People

Prof. Dr. Gabriela Christmann

All People

  • Role in Center:

    Advanced Researcher

  • Discipline:

    Sociology

  • University:

    Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space

  • Country:

    Germany

Biography: apl. Professor, Dr. Gabriela Christmann is a sociologist and the Head of the Research Department “Dynamics of Communication, Knowledge and Spatial Development” at the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS) Erkner, Germany. She studied social work at the University of Applied Sciences Ravensburg-Weingarten (1981-1985) and sociology and political science at the University of Konstanz (1985-1991).  Dr. Christmann received her doctorate at the University of Konstanz in 1996. In 2003 she habilitated at the Technische Universität Dresden. Dr. Christmann publishes widely and is a guest editor of numerous special issues of international refereed journals and served as a section editor for the “Encyclopedia for Urban and Regional Studies” (Wiley-Blackwell). She is active in policy advice and is a member of or associated with numerous expert groups working for the Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food as well as the Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community in Germany as well as for the Directorate-General of Agriculture and Rural Development of the European Commission.

Selected Publications:

  • Christmann, G. (ed.) (2020): Special Issue “Struggling with Innovations”, European Planning Studies, Volume 28, No. 3. 

  • Christmann, G./Bernhardt, C./Stollmann, J. (eds.) (2020): Special Issue “Visual Communication in Urban Design and Planning: The Impact of Mediatisation(s) on the Construction of Urban Futures”. Urban Planning, Volume 5, No. 2. 

  • Christmann, G./Ibert, O./Jessen, J./Walther, U-J. (2020): Innovations in Spatial Planning as a Social Process – Phases, Actors, Conflicts. European Planning Studies, 28(3), 496-520. DOI: 10.1080/09654313.2019.1639399

  • Singh, A./Christmann, G. (2020): Citizen Participation in Digitised Environments in Berlin: Visualising Spatial Knowledge in Urban Planning. Urban Planning, 5(2), 71-83. DOI: 10.17645/up.v5i2.3030

  • Christmann, G./Kilper, H./Ibert, O. (2019): Resilient Cities: Theoretical Conceptualisations and Observations about the Discourse in the Social and Planning Sciences. in B. Rampp, M. Endreß, & M. Naumann (eds.), Resilience in Social, Cultural and Political Spheres (S. 121-148). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-15329-8

  • Christmann, G./Ibert, O./Jessen, J./Walther, U-J. (2017): How Does Novelty Enter Spatial Planning? Conceptualising Innovations in Planning and Research Strategies. in W. Rammert, A. Windeler, H. Knoblauch, & M. Hutter (eds.), Innovation Society Today: Perspectives, Fields, and Cases (S. 247-272). Wiesbaden: Springer VS. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-658-19269-3_12

  • Christmann, G. (2017): Analysing Changes in Discursive Constructions of Rural Areas in the Context of Demographic Change: Towards Counterpoints in the Dominant Discourse on “Dying Villages”. Comparative Population Studies, 41(3-4), 359-378. DOI: 10.12765/CPoS-2017-03en

  • Kusenbach, M./Christmann, G. (eds.) (2017): Special Issue “Disaster Vulnerability and Resilience Building at the Social Margins“, International Journal of Mass Emergencies and Disasters, Vol. 35, No. 2. 

  • Christmann, G. (2014): Investigating Spatial Transformation Processes: An Ethnographic Discourse Analysis in Disadvantaged Neighbourhoods. Historical Social Research, 39(2), 235-256. DOI: 10.12759/hsr.39.2014.2.235-256

  • Christmann, G. (2013): Belonging and Home: The Perspective of Urban Pioneers in Disadvantaged Neighborhoods. in M. Kusenbach, & K. E. Paulsen (Hrsg.), Home: International perspectives on culture, identity, and belonging (S. 269-291). Frankfurt (Main): PL Acad. Research. 

Areas of Expertise:

  • Urban and regional sociology
  • Spatial theories
  • Social innovation
  • Digitalisation and implications for spatial development
  • Resilient cities

Current Position(s):

  • Head of the Research Department “Dynamics of Communication, Knowledge and Spatial Development” at the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space (IRS) in Erkner, Germany 
  • Extraordinary Professor at the Department of Sociology at the Technische Universität Berlin, Germany

Past Position(s)

  • Provisional director of the Leibniz Institute for Research on Society and Space
  • Substitute professor of micro-sociology at Technical University of Dresden, Germany
  • Substitute professor of general sociology at Christian-Albrechts-University of Kiel, Germany

Memberships & Networks:

  • Member of the “German Sociological Association” (DGS)
  • Member of the “European Sociological Association” (ESA)
  • Member of the “International Sociological Association” (ISA)
  • DiskursNetz, www.diskursanalyse.net