweisen. In dieser Arbeit werden einige der diskutierten Hypothesen aufgegriffen und mithilfe einer multivariaten OLS-Regressionsanalyse empirisch überprüft. Es zeigt sich, dass der Fokus verstärkt auf endogene statt auf exogene Faktoren gelegt werden muss.

Das Essay untersucht anhand der einschlägigen Forschungsdiskussion die Frage, inwiefern die beiden städtischen bzw. kaiserlichen Institutionen der curatores civitatis und defensores civitatis als Zeichen für einen spätantiken Zwangsstaat gewertet werden können oder vielmehr Elemente städtischer Autonomie undmit solchen kaiserlicher Fürsorge vereinten.

Das Essay untersucht anhand der einschlägigen Forschungsdiskussion die Frage, inwiefern die beiden städtischen bzw. kaiserlichen Institutionen der curatores civitatis und defensores civitatis als Zeichen für einen spätantiken Zwangsstaat gewertet werden können oder vielmehr Elemente städtischer Autonomie undmit solchen kaiserlicher Fürsorge vereinten.

In the framework of questions like climate protection, healthy lifestyles and more livable cities it is important to increase cycle use and replace motorized traffic. Safe cycling is one of the preconditions for the growth of cycle use, especially considering the more vulnerable user groups. But how important is safety in relation to other factors influencing bicycle friendliness like comfort of the cycle path and bike parking, accessibility or communication? And how is the relation between 'objective safety' - represented by the number of recorded accidents - and 'subjective safety' as the perceived safety feeling ofthe bike users? [From: Introduction]

Slums bilden einen wesentlichen Bestandteil vieler Stadtregionen des globalen Südens, wobei Indien die höchste Zahl an Slumbewohnern beherbergt. Die internationalen Unterschiede in der Definition des Begriffs "Slum" sowie Mängel bei der Datenerfassung haben eine hohe Fehlerwahrscheinlichkeit bei der Aufnahme von Slumbevölkerungszahlen und -standorten in globalem, nationalem und städtischem Massstab zur Folge. Das Hauptziel dieser Dissertation besteht darin, eine Vorgehensweise zur automatischen Erkennung von Slums mit Hilfe von hochauflösenden Satellitenbildern zu entwickeln, und diese Methode in der indischen Metropole Hyderabad anzuwenden. Diese Arbeit entwickelt ein mehrstufiges Satellitenbildbearbeitungsverfahren, welches in der Lage ist, eine schnelle Slumerkennung in Hyderabad durchzuführen. Das Verfahren beruht auf dem Verhältnis zwischen einem bestimmten Bereich räumlicher Heterogenität, ausgedrückt durch Lakunarität, und der Wahrscheinlichkeit, dass die Struktur eines Gebietes der Oberflächenstruktur eines Slums entspricht. Die Anwendung der hier vorgeschlagenen Methode produzierte zum ersten Mal einen plausiblen, räumlich kohärenten und politisch unverzerrten Datensatz über Slumstandorte und Slumbevölkerung für das gesamte Stadtgebiet von Hyderabad. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen die Unstimmigkeiten bei der bisherigen Erfassung der Slumbevölkerungszahlen sowie bei der offiziellen Anerkennung von Slums. Die multitemporale Satellitenbildauswertung zeigt ein Wachstum der Slumbevölkerungszahlen im Grossraum Hyderabad an und bietet Einblick in den zeitlich-räumlichen Slumwachstumprozess zwischen den Jahren 2003 und 2010. Diese Dissertation stellt einen wissenschaftlichen Beitrag zu den Themen Fernerkundung der Siedlungen und fortgeschrittene Bildbearbeitungsmethoden dar und bietet den unterschiedlichsten Parteien, für welche Slumdaten von Bedeutung sind, ein wichtiges Instrument. / Slums are a pervasive feature of many urban regions in the global South, with India hosting the largest number of the global slum dwellers. Differences in slum definitions across countries and deficiencies of data collection are the cause of a large error margin in establishing slum population numbers and slum locations at a global, national and city scale. The main goal of this thesis is to develop an approach to automated identification of slums using sub-metre resolution satellite imagery, and to apply the new method to the slum-plagued South Indian megacity of Hyderabad. This dissertation establishes a multi-step satellite imagery analysis framework, which is capable of performing rapid identification of slums in Hyderabad without extensive ground surveys or manual image analysis. It is based on the relation of a specific range of spatial heterogeneity expressed through lacunarity to the probability of an area to be morphologically similar to the surface texture of a slum. The application of the proposed method has for the first time produced plausible, spatially coherent and politically unbiased slum coverage and slum population datasets for the whole of Hyderabad. The results expose inconsistencies in slum population data reporting and the slum recognition process currently in place in the city. The analysis of multitemporal remote sensing data indicates a considerable slum population increase in the metropolitan area of Hyderabad and provides an insight into spatiotemporal slum development patterns between the years 2003 and 2010. This dissertation contributes to the body of knowledge on remote sensing of human settlements and advanced image processing techniques and presents an essential instrument to be used by a the United Nations bodies, national and city governments as well as non-governmental organisations engaged in slum-related work.

