Within the domain of the governance of complex and innovative technological systems, our research addresses a whole range of questions, ranging from theoretical arguments on complexity over methodological tools to applied research

- For us, technology is inherently complex and hence often requires governance approaches beyond the 
  ways of traditional bureaucracy. Thus we are also more generally interested in illuminating the challenge
  complexity poses to effective governance

- We are always developing research methods that are complexity-informed, i.e. they offer ways of dealing 
  with complexity without reducing it.

- Empirically, our projects are never concerned with technology for its own sake, but always consider 
  technology as part of a complex socio-technological system. Our current research projects on disruption 
  management in the railway sector, for instance, highlight the relevance of social aspects within these 
  processes and their interaction with the technological components of the system.

Current Projects

Project:
The impact of metropolitan authorities and supra-local strategic spatial planning on land-use patterns: a comparative analysis between Barcelona and Milan metropolitan areas, 1950s-2010s

Short description:
In the past 70 years, metropolitanisation processes have posed pressing institutional and political challenges to policy-makers. Across Europe, a typical (but gradual) response to these challenges since the 1950s has been the establishment of metropolitan authorities. Typically, area-wide, strategic spatial plans were issued to propose a comprehensive guideline for future development beyond and across local administrative boundaries (i.e. supra-local level). However, a key question remains about how and to what extent metropolitan authorities have been effective in steering local spatial policies for urban containment. By using both qualitative (interviews, document analysis) and quantitative (land-use dataset) data, this research examines how and to what extent the metropolitan authorities in Barcelona and Milan have had an (indirect and non-causal) impact on land-use patterns.

Project leader and researcher:
Dr. Sofia Pagliarin
DFG-funded research

Project:
Improving Estuary Governance

Short description:
Europe has few estuaries, the most important ones being the Unterelbe in Germany, the Humber in the United Kingdom, and the Scheldt in Belgium and the Netherlands. These are fragile ecosystems that need to be protected, yet they are also important life lines for major European ports. How are those estuaries governed and what governance system is the most efficient one? By assignment of the Hamburg Port Authorities, we will carry out a qualitative comparative analysis of the governance systems of those three estuaries.

Project partners:
Prof. Dr. Dr. Lasse Gerrits (University of Bamberg)
Wing Process Consultancy (project leader)
Bright Angel Costal Consultant
Enemark Consultancy
Deltares Netherlands
University of Aalborg

Project:
Migrants’ identity change reflected in the Online Social Networking concerning of evolution of technological means

Short description:
Modern migration has been a global phenomenon for a long time, since globalisation has emerged throughout the modern history of the world. However, the social awareness of migrants’ transnational identity has significantly grown during last decade, and the society has gradually reflected the concept of transnationalism.

Meanwhile, Information Communication Technology (ICT) has played a decisive role in transforming the platform of social networking, as internet has involved in the paradigm of human relationship. The Social Network Services (SNS) has become one of the most attractive platforms to migrants because they can actively manage their social space by choosing the people, topics and purposes, demonstrating their identities that they want to show.

To justify the changes of migrants’ transnational identity, the project aims to investigate the role of online social network and its complex relationship with migrants’ changing identity concerning of transnationalism. It particularly focuses on the narratives on their social network, and compare the different purpose of usage according to the three generations of technological platforms (Landline phone – closed group community- public SNS).  

Project partners:
Sunyoung Park, MSc.

Project:
Automated generation of safety reports

Short description:
Ever-stricter safety policies have made the railway system much safer. More trains than ever run at shorter distances and higher speeds across the national network. This has been made possible by implementing strict safety standards and routines. Part of those safety practices concerns the recording of each incident in order to learn how those incidents came about, and what should be done to avoid it next time. By assignment of a national safety board from a major European country, we develop an automated method to collect and analyze all safety reports recorded over the past twenty years in order to identify those factors that keep recurring over time. A thorough understanding of those factors will contribute to an even safer railway system.

Project partners:
Prof. Dr. Lasse Gerrits (University of Bamberg)
Dr. Jan Riebling (University of Wuppertal)

Project:
The persistence of Temporary Use

Short description:
The economic and fiscal crisis of 2008 brought real estate development and urban planning to a grinding halt in many European cities. In answer to that collapse, many planners, architects and entrepreneurs engaged in so-called ‘temporary use’. This would seem the temporarily repurposing abandoned buildings and, sometimes, whole neighborhoods in order to restart the development of the city. Now that the economy is improving, many such initiatives disappear. Others, however, do not. We research why certain initiatives survive and others do not.

Project partners:
Robin Chang, M.A. (TU Dortmund)
Prof. Dr. Lasse Gerrits (University of Bamberg)

Project:
Supra-regional conditions and planning strategies: implementing large-scale urban transformations in Europe

Short description:
Metropolitan cities change. Policy makers have a variety of spatial planning tools available, such as local land-use plans or sectorial transport infrastructure plans, to steer the this change. Among these tools, strategic spatial plans are key documents that set long-term, region-wide visions for the future development of metroplitan cities. In this project, we compare the development of around 40 large-scale urban transformations (e.g. airports, housing areas, ports) in 9 European metropolitan cities (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Copenhagen, Hamburg, Lyon, Manchaster, Milan, Stockholm, Stuttgart) in the past 25-30 years, to identify to what extent specific "external variables" or "supra-regional conditions" (i.e. the role of the national government, of international private actors, of unexpected events, of transport accessibility, and local resistances) have also affected the implementation of these projects as compared to the envisioned strategic plans. The idea is to find an "effect" of the identified "supra-regional conditions" on large-scale urban transformations (plan-implementation phase of the strategic spatial plan). Furthermore, we also examine which supra-regional conditions can influence planning actors when outlining a strategic spatial plan (plan-making phase).

