Martin Behnisch
Professor Martin Behnisch is head of the 'Spatial Information and Modelling' research area at the Leibniz Institute of Ecological Urban and Regional Development (IOER). Additionally, he holds a professorship in the same field at Dresden University of Technology (TUD). Since 2015, he has been an organiser of the International Land Use Symposium (ILUS). His key competencies are related to spatial data science, built environment and land system science, with extensive experience in leading and coordinating collaborative research projects.
He received his PhD (summa cum laude) from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, undertook a postdoc at ETH Zurich and has been a visiting scientist at Concordia University Montréal (Canada), Yonsei University (Korea) and Tianjin University (China). He has received and worked on DFG research grants.
Latest Commentaries
Systems Thinking is Needed to Achieve Sustainable Cities
As city populations grow, a critical current and future challenge for urban researchers is to provide compelling evidence of the medium and long-term co-benefits of quality, low-carbon affordable housing and compact urban design. Philippa Howden-Chapman (University of Otago) and Ralph Chapman (Victoria University of Wellington) explain why systems-based, transition-oriented research on housing and associated systemic benefits is needed now more than ever.
Unmaking Cities Can Catalyse Sustainable Transformations
Andrew Karvonen (Lund University) explains why innovation has limitations for achieving systemic change. What is also needed is a process of unmaking (i.e. phasing out existing harmful technologies, processes and practices) whilst ensuring inequalities, vulnerabilities and economic hazards are avoided. Researchers have an important role to identify what needs dismantling, identify advantageous and negative impacts and work with stakeholders and local governments.