This is the archive of the website of the Chair of Urban Development at the Technical University of Munich where Alain Thierstein served as Full Professor from 2005 to 2024. During this period, the chair’s research and teaching focused on urban and regional spatial development. Cities and regions were not understood as static, physical entities, but as relational spaces shaped by dynamic networks of flows—of firms, knowledge, and people. Core guiding principles included impact orientation, inter-scalarity, systems thinking, and a relational understanding of space. These concepts informed both teaching and research across a range of topics: from hub airports, high-speed rail stations as key nodes within knowledge economy networks, to star architecture and its role in repositioning cities, as well as numerous case study cities examined in studios and research projects. This work has engaged with architects, urbanists, geographers, economists, landscape architects, mobility experts, sociologists, and computer scientists, reflecting a strongly multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approach.
Alain Thierstein remains active in debates on urban development and can be followed on LinkedIn under Alain Thierstein | LinkedIn.
This was the website of the Chair of Spatial Development. The new website of the Chair of Urban and Spatial Development is currently under construction and will be available shortly.
Neue Dissertation: The Dynamic Geographies of the Knowledge Economy in Germany: Where do firms & workers locate?
This dissertation examines the German knowledge economy over two decades and explores where firms and knowledge workers locate. It examines the spatial, relational and economic location decisions through three studies on firm location choices, the influence of the knowledge economy on employment growth and the (re-)location of workers. Using ERGM, Granger causality and origin-destination data analysis, it reveals how proximity, the type of knowledge, infrastructure and connectivity influence where firms and workers locate, thus, regional growth.
Project Documentation: "Landsberg am Lech - Ready for 2055?"
NEWS| 31.03.2025
Project Documentation: "Landsberg am Lech - Ready for 2055?"
Students from the Master's programs in Urbanism and Architecture worked for several months to look at the long-term development of the town of Landsberg. The aim was to design a long-term spatial strategy. Based on a comprehensive analysis of the region and a methodology for working with future trends, the next 30 years were examined. Four student teams each present a vision of the future for “Landsberg 2055” and use an overall strategy and specific spatial proposals to show possible development paths for the region and local stakeholders.
The four student teams focus on different topics and show different development paths for the year 2055. How can resilient land use, inclusive mobility and social cohesion be strengthened and interlinked to achieve sustainable growth? How can the prospects of young residents be improved and education and innovation become key catalysts for positive development? How can Landsberg become a municipality that leads by example through the consistent implementation of sustainable mobility, a liveable city center and a self-sufficient energy supply? And how can Landsberg carry today's qualities into the future in order to be “just as great, only better” in 2055?
Link to the digital documentation (PDF, ca. 70 MB) available on mediaTUM.
2008-2011 DFG project "Location interdependencies of the knowledge economy and the consequences for German metropolitan regions. On Spatial Hierarchies and Localized Value Creation Systems in Germany"
Forschung, PAGE:TUMvCard |
Topic: The main objective of the study is to obtain an in-depth, analytical view of the relational map of the German knowledge economy.
Abstract: The study primarily examines the relational map of the German knowledge economy by means of an in-depth, analytical view. It focuses on the question of which large-scale network structures and functional-spatial hierarchies characterize the knowledge economy in Germany and what role is played by metropolitan regions and small and medium-sized urban functional areas? For the empirical survey, a distinction is made between internal and external company linkages. These interdependencies are examined in terms of their intensity on four spatial scale levels: regional, national, European and global. The two central pillars of the knowledge economy are examined: the knowledge-intensive service and high-tech industries. The area under investigation covers the entire German territory and includes other countries close to the border in order to gain additional insights into the intensity of the relationship structures between cross-border metropolitan regions and urban functional areas. The research approach consists of evaluating the empirically obtained data by means of a combination of network analysis and value chain approach.
Participating team members: Alain Thierstein, Stefan Lüthi, Michael Bentlage, Anne Wiese
Client: German Research Foundation (DFG)