This project stems from previous research conducted at the Swiss Federal Research Institute WSL within the framework of the CONCUR project. In the past year, this project also received additional funding through a 6-month posto-doctoral fellowship by the Bamberg School of Social Sciences (BAGSS).

Project leader:
Dr. Anna Hersperger

Project partners:
Dr. Sofia Pagliarin
Prof. Dr. Lasse Gerrits

Project:
Supra-local governance conditions for suburbanisation in European metropolitan regions (currently to be resubmitted)

Short description:
The European Environment Agency (EEA) identifies suburbanisation, or urban sprawl, as a key challenge for European societies. Suburbanisation can be defined as a land pattern characterised by a spatially dispersed distribution of households and economic functions at low densities. In this process, much attention has been paid by researchers to local authorities, because they have the planning competencies necessary to transform open and agricultural land into suburban areas by means of local land-use plans. However, the international literature increasingly highlights the role of supra-local governance and spatial planning factors that can stimulate (or contain) urban sprawl. This project proposes to use land-use data available at the European level with a categorisation of supra-local governance and spatial planning factors to find out which factors are stimulating or containing suburbanisation across the European territory.

Project leader and researcher:
Dr. Sofia Pagliarin

Previous Projects

Project:
Railway disruption management compared internationally

Short description:
No one likes waiting for trains. But sometimes, an accident or mechanical failure causes delays or even cancellations of services. Away from the public view, there are many operators, drivers and managers at work to restore the normal services. They are under pressure and need to process a lot of information in a short matter of time. The technical state of the system determines the number of options available: will trains be diverted? Can we get an extra train to that station? Etc. However, if one looks closely, it appears that the social side of the disruption management is very important too. For example, the relationship between the train operating companies on the one hand and the infrastructure provider on the other; or the social structure of the control rooms. Infrastructure providers and train companies across Europe have developed their own specific ways in dealing with disruptions. There are similarities as well as important differences between them. These have never been researched systematically. This project will compare control rooms, standard operating procedures and special measures in Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands to get a better understanding of what works under which conditions. The project runs from March 2017 to March 2018.

Project partners:
Prof. Dr. Lasse Gerrits (Universität Bamberg)
Prof. Dr. Joop Koppenjan (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Danny Schipper M.Sc. (Erasmus University Rotterdam
 

Project:
Managing Complex System Disruptions (MaCSyD)

Short description:
The Dutch railway network is highly sensitive for disruptions. To moderate the disruptive effects, the network must be robust. ProRail aims for whole system performance and has, with other partners established the OCCR to this aim. But the OCCR is also just a node in a much bigger system that encompasses both the technical system and the social systems of communication and organization. We therefore conceptualize the operation of the rail network as a complex system. The objective of this project then is to improve whole systems performance during service disruptions in 24/7 operations through an analysis of the nature and workings of cooperation within the OCCR and between the OCCR and the regional control rooms of ProRail, the other railway service providers, train personal when coping with such disruptions. The central question of this research is: how do practices of coordination and communication, in the complex network of coping with disruptions, influence the efficient solving of disruptions? To answer this question we will perform a dynamic social network analysis to analyse and visualise the change in flows of information during disruptions. Data for the dynamic social network analysis (DSNA) is gathered through interviews and ethnographical observations. This allows us to understand the project participants? perceptions and their daily practices of collaboration. In addition,a comparative research with other comparable infrastructure-based systems and railway networks abroad will show how the Dutch railway network performs in terms of complexity and robustness and provides us with best practices. The project will help to identify and design strategies for enhanced coordination and communication in disruption management.

Project partners:
Prof. Dr. Lasse Gerrits (this university)
Prof. Dr. Joop Koppenjan (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Danny Schipper M.Sc. (Erasmus University Rotterdam)
Prof. Dr. Alfons van Marwijk (Free University Amsterdam)
Prof. Dr. Marcel Veenswijk (Free University Amsterdam)
Thijs Willems M.Sc. (Free University Amsterdam)

Project: 
Evaluating MIRT practices of coupled infrastructure-area development projects Project 
Code:03.24EUR 
Period:2011-2014

Sponsor:         
Next Generation Infrastructures NGInfra) 

Project leader: 
Lasse Gerrits

Researchers:    
Stefan Verweij

Short description:
There is a great interest in finding alternative ways of evaluating complex and coupled infrastructure projects. Many of such projects don’t develop according to plan and the question is what causes cost overruns and delays. Standard evaluation methods (cf. Flybjerg, 2004) can only help to show that such delays and cost overruns occur but have relatively little explanatory value. Doing in-depth case research may reveal the underlying causal mechanisms but by their nature are inapt to seek the patterns occurring across cases. There is therefore a need for a method that unites the merits of these two distinctively different methods in such a way that it helps to compare deep causal mechanisms across cases. The aim of this project is to develop an evaluation method that accounts for the deep causal mechanisms underlying the complexity of infrastructure projects.