SMUS
Global Center of Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability
The Global Center for Spatial Methods in Urban Sustainability (SMUS) is based at the Institut für Stadt- und Regionalplanung (ISR) at Technische Universität Berlin.
Since 2020, the SMUS has been promoting international cooperation in the field of urban sustainability together with academic partner institutions in Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The current Phase (2025-2029) addresses intertwined wicked urban problems. The SMUS network partners work together via 5 Actions to develop tactics and strategies on how to best tackle these challenges through transdisciplinary, spatial, and practice-led research.
Wicked Urban Problems
SMUS Phase II explores wicked urban problems (WUP) that underpin the targets of SDG 11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities” of the Agenda 2030.
Unlike tamable problems, which can be “solved”, wicked problems–such as climate change or poverty–are paradoxical, multi-causal, unstable, and socially complex in nature. Because of this, they cannot be tackled in a linear manner but they have to be “resolved” over and over again in an iterative way. Wicked problems are both interconnected and interdependent, thereby giving rise to unforeseeable consequences.
SMUS focuses on the unfolding of wicked problems in urban spaces–wicked urban problems (WUP)–and suggests tackling them through transdisciplinary, spatial and practice-led research. This threefold approach is implemented in close collaboration with nine core partner universities from three world regions: Latin America, East and Southern Africa, and South and Southeast Asia.
SMUS News
Zines from the Margins: Department of Town and Regional Planning, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Integrating visual and participatory methods with academic inquiry, this Science Communication project challenged students to explore waste management and urban informality in the City of Tshwane through the art of zine-making.read more
SMUS NAIROBI CAMPUS 2026 began on May 4th!
On 4th of May has began the SMUS AFRICA REGIONAL CAMPUS 2026 at the University of Nairobi (UoN). The central Theme is in this occasion EC(h)OTONING the urban pluriverse.read more
Call for Applications SMUS Science Communication Projects 2026
We are pleased to announce the call for Applications SMUS Science Communication Projects 2026. Application Deadline Thursday 30th of April 2026 We warmly invite you to review the call and encourage you to share it widely with colleagues and peers in your networks.read more
Action 3 – Junior Researchers Experiences on Thematic Excursions (2025)
As part of the SMUS Action 3, (Post)Doctoral Programme, early-career researchers from Latin America, Sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia participated in the SMUS PhD Training Programme at TU Berlin from May to October 2025.read more