Thematic Dossier: Digitalization and Spatial Development

„Digitalization in spatial development means: More cooperation and innovation, with people and local specificities at the center.“

This thematic dossier sheds light on the key concepts in the spatial science and planning practice debate on digitalization. Most importantly, it highlights past and current activities as well as published works by the ARL and its working bodies on the topic of digitalization and spatial development.

The discussion about the impacts of digitalization has strongly shaped the last few decades. Some see it as a megatrend, while others view it as a central element in the transformation of industrial production — and more broadly, as the foundation for future value creation and fundamental structural change.

Mobility forms such as autonomous and connected driving, the transportation transition, entirely new communication methods like chatbots and document management systems, as well as changes in energy and goods production (Industry 4.0) and their marketing (online commerce), all rely on digital products and information technologies (Digital infrastructure). Some of these have direct spatial impacts, while others exert influence indirectly through their use in planning and administrative structures (Digital governance).

Spatial Trends

In the course of this far-reaching socio-technical transformation toward a (digital) service and knowledge society, urban and rural areas face numerous opportunities, challenges, and risks. Digitalization is not only transforming the economy but virtually all areas of private and social life.

Examples such as homeschooling, remote work, and online commerce show that digitalization is fundamentally flexibilizing—and in some cases even dissolving—traditional categories such as space and distance, as well as time and scale. The spatial consequences and dynamics vary greatly and are always influenced by differing levels of digital competence in both private and professional contexts.

While development trends in data, technology, and production are gradually becoming predictable, the impacts on spaces and their planning and development remain difficult to fully assess.

The Foundation of Digitalization: Infrastructure

The expansion of networks and broadband forms the basis for access to education, work, services, and goods. Currently, infrastructure development occurs in staggered phases and varies greatly by region, usually driven by economic calculations. This exacerbates already existing spatial inequalities.

The diversity of starting conditions is also reflected in the different contexts in which digitalization is discussed. While the debate in urban areas is often framed around Smart Cities, in rural contexts the focus is on equal living conditions, the digital divide, and spatial development.

As a result, rural and densely populated areas are affected differently by digitalization processes and are subject to specific path dependencies, for example in the development of digital competencies.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitalization beyond expectations, rapidly shifting pre-pandemic timelines—for instance, for the adoption of remote work—and at the same time revealing implementation gaps that are increasingly a focus of spatial science research.

Focus Areas and Current Questions

Digitalization has far-reaching, yet not fully predictable, impacts on spaces and their social and economic functions and uses. For this reason, various ARL working groups have made the spatial effects of digitalization a central focus of their work.

These working groups have addressed the following questions, guided by the principles of sustainable, socially inclusive, and spatially balanced development, along with the necessary framework conditions:

How can spatial planning take digitalization into account in its strategies and objectives?
What potentials, challenges, and risks arise for spatial planning in the context of digitalization?
Which spatial effects can be observed or actively influenced?
What is the role of planning institutions (municipal, regional, and state planning, as well as sectoral planning) and “new” actor groups in shaping spatial development processes in the digital age?
To what extent are planning theories, approaches, tools, and practices suitable for understanding and managing these phenomena, or do they require further development?

Activities

Answers to these and other spatially relevant questions can be found in the following publications or were discussed in the listed events:

Results

Creation and Status of the Dossier

This dossier was prepared by Dr. Martina Hülz and Jacob Busse von Colbe, and updated by Carolin Pleines. Status: 08.09.2022

Technical Contact:

Dr. Martina Hülz
martina.huelz@arl-net.de