The center’s main activities revolve around the advancement of five interconnected actions:
SMUS
Global Center of Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability
The Global Center of Spatial Methods for Urban Sustainability (SMUS) is one of seven Excellence Centers for Exchange and Development (exceed), funded by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) via the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD). Its coordination unit is based at the Technische Universität Berlin.
Focusing on some of the most pressing issues related to Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 “Sustainable Cities and Communities” of the Agenda 2030, SMUS serves as a platform facilitating dialogue and collaboration in urban sustainability research, teaching, and planning practice.
Following Phase I (2020-2024), which focused on advancing the academic discourse on spatial methods for urban sustainability and bridging disciplinary and implementation gaps; Phase II (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.
SMUS continues to work on expanding and consolidating its international network of scholars and practitioners with South-South cooperation and co-production processes. Our long-term goal is to have the network become autonomous, with collaborations between global network partners continuing beyond the life of this project.
Wicked Urban Problems
SMUS Phase II explores wicked urban problems (WUP) that underpin the targets of SDG 11.
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
Call for Papers: “Co-Producing ‘the Public’. (Un)Learnings from Public Space in the Global South”
With this call we invite to critically reflect on the topic of ‘Public Space’ from a Global South perspective, exploring its role as a platform for resistance, negotiation, and social transformation. We are interested in collectively discuss how public spaces - shaped by histories of colonialism, conflict, and urban informality – can be recognized as spaces of collective learning, where knowledge is co-produced, and community is built. Contributions may address topics such as citizenship dynamics, urban informality, spatial practices, and case studies that challenge and redefine the concept of the public from different perspectives. – Submission deadline: June 30, 2025read more
Beyond Resilience: translocal planning pedagogies from coastal/delta cities of Asia
This project (February-October 2024) aimed at comprehending urban resilience in the cities of Semarang (Indonesia) and Kolkata (India) beyond mainstream technology-dependent ‘green solutions’ and disaster mitigation strategies, but rather reimagining cities as “living systems infrastructures”.read more
Presentation of the SMUS-MOOC: Informal Settlements in Lima: Corruption, Integrity and Access to Water and Sanitation at the International Congress “100 Años de Barriadas” (100 years of slums) in Lima, Peru
In October 2024, co-developer Alhelí Zanella presented the recently released SMUS-MOOC at the International Congress "100 Años de Barriadas (100 years of slums): Changes, Persistencies, and Futures of Urbanization in Peru," which took place at the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) in Lima.read more
First SMUS Doctoral student successfully defends their thesis – Congratulations to Samane Niazkhani!
The SMUS team proudly congratulates our first Doctoral candidate to successfully defend their thesis Samane Niazkhani from the University of Tehran. Samane's thesis title was “Analyzing the Settlements’ Sustainability in the Spatial Plans of Less Developed Regions of Iran: Emphasis on Economic Growth and Sustainable Employment”.read more