City transformation workshop: Weimar becomes a laboratory of change!

City transformation workshop: Weimar becomes a laboratory of change!

Chemnitz, Deutschland - On May 8 and 9, 2025, the Workshop "Tales of Transformation: PostSocialist Cities as Laboratories of Change" takes place at the Bauhaus University Weimar. Organized by Prof. Dr. Cecile sent from the Technical University of Chemnitz and Jun.-Prof. Dr. Daniela Zupan from the Bauhaus University Weimar, the event focuses on the urban transformation processes in post-socialist and post-colonial cities. This goes back to an increasing need for interdisciplinary exchange between students and teachers from various disciplines such as literary studies, urban studies, architecture, spatial planning and cultural theory. The workshop is the start of two master seminars in the summer semester 2025, one of them entitled "Tales of Transformation: Fictions of the South Asian City".

As part of the workshop, numerous activities are planned, including lectures, a film evening with subsequent discussion and a guided walk through the socialist housing estate "Waldstadt" in Weimar-Schöndorf. The exchange will continue in June 2025 in Chemnitz entitled "Tales of Transformation: PostSocialist and Postcolonial Cities", where Dr. Lieven Ameel from Tampere University and PD Dr. Nora Pleßke from the Otto of Guericke University Magdeburg are invited as guests. The program includes keynotes, student presentations and interactive museum tours.

insights into the transformation of post -socialist cities

An important aspect of the workshop is the discussion about the social and political disputes associated with the transformation of post -socialist cities. Similar topics have already been dealt with in a workshop by TACT and the Herder Institute, which dealt with dealing with socialist heritage in East Central Europe. In Budapest, for example, political discourses have been strongly shaped by conservative and socialist views since the 1990s, which leads to so-called renaming waves in the city. Critics already refer to these developments as "memory deletion".

The disputes about urban renovations and monuments are a central point. In Berlin as well as in Budapest, there are conflicts about the preservation and interpretation of historical heritage, which are also the subject of the workshop. It is discussed how the architecture and the design of urban spaces shape the identity of a city and what role the public space plays.

Current challenges and developments in the region

These discussions on urban areas are in the context of the comprehensive political transformations in Europe after 1989/91. The review of this turning point shows how tight public and scientific discourses are linked. Transformation theory has developed since the 1990s and often assumes that democracy and market economy would inevitably be enforced in post-socialist space. But 30 years later it turns out that many of these theses have to be viewed more differently. Some states have shown autocratic tendencies in their political developments, which questions the original assumptions about the degree of freedom of democracies.

In today's research landscape, there is a need for differentiated analyzes of post -socialist developments. Empire shows that social inequalities have increased, while challenges such as migration, climate change and social inequalities are treated differently in established democracies and in autocratic governments. This is where the workshop not only starts to illuminate these topics, but also to develop interdisciplinary approaches to solve urban challenges.

The entire event is held in English. Prof. Dr. Cecile sent available by email at cecile.sandten@phil.tu-chemnitz.de. Organizational questions and registrations can be addressed to Christiane Seyfert at Christianese.seyfert@phil.tu-chemnitz.de.

The parallel special exhibition in the Chemnitz industrial museum "Tales of Transformation: Chemnitz - Gabrovo - Łódź - Manchester - Mulhaus - Tampere", which will be seen from April 25 to November 16, 2025, also offers a valuable perspective on current urban challenges and the cultural stories that combine these cities.

Further information can be found here: TU Chemnitz , , and bpb.de .