In this interview, we talk to Angelika Psenner and Christian Peer about their publication "Urban Mixtures: Urban Development and Urban Planning as a Relational Field of Action," which was released earlier this year. In this episode, you will learn about the criticism levelled at diversity and why it is still so important!

Publication presentation: Urban Mixtures. Urban Design and Urban Planning as a Relational Field of Action.
Edited by Christian Peer and Angelika Psenner, published in January 2024 by transcript Verlag. (PDF available for free).

Contemporary urban planning concepts regard urban mix as a fundamental principle and recognize it as a challenging yet necessary practice. In implementation, however, it remains controversial and is often not achieved, or the outcomes turn out to be unexpectedly different. The contributors critically engage with aspects of urban mix and the associated role of architecture and planning. They highlight contradictions and challenges and present examples of novel perspectives and urban qualities, examining their relevance, success, or failure. Their analyses provide a foundation for current and future collaborative planning and building.

Christian Peer is a cultural anthropologist as well as an environmental and spatial planner and works as a Senior Scientist at the future.lab Research Center of TU Wien. His work focuses on shared learning at the intersection of science and practice in architecture and spatial planning, as well as related perspectives from Science and Technology Studies.

Angelika Psenner is Professor of Urban Structure Research at the Department of Urban Design and Planning at TU Wien. Her research and teaching focus in particular on urban design, urban planning and development, urban structures from the 19th to the 21st century, the resilience of flexible-use building structures, the perception of public space, negotiations of mobility and place attachment in urban discourse, as well as UPM – Urban Parterre Modelling.

Cover image, podcast episode: Angelika Psenner

Information about the podcast
The podcast ZUKUNFT STADT is a project of the Faculty of Architecture and Spatial Planning at TU Wien. It is produced through a collaboration between the future.lab and the Department of Local Spatial Planning at TU Wien.

Concept and production, audio and editing: Lukas Bast, Lena Hohenkamp, and Madlyn Miessgang
Intro music: Jakob Kotal