Anna-Lisa Müller
Research Interests
Urban Sociology, Urban Geography, Cultural Sociology, European Studies, Philosophy of Language
The political planning of the creative cities, exemplified at the cities of Dublin and Gothenburg
At the beginning of the 21st century, massive physical and social changes can be observed in major European cities. Those transformations have very different starting points and objectives; a prominent development is the focus on creativity. In this context, cities are described as Creative Cities or use this term as a self-description. In the field of politics and especially within the local urban policy, such an orientation on a culture of creativity is relatively new. Thus, the starting point for the project is the hypothesis that since the late 1990s, Western European and North American cities serve as a prosperous working place and habitat of the so-called creative class; this and the emerging ideal of a creative city significantly affect the urban development policies.
The two cities Dubin (Ireland) and Gothenburg (Sweden) serve as case studies in my PhD project. Its aim is to find out how these cities actually transform, which planning strategies are used and in what sense the city planning is oriented on the needs of specific population groups. The project also asks what phenomena can be found under the name of the creative city and how such a city planning is to be characterized. Additionally, the different understandings of creativity used in the planning and development processes are analysed. Furthermore, the transformation of the materiality of the spaces at the local level - e.g. the design of neighbourhoods, buildings, roads, etc. - is analysed, understanding the materiality as a dispositive which serves as an overarching framework for possible practices and frms of the subject.
Curriculum Vitae
- Since 2010
- PhD scholarship at the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology (BGHS), University of Bielefeld, Germany
- 2007-2010
- Research Assistant at the Center of Excellence 16, "Cultural Foundations of Integration", University of Constance, Germany
- June 2007
- M.A. in sociology, German literature, and philosophy at the University of Constance, Germany (Magistra Atrium)
- 2003
- Internship at the Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development (ILS), Dortmund, Germany
- 2000-2007
- scholarship of the German Protestant church's organization for gifted students (Ev. Studienwerk Villigst e.V.)
- 2000-2007
- studies in sociology, German literature, philosophy, and linguistics at the Universities of Constance (Germany) and Växjö (Sweden)
- June 2000
- Abitur in Goslar (Germany)
- 2012c
- "Wirklichkeiten der 'creative city': Planungsszenarien in Dublin und Göteborg", in: Dörfler, Thomas and Andreas Klärner (ed.): Kreative Stadt. Bielefeld: transcript. (forthcoming)
- 2012b
- "Sozialität und Materialität der Creative Cities: Die Effekte der Planung kreativer Städte am Beispiel Dublin und Göteborg", in: Transnationale Vergesellschaftungen. Kongressband des 35. Kongresses der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Soziologie. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag. (in press)
- 2012a
- "Stadtgestalt und Stadtgestaltung: Design und die creative city", in: Moebius, Stefan and Sophia Prinz (ed.): Das Design der Gesellschaft. Zur Kultursoziologie des Designs. Bielefeld: transcript.
- 2010
- "Die Creative City Dublin. Architektur und Materialität als Ausdruck der Stadtplanung", in: Tietmeyer, Elisabeth et al. (ed.): Die Sprache der Dinge. Kulturwissenschaftliche Perspektiven auf die materielle Kultur. Münster: Waxmann.
- 2009b
- "Be creative: city planning in the 21st century", in: conference documentation of the EURA/UAA-conference 2009 in Madrid (forthcoming).
- 2009a
- Sprache, Subjekt und Macht bei Judith Butler, Marburg: Tectum.
- 2005
- Work on the publication Demographischer Wandel - Konsequenzen für die kulturelle Infrastruktur (Demographic Change - Consequences for the Cultural Infrastructure), Dortmund.
- 2010
- Review: Elisa T. Bertuzzo: Fragmented Dhaka. Analysing Everyday Life with Lefebvre's Theory of Production of Space. In: FQS 11(3)/2010.
http://www.qualitative-research.net/index.php/fqs/article/view/1535 - 2008
- Review: Martina Heßler: Die Kreative Stadt. Zur Neuerfindung eines Topos, in: Goon. Magazin für Gegenwartskultur.
http://goon-magazin.de/index.php/2008/03/05/die-stadt-als-kreativer-prozess/#nav - 2011
- "Designing the Creative City: Using Elements of History and Future for Shaping the Urban Form", The 14th National Conference on Planning History, Society for American City and Regional Planning History (SACRPH), Baltimore (USA)
- 2010b
- "Creative Cities as Built Places of the Knowledge Society", Triple Helix VIII International Conference on University, Industry and Government Linkages on Triple Helix in the Development of Cities of Knowledge, Expanding Communities and Connecting Regions, Madrid (Spain)
- 2010a
- "Sozialität und Materialität der Creative Cities: Die Effekte der Planung kreativer Städte am Beispiel von Dublin und Göteborg", postersession at the congress Transnationalism and Society of the German Society for Sociology (DGS), Frankfurt/Main (Germany)
- 2009b
- "theory in practice. Questioning the Empirical Feasibility of a New Sociology of Architecture", workshop Sociology of Architecture. Potentials of a Field of Research, organized by the study group "City - Space", Konstanz (Germany)
- 2009a
- "Creative City Dublin. How Architecture Assists the Construction of a Creative City", workshop Reconstruction, Deconstruction, Construction. Sociological Analyses of Actual Urban Developments, organized by the working committee "Sociology of Architecture" of the German Society for Sociology (DGS), Bamberg (Germany)
- 2008
- "The Materiality of the Creative City Dublin", conference The Language of Objects - Material Culture from the Cultural Studies' Perspectives, Associaton of Ethnography together with the Museum of European Cultures, Berlin (Germany)
- 2009b
- "Model Creative City? Cities in the 21st century design an image of themselves. Konstanz as much as Dublin and Gothenburg", public lecture with discussion, Konstanz (Germany)
- 2009a
- "(Re)Thinking Critical Theory. On the Potential of Critique in the Sciences", Bildungsstreik 2009, Konstanz (Germany)
Articles & Monographs
Reviews
Selected Talks
complete list of talks for download (as pdf)
