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Thematic Dossier: Post-Growth and Spatial Development

In the political and societal debate about the need for a transformation toward sustainable lifestyles and economic systems, the focus is not only on climate change but also on the finiteness of natural resources and the globally increasing consumption of these resources. The meaningfulness of continuous material growth is increasingly being questioned, and development approaches beyond purely growth-oriented models are being sought. The guiding objectives of this debate are the common good, social participation, and environmental compatibility, critically examining prevailing economic systems and their negative impacts. This also involves a re-evaluation of concepts such as development, prosperity, and well-being.    
 

In view of the importance of this debate in politics, civil society, and parts of the social and economic sciences, the spatial and planning sciences have also begun to engage with the topic of “post-growth.

Despite their long-standing engagement with sustainability issues and the management of the “resource” land/soil, the prevailing concepts and models in spatial research and spatial planning still appear largely tied to the traditional growth paradigm. Neither the engagement with demographic change and shrinking cities nor the work on the consequences of recent financial and economic crises has led to a fundamental shift in perspective that could provide conceptual guidance for alternative development models—i.e., models not based on material growth indicators—and their planning implementation. There has also so far been a lack of critical discussion within the spatial sciences concerning the concepts of the so-called “Green Economy” and “Sharing Economy,” as well as ideas such as “Qualitative Growth” or “Smart Growth.” Recent studies on land and real estate, however, indicate a trend toward more fundamental engagement with these issues.

Through various activities, the ARL aims to foster a nuanced, interdisciplinary discussion on the spatial implications and challenges of post-growth-oriented concepts and projects, and to give the topic greater prominence within the spatial sciences and planning practice. With the thematic dossier “Post-Growth and Spatial Development,” we seek to present our activities and publications in a consolidated and transparent manner, while also facilitating networking with others.


ARL-Aktivitäten

 

 

 

 

 

Bildergalerie

View the photo gallery here

 

 

 

Ergebnisse und Veröffentlichungen

The article "Covid-19 and Post-Growth Geographies: Observations and Perspectives" was produced, alongside other listed outputs, through the collaboration of the editors in the ARL working group “Post-Growth Economies.“ While our publications with transcript Verlag (Post-Growth Geographies) and oekom Verlag (Possibility Spaces) were finalized just before the outbreak of the COVID-19 crisis, this article aims to highlight initial connections and bridges between post-growth geographies and the spatial impacts of the pandemic.

Debates that intensified during the crisis—on alternative lifestyles, work formats, mobility behavior, and other routines—demonstrate, sometimes explicitly and sometimes implicitly, clear links to post-growth approaches. Within the working group, it was important to us to establish the spatially relevant relationships between the pandemic and post-growth ideas, as well as the ways in which a sustainability transition could be shaped.

At the top, you can access the article “Covid-19 and Post-Growth Geographies: Observations and Perspectives.”

 

Crises as an Opportunity?
The collected volume “Post-Growth Geographies” offers well-founded ideas and inspiration for alternatives to prosperity.

The volume Post-Growth Geographies examines the spatial dimensions of diverse and alternative economies within the field of tension between growth-oriented institutions and multiple socio-ecological crises. For the first time, the contributions take up this approach comprehensively and, through conceptual and empirical articles from geography and related disciplines, open up diverse perspectives on the possibilities, demands, and critiques of a socio-ecological transformation. Current debates on post-growth economies are sharpened from a geographical perspective and complemented with case studies and interviews from civil society, planning, and politics.

What others are saying about this volume:

 

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Image sources:
The images used on the website are based on a graphic recording created by Katrina Günther of Thinking Visual, Berlin, documenting the ARL Congress 2019 in Kassel. The quotes in the image gallery are taken from a video project compiling interview sequences from this ARL Congress. The portrait sketches of the quoted individuals were drawn by Viola Schulze Dieckhoff and Joyce Gosemann.

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Kontakt

Dr. Martina Hülz (ARL)    
Tel. +49 511 34842-28    
martina.huelz@arl-net.de