Riga has suffered a population loss of more than 29% between 1990 and 2014 which has led to increasing number of abandoned and degraded buildings in the city and optimization of the network of educational and cultural institutions. These trends are characteristics of urban shrinkage – a complex process affecting Riga for more than two decades and resulting in a pattern of growing, shrinking, and stable districts. A similar pattern has also been identified in other shrinking cities in Europe, but it has not been researched in more detail. In the given context, this research aims to narrow the knowledge gap on processes occurring in shrinking cities and to provide some understanding of the determinants of these processes on the city and local level through analysis of single embedded case study of Riga. To achieve this aim, resilience is used as an analytical concept. It allows to conceptualize urban shrinkage as a slow-burn (slowly occurring disturbance) and propose three possible responses - adaptation, transformation, and decline. These responses emerge from actions of actors on various spatial scales and lead to different outcomes. It also provides the basis for analyzing the determinants of these responses by conceptualizing them as sources of resilience and suggesting seven different aspects found in literature: leadership, networks, resources, learning, people-place connection, common cause, and system of institutions and governance. Finally, these theoretical assumptions are used to define two main research questions: (1) what are responses to urban shrinkage in Riga? (2) what are sources of resilience to urban shrinkage in Riga? The need for in-depth research of urban processes led to choosing mixed method strategy for both selecting the embedded units of analysis (districts) in Riga and finding answers to the proposed research questions. Based on combined results of secondary data analysis, controlled expert group discussion, and structured site visits, five districts in Riga were selected – Avoti, Maskavas forštate, Bolderāja, Sarkandaugava, and Ķīpsala. Further data collection and analysis included semi-structured interviews with different actors at the city and district level and document analysis. The study finds that there are four different responses to urban shrinkage in Riga: mitigation, adaptation, transformation, and possible decline. Mitigation can be identified on city (also national) level and is closely linked with the strategic actions proposed by the local and national government in response to population decline. Adaptation can be observed on the city and local level. It is the dominant response type in Riga emerging from strategic actions and different activities by various actors in response to all of the identified processes associated with urban shrinkage in Riga. Transformation, however, can be found only on local level – district (in one specific case) or unit level. It emerges from activities of mostly non-government actors that are making use of the opportunities provided by urban shrinkage in Riga. Finally, further decline is a potential response in several Riga districts resulting from strategic actions of local municipality and inability of some of the actors to deal with the existing situation. The analysis of sources of resilience reveals that there are four main determinants of adaptation and transformation – leadership, networks, resources, and learning. Other sources of resilience (people-place connection, common cause, and engaged governance) function as additional drivers or catalysts. All of these sources of resilience can be identified in Riga, but not consistently across all spatial scales and units or actor groups. The main deficiencies are linked with availability of resources (human and financial) among different actor groups, the existing system of governance (involvement of actors in the decision-making process) and leadership (on city level). The study also shows differences related to responses to urban shrinkage and different sources of resilience, especially leadership, learning, and resources. Overall, the findings support the main theoretical assumptions of the study and allow refining the understanding of responses to urban shrinkage and sources of resilience. The results can be used as the basis for developing an approach for assessment of the level of resilience to urban shrinkage or other slow burns in the urban context.

