Georg-Simmel-Center for Urban Studies
One of the key aims of the Georg-Simmel Center for Urban Studies is to foster an international network of academic departments and other institutes that are active in metropolitan researches. Currently, the Geography Department, the Institute of European Ethnology and the Institute of Sociology are the foundation of the Georg-Simmel Center. The center is also intended to refer to current issues of urban politics, planning and to contribute to these in multiple ways, for example, through the organization of academic events or publication of specialized papers.
News
Urban Political Podcast Transcripts
The transcripts of episodes 66–76 of the Urban Political Podcast are now available online at https://urbanpolitical.online.
Georg Simmel Days 2025
On November 13 & 14 2025, the Georg Simmel Zentrumstage, hosted by the Georg Simmel Center for Urban Studies took place. Impressions and a summary of the event can be found here. The program can be found here.
Workshop Report: "Resilience and Sustainable Reconstruction of Ukrainian Cities", January 30 & 31, 2025
The workshop was organized by the "Urban Futures at Risk (UFaR)" research group at the GSZ. They brought together experts to discuss innovative strategies for urban renewal in post-war Ukraine. Through interdisciplinary dialogue, the event fostered new collaborations and insights on resilience, sustainability, and inclusive reconstruction planning.
The documentation of the event can be found here.
Workshop Report: "Illiberal Cities: Manifestations of Authoritarianism and Contested Space", January 20 & 21, 2025
The workshop is organized by the "Urban Futures at Risk (UFaR)" working group at the GSZ.
You can find the program here. The documentation of the event can be found here.
The report on the workshop "Urban Metabolism: The Potential of Urban Political Ecology for Critical Geographies" has been published here.
Tarde (https://www.tarde.info) is a new printed publication that appears six times a year. It is independently produced by GSZ researcher Santiago Orrego, supported by the Georg Simmel Center, and initially distributed across Berlin.
Tarde aims to explore the often-overlooked elements and associations of everyday street life. Conceived as a fanzine, Tarde also has an online presence that expands on the magazine’s content. This allows people outside Berlin to download and print every issue for free under a Creative Commons license.
The first Tarde “Glitch Infrastructures” will be available starting September 11 in the vicinity of the Georg Simmel Center, Freie Universität Berlin, and Technische Universität Berlin—while supplies last.
UrbanOpen: Digital Database for Outstanding Theses in Urban Studies Now Online!
Our new digital database UrbanOpen is now online. It features outstanding theses in the field of urban research, written at the GSZ’s partner institutions.
The collection is intended primarily for students looking for inspiration regarding topics, research questions, and methods for their own thesis projects.
The database was developed as part of a GSZ project funded by the Academic Senate of HU Berlin's program for digital media in research, teaching, and learning.
UrbanOpen can be accessed via the following link.
Events
Next Think&Drink event in the winter semester 2025/2026:
Think and Drink Series
In cooperation with the Chair of Urban and Regional Sociology, our Think and Drink colloquium takes place each semester.
National and international scholars are invited to speak on various topics related to urban research.
More information about this semester’s speakers can be found via the following link: Think & Drink Colloquium
Institute Colloquium in European Ethnology
At the Institute for European Ethnology, members of the institute present and discuss their current projects every Tuesday.
Information about the current program can be found here.