After successful completion of the course, students are able to design and conduct qualitative-participative research on changing neighbourhoods in the context of diverse social housing settings.

In cooperation with the Department for Housing and Design  and Wohnpartner 21 three social housing estates in Viennas 21^st district are examined from a social scientific perspective. Focus is given to the the question of housing and co-living in the context of big housing estates.

The students acquire basic knowledge in the areas of community studies as well as in urban and migration sociology and are able to develop qualitative research designs. Furthermore, the students have basic methodological knowledge (qualitative interviews, participant observation & communicative validation of research findings) and are able to acknowledge and reflect their research project as social intervention. Lastly, the interdisciplinary approach enables students to broaden their perspective on spatial planning by the architectural view on the interplay of planned and lived environment.

Attention: Schedule incomplete!

In November and December students conduct fieldwork, which is flexible adjusted to the three reseach settings (Cooperation with Wohnpartner 21 / Supervision: Julia Edthofer).

(1) "Neighbourhood" as social field & Community Studies -- Introduction

(2) "Red Vienna´s" history & Housing in Vienna -- Introduction

(3) Qualitative-participative Research & Dialogical Research – Introduction

(4) Field Research: Partizipative-dialogical research on co-living and changing neighbourhoods in cooperation with "Wohnpartner 21"

• Focus 1: Wohnhausanlage "Siemensstraße" (1210 Vienna): "Living in Social Housing Estates during the 1950s" - Projects on "Contemporary Witnesses" by Wohnpartner 21

• Focus 2: Wohnhausanlage Dr. Franz-Koch-Hof (1210)

• Focus 3: Wohnhausanlage Karl-Seitz-Hof (1210(5) 

(5) Communicative Validation of research findings -- presentation in the research field

(6) Interdisciplinary reflexion of research process (Spatial Planning & Architecture)

Reading & Discussions

Empirical Research: qualitative interviews & participant observation in housing estate "Siemensstraße" (1210)

Methodological reflexion during research process & communicative validation of of research findings with protagonists of the "research field"

Interdisciplinary exchange with students of architecture

Collective writing of final term paper

finale term paper

Completion of "Methods of Empirical Social Research" (280.159) would be an advantage, but is not mandatory