Riga has suffered a population loss of more than 29% between 1990 and 2014 which has led to increasing number of abandoned and degraded buildings in the city and optimization of the network of educational and cultural institutions. These trends are characteristics of urban shrinkage – a complex process affecting Riga for more than two decades and resulting in a pattern of growing, shrinking, and stable districts. A similar pattern has also been identified in other shrinking cities in Europe, but it has not been researched in more detail. In the given context, this research aims to narrow the knowledge gap on processes occurring in shrinking cities and to provide some understanding of the determinants of these processes on the city and local level through analysis of single embedded case study of Riga. To achieve this aim, resilience is used as an analytical concept. It allows to conceptualize urban shrinkage as a slow-burn (slowly occurring disturbance) and propose three possible responses - adaptation, transformation, and decline. These responses emerge from actions of actors on various spatial scales and lead to different outcomes. It also provides the basis for analyzing the determinants of these responses by conceptualizing them as sources of resilience and suggesting seven different aspects found in literature: leadership, networks, resources, learning, people-place connection, common cause, and system of institutions and governance. Finally, these theoretical assumptions are used to define two main research questions: (1) what are responses to urban shrinkage in Riga? (2) what are sources of resilience to urban shrinkage in Riga? The need for in-depth research of urban processes led to choosing mixed method strategy for both selecting the embedded units of analysis (districts) in Riga and finding answers to the proposed research questions. Based on combined results of secondary data analysis, controlled expert group discussion, and structured site visits, five districts in Riga were selected – Avoti, Maskavas forštate, Bolderāja, Sarkandaugava, and Ķīpsala. Further data collection and analysis included semi-structured interviews with different actors at the city and district level and document analysis. The study finds that there are four different responses to urban shrinkage in Riga: mitigation, adaptation, transformation, and possible decline. Mitigation can be identified on city (also national) level and is closely linked with the strategic actions proposed by the local and national government in response to population decline. Adaptation can be observed on the city and local level. It is the dominant response type in Riga emerging from strategic actions and different activities by various actors in response to all of the identified processes associated with urban shrinkage in Riga. Transformation, however, can be found only on local level – district (in one specific case) or unit level. It emerges from activities of mostly non-government actors that are making use of the opportunities provided by urban shrinkage in Riga. Finally, further decline is a potential response in several Riga districts resulting from strategic actions of local municipality and inability of some of the actors to deal with the existing situation. The analysis of sources of resilience reveals that there are four main determinants of adaptation and transformation – leadership, networks, resources, and learning. Other sources of resilience (people-place connection, common cause, and engaged governance) function as additional drivers or catalysts. All of these sources of resilience can be identified in Riga, but not consistently across all spatial scales and units or actor groups. The main deficiencies are linked with availability of resources (human and financial) among different actor groups, the existing system of governance (involvement of actors in the decision-making process) and leadership (on city level). The study also shows differences related to responses to urban shrinkage and different sources of resilience, especially leadership, learning, and resources. Overall, the findings support the main theoretical assumptions of the study and allow refining the understanding of responses to urban shrinkage and sources of resilience. The results can be used as the basis for developing an approach for assessment of the level of resilience to urban shrinkage or other slow burns in the urban context.

