The ReSpace! research group (short for Response-able Spaces) is an innovative initiative that brings together a dynamic, interdisciplinary team focused on rethinking space and spatial redesign in response to climate change, resource scarcity, and social and environmental change.
ReSpace! promotes a holistic understanding of how spatial infrastructures and typologies can be transformed to adapt to future challenges, taking into account climate change, resource scarcity, and societal demands in the complex interplay of global and local impacts. Based on interdisciplinary collaboration between architecture and urban planning, the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering, ReSpace! aims to jointly design, describe, simulate, and evaluate innovative solutions for sustainable living in the future.
In collaboration with stakeholders such as cities, municipalities, NGOs, non-university research institutions, and industry, ReSpace! focuses not only on the development of spatial models, but also on the transfer of knowledge to regional and institutional stakeholders. The research framework provides for the conception, development, evaluation, and proposal of scientifically sound and socially accepted concepts. ReSpace! lies at the interface of two of the four core research areas of the TU Braunschweig: Future City and Mobility.
Funding: zukunft.niedersachsen, the joint science funding program of the Lower Saxony Ministry of Science and Culture and the Volkswagen Foundation
Duration: July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2030
ReSpace!
The aim of ReSpace! is to design, to describe, to simulate, and to evaluate innovative solutions for sustainable living in the future on the basis of interdisciplinary cooperation, and to support the transfer of knowledge into practice.
ALLIGATOR
The ALLIGATOR (Allocation-based Mobility: Intelligent Optimization for Routing) subproject, which is supervised by the IVS and the Institute for Intermodal Transport and Logistics Systems (ITL), aims to analyze passenger and freight transport in an integrated simulation. Key elements are so-called (3D) mobility hubs, i.e., integrated transport hubs that organize mobility services for passengers and freight not only horizontally in urban areas, but also vertically across multiple levels in order to separate traffic flows spatially and temporally and use space more efficiently. On this basis, it will be possible to take an integrated view of previously separately planned systems and systematically evaluate urban transport processes in terms of efficiency, resource use, and climate impact.
The results will support the implementation of modern urban spaces with mixed use by aligning transport strategies with urban climate adaptation, spatial organization, and the principles of the circular economy. Possible practical applications include the optimization of transport networks, more efficient use of infrastructure, or improved accessibility for all user groups.
Based on a synthetic population, data on freight transport demand, and existing transport networks, ReSpace! will first build an exemplary virtual city. This will form the basis for an agent-based simulation and model-based evaluation of passenger and freight transport and serve as a reference scenario.
Building on this reference scenario, the virtual city will be further developed in line with the objectives of the ALLIGATOR subproject. To this end, new spatial, infrastructural, and operational concepts will be implemented, simulated, and systematically compared with the reference state. In this way, the effects of individual measures in terms of efficiency, land use, and climate impact can be quantified in a comprehensible manner. The results will then be combined into consistent transformation paths to enable a structured transfer of the findings from the simulation into the planning practice.
The ALLIGATOR subproject is being jointly supervised by IVS and ITL. Against the backdrop of changing demands on urban space and ongoing challenges with existing planning paradigms, a transformation of urban space itself and the associated planning methods is essential. IVS and ITL are therefore pursuing an agent-based simulation approach to evaluate existing and future transport networks and to derive suitable measures for practical application. A main focus here is on the implementation of (3D) mobility hubs and their impact on existing transport networks. This includes, in particular, the temporal and/or spatial decoupling of passenger and freight transport. In addition to infrastructural concepts, the study also examines operational concepts, taking into account modular, self-loading and unloading vehicles and their integration into the overall transport network.
Interdisciplinary cooperation is a key prerequisite for the success of the project. Close cooperation between architecture and urban planning, transportation and engineering sciences, and the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences will enable spatial design concepts, traffic simulations, and social requirements to be coordinated at an early stage. This will make it possible not only to evaluate measures on a model basis, but also to develop them in a way that is integrable into urban planning, socially compatible, and practically feasible.
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