Student research in the Karlsruhe district of Südstadt: insights into the results of the project seminar on urban research conducted by the Institute for Regional Science
On 18 February, master's students of regional science/spatial planning at the Institute for Regional Science (IfR) at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) presented their research findings at the TRIANGEL Studio. The focus was on Werderplatz and the Grünstreifen (green belt) and the distribution and use of public space.
As there have been repeated calls for change in the past, the students conducted qualitative interviews with residents of the Südstadt district to find out how Werderplatz and the green strip are currently used and what specific wishes people have for these locations.
The data collected revealed different perspectives on these urban spaces.
Regarding the much-discussed possibility of changing Werderplatz, the data clearly showed that A greener Werderplatz with fewer cars and more (non-commercial) areas for people to gather is clearly the wish of most of the people surveyed. In particular, additional seating areas outside the restaurants and cafés could increase the quality of the experience for those surveyed and enrich the coexistence and interaction between user groups. The students transformed these ideas into visual visions.
The much-discussed idea of a possible change to Werderplatz was clearly reflected in the data: a greener Werderplatz with fewer cars and more (non-commercial) areas for people to gather is clearly the wish of most of those surveyed. In particular, additional seating areas outside the restaurants and cafés could, in the opinion of those surveyed, improve the quality of the space and enrich the coexistence and interaction of the various user groups. The students transformed these ideas into visual visions.
The evaluation of the research data also provided numerous ideas for the green belt, such as better signage for cycle paths, redesigned seating areas and requests for more extensive use of the western section.
There was great interest in the event ‘What moves the Südstadt? Presentation of the research results’ – all seats were taken. After the presentations, a lively discussion developed in which visitors contributed their own ideas and talked about the potential and challenges of designing the Südstadt.
The exhibition ‘Sensing Südstadt’ accompanied the event, in which first-year students presented their exploration logbooks. These offered exciting insights into various methodological approaches to the district.
A big thank you to all students and participants! The open exchange is a valuable contribution to transformative urban research and shows how important a joint dialogue is for the future of our urban spaces.
Insights into the results will be available at the end of March at https://s.kit.edu/ergebnisse-ifr-ss24. If you have any questions or suggestions regarding urban research in the Südstadt district, please contact the research team led by Michael Janoschka and Anna-Barbara Grebhahn at info∂ifr kit edu.