This research is about local actors' response to problems of uneven development and unemployment. Policies to combat these problems are usually connected to socio-economic regeneration in England and economic and employment promotion (Wirtschafts- und Beschäftigungsförderung) in Germany. The main result of this project is a description of those factors which support the emergence of local socio-economic initiatives aimed at job creation. Eight social and formal economy initiatives have been examined and the ways in which their emergence has been influenced by institutional factors has been analysed. The role of local actors and forms of governance as well as wider regional and national policy frameworks has been taken into account. Socio-economic initiatives have been defined as non-routine local projects or schemes with the objective of direct job creation. Such initiatives often focus on specific local assets for the formal or the social economy. Socio-economic initiatives are grounded on ideas of local economic development, and the creation of local jobs for local people. The adopted understanding of governance focuses on the processes of decision taking. Thus, this understanding of governance is broadly construed to include the ways in which actors in addition to traditional government manage urban development. The applied understanding of governance lays a focus on 'strategic' forms of decision taking about both long term objectives and short term action linked to socio-economic regeneration. Four old industrial towns in North England and East Germany have been selected for case studies due to their particular socio-economic background. These towns, with between 10.000 and 70.000 inhabitants, are located outside of the main agglomerations and bear central functions for their hinterland. The approach has been comparative, with a focus on examining common themes rather than gaining in-depth knowledge of a single case. Until now, most urban governance studies have analysed the impacts of particular forms of governance such as regeneration partnerships. This project looks at particular initiatives and poses the question to what extent their emergence can be understood as a result of particular forms of governance, local institutional factors or regional and national contexts. / Viele Klein- und Mittelstädte in Ostdeutschland und Nordengland stehen derzeit vor großen Herausforderungen, die durch demographische und ökonomische Umbrüche hervorgerufen worden sind. Insbesondere die altindustriell geprägten Städte außerhalb der großen Agglomerationsräume sind unter Zugzwang, weil ihre ökonomische Basis in Zeiten verschärfter Globalisierungsprozesse nicht mehr wettbewerbsfähig ist. Gleichzeitig können diese Städte nicht von den Standortvorteilen der Agglomerationsräume profitieren und müssen daher eigene Qualitäten entwickeln. Welche Chancen haben diese Städte vor dem Hintergrund anhaltend hoher Arbeitslosenzahlen und stetiger Rationalisierungsprozesse in der lokalen Industrie? Mit welchen Strategien können neue Potenziale erschlossen werden, die die Stadtentwicklung insgesamt voranbringen? Wie gehen Entscheidungsträger mit den Problemen um und inwiefern passen sie aktuelle Entwicklungsstrategien an neue Rahmenbedingungen an? Wie kann die soziale und ökonomische Entwicklung langfristig stabilisiert werden? Welchen Beitrag können dabei lokale Initiativen der Wirtschafts- und Beschäftigungsförderung leisten, und wie können solche Initiativen verstärkt gefördert werden? Diese Fragen stehen im Zentrum der empirischen Arbeit "Institutional perspectives of local development in Germany and England", die anhand von vier altindustriell geprägten Beispielstädten in Nordengland und Ostdeutschland Entstehungsfaktoren dieser Initiativen untersucht. In allen vier Städten gibt es eine Vielzahl lokaler Initiativen der Wirtschafts- und Beschäftigungsförderung (insgesamt über 40). Durch diese Initiativen verändert sich die lokale Wirtschaftsstruktur und wird dadurch weniger anfällig für negative Begleiterscheinungen der Globalisierung. Neben einer direkten Förderung solcher Initiativen liegen entscheidende Unterstützungsfaktoren vor allem im informellen Bereich. So tragen Netzwerke, die auf gemeinsamen Zielen und Wertvorstellungen basieren, maßgeblich zum Erfolg lokaler Initiativen bei. Die Arbeit zeigt dabei, dass für die Entstehung lokaler Initiativen vor allem auch lokale Faktoren ausschlaggebend sind und der Einfluss nationaler Politik letztlich weniger entscheidend ist. Allerdings kann die nationale Ebene wichtige Debatten anstoßen, die dann auch auf die lokale Ebene einwirken. Dies zeigt sich beispielsweise im Bereich der sozialen Ökonomie, wo die größere Zahl an Initiativen in Großbritannien mit einer verstärkten Förderung auf nationaler Ebene einhergeht, wohingegen die geringe Relevanz solcher Initiativen in Deutschland auf eine fehlende nationale Förderung der sozialen Ökonomie zurückgeführt werden kann.

In der aktuellen Performance-Management-Forschung wurden bereits eine Vielzahl von Einflussfaktoren untersucht, die eine zielgerichtete Verwendung von Kennzahlen beeinflussen. Verwaltungskultur spielte hierbei nur eine nachgeordnete Rolle. Die vorliegende Untersuchung verwendet die Daten einer Umfrage in allen kreisfreien Städten Deutschlands, um den Zusammenhang zwischen verschiedenen Kulturtypen und der Verwendung von Kennzahlen zu untersuchen. Als Analyseschema für Verwaltungskultur wird die Grid/Group-Analysis verwendet. Die Ergebnisse sind zum Teil überraschend. Individualistische Kulturen scheinen einen negativen, hierarchistische Kulturen einen positiven Einfluss zu haben. Dennoch wird das Fehlen eines geeigneten Operationalisierungsschemas bemängelt. / The current research on performance management considered several factors influencing the purposeful usage of performance data. Administrative culture is a rather neglected one. This work uses the data from a German-wide survey of all cities with county-status to show the relation between different groups of culture and the usage of performance data. Therefore, the Grid/Group-Analysis is used to categorize administrative culture. The results are partly surprising as individual culture is negatively and hierarchical culture is positively related to the dependent variable. Nevertheless, the missing of a useful operationalization scheme is criticized.

