GLOBUS

The Global Urban Studies Institute, GLOBUS, of the Free University of Berlin is dedicated to international urban development planning with a focus on newly developing economies in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. The basic philosophy of the GLOBUS Institute is grounded in the experience that conventional text-book knowledge does not provide adequate guidance in directing balanced urban growth in these regions. In addition to conventional spatial planning, a strong emphasis must be attributed to:

• Interdisciplinary cooperation
• Social integration with pro-poor recognition
• Cognizance of the challenges precipitated by competitive globalization
• The promotion of local identities in development processes
• Mitigation and adaptation of the threat of disasters and change of eco-systems
• International networking
• An evidence based theoretical foundation
• Orientation along visionary long term scenarios
• Planning of processes rather than structures

The activities of the GLOBUS Institute rely on more than 30 years of experience in international cooperation projects, field research, and academic instruction in over 40 countries wordwide. The institute relies on a large network of associate members and partner institutions. It is closely linked to the TRIALOG Research Association and its professional network, the United Nations Human Settlement Programme (UN-HABITAT), ARCHIMED academic publishers, and a number of highly recognized international universities .

Activities of the GLOBUS Institute fall into three main fields:

RESEARCH:  Own empirical research and coordination of research teams and networks, documentation, and publication of research results.

CONSULTANCY: To municipalities and international cooperation agencies such as GIZ, KfW, UN-HABITAT, ILO, EC etc.

TUITION AND TRAINING: Tailor made training courses on emerging aspects of urban development planning; curriculum development for postgraduate higher education institutions; organization of international conferences; among others.