Urban Systems
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“Megacities is a buzz word that describes one of the most important demographic trends facing society now and in the future. Less than one year from now more than half of the worlds population will live in urban centres. This dramatic development inevitably raises the question: how can the interactions between the individuals who live in these megacities be intelligently shaped, from both a private and economic perspective, for the good of the individual, his or her immediate surroundings, the environment, and the national and international community?
For sometime now the University of Duisburg-Essen has viewed the steady rise of urbanization as one of the main topics to be dealt with by society in the 21st century and has devoted a substantial part of its research and teaching activities to finding solutions for the problems and tasks created by the “megacities trend. Back in 2005 the University decided to make the thematic area of Urban Systems one of the four central areas in its research profile and to develop it strategically.
Based on the expertise available in the various disciplines at the University of Duisburg-Essen, the central research area of Urban Systems focuses on the main research areas of Water; Individual and Environment; Mobility; Transport and Logistics; and Commercial Transports. These are supported by two central scientific institutes, the Centre of Microscale Ecosystems (CME) and the Centre for Logistics and Traffic (ZLV). Within the scope of projects the academic staff of these institutes elaborate monodisciplinary, transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary solutions to current and strategic problems and questions in the main research areas listed above.