Wir betrachten folgende Teile: die zusätzlichen Kohlenstoff(C)-emissionen, welche aus der Umwandlung von natürlichem Umland durch Stadtwachstum resultieren, und die Änderung des C-Flusses durch 'urbanisierte' Ökosysteme, soweit atmosphärisches C durch diese in umliegende natürliche Ökosysteme entlang der Kette “Atmosphäre -> Vegetation -> abgestorbene organische Substanzen” gepumpt wird: d.h. C-Export; für den Zeitraum von 1980 bis 2050. Als Szenario nutzen wir Prognosen der regionalen Stadtbevölkerung, welche durch ein 'Hybridmodell' generiert werden für acht Regionen. Alle Schätzungen der C-Flüsse basieren auf zwei Modellen: das Regression Modell und das sogenannte G-Modell. Die Siedlungsfläche, welche mit dem Wachstum der Stadtbevölkerung zunimmt, wird in 'Grünflächen' (Parks, usw.), Gebäudeflächen und informell städtisch genutzte Flächen (Slums, illegale Lagerplätze, usw.) unterteilt. Es werden jährlich die regionale und globale Dynamik der C-Emissionen und des C-Exports sowie die C-Gesamtbilanz berechnet. Dabei liefern beide Modelle qualitativ ähnliche Ergebnisse, jedoch gibt es einige quantitative Unterschiede. Im ersten Modell erreicht die globale Jahresemission für die Dekade 2020-2030 resultierend aus der Landnutzungsänderung ein Maximum von 205 Mt/a. Die maximalen Beiträge zur globalen Emission werden durch China, die asiatische und die pazifische Region erbracht. Im zweiten Modell erhöht sich die jährliche globale Emission von 1.12 GtC/a für 1980 auf 1.25 GtC/a für 2005 (1Gt = 109 t). Danach beginnt eine Reduzierung. Vergleichen wir das Emissionmaximum mit der Emission durch Abholzung im Jahre 1980 (1.36 GtC/a), können wir konstatieren, daß die Urbanisierung damit in vergleichbarer Grösse zur Emission beiträgt. Bezogen auf die globale Dynamik des jährlichen C-Exports durch Urbanisierung beobachten wir ein monotones Wachstum bis zum nahezu dreifachen Wert von 24 MtC/a für 1980 auf 66 MtC/a für 2050 im ersten Modell, bzw. im zweiten Modell von 249 MtC/a für 1980 auf 505 MtC/a für 2050. Damit ist im zweiten Fall die Transportleistung der Siedlungsgebiete mit dem C-Transport durch Flüsse in die Ozeane (196 .. 537 MtC/a) vergleichbar. Bei der Abschätzung der Gesamtbilanz finden wir, daß die Urbanisierung die Bilanz in Richtung zu einer 'Senke' verschiebt. Entsprechend dem zweiten Modell beginnt sich die C-Gesamtbilanz (nach annähernder Konstanz) ab dem Jahre 2000 mit einer fast konstanten Rate zu verringern. Wenn das Maximum im Jahre 2000 bei 905MtC/a liegt, fällt dieser Wert anschliessend bis zum Jahre 2050 auf 118 MtC/a. Bei Extrapolation dieser Dynamik in die Zukunft können wir annehmen, daß am Ende des 21. Jahrhunderts die “urbane” C-Gesamtbilanz Null bzw. negative Werte erreicht. / We calculate the additional carbon emissions as a result of the conversion of natural land in a process of urbanisation; and the change of carbon flows by “urbanised” ecosystems, when the atmospheric carbon is exported to the neighboring territories, from 1980 till 2050 for the eight regions of the world. As a scenario we use combined UN and demographic model′s prognoses for regional total and urban population growth. The calculations of urban areas dynamics are based on two models: the regression model and the Gamma-model. The urbanised area is sub-divided on built-up, „green“ (parks, etc.) and informal settlements (favelas) areas. The next step is to calculate the regional and world dynamics of carbon emission and export, and the annual total carbon balance. Both models give similar results with some quantitative differences. In the first model, the world annual emissions attain a maximum of 205 MtC/year between 2020-2030. Emissions will then slowly decrease. The maximum contributions are given by China and the Asia and Pacific regions. In the second model, world annual emissions increase to 1.25 GtC in 2005, beginning to decrease afterwards. If we compare the emission maximum with the annual emission caused by deforestation, 1.36GtC per year, then we can say that the role of urbanised territories (UT) is of a comparable magnitude. Regarding the world annual export of carbon by UT, we observe its monotonous growth by three times, from 24 MtC to 66 MtC in the first model, and from 249 MtC to 505 MtC in the second one. The latter, is therefore comparable to the amount of carbon transported by rivers into the ocean (196-537 MtC). By estimating the total balance we find that urbanisation shifts the total balance towards a “sink” state. The urbanisation is inhibited in the interval 2020-2030, and by 2050 the growth of urbanised areas would almost stop. Hence, the total emission of natural carbon at that stage will stabilise at the level of the 1980s (80 MtC per year). As estimated by the second model, the total balance, being almost constant until 2000, then starts to decrease at an almost constant rate. We can say that by the end of the XXI century, the total carbon balance will be equal to zero, when the exchange flows are fully balanced, and may even be negative, when the system begins to take up carbon from the atmosphere, i.e., becomes a “sink”.