Research

Projects

Project acquisition is not an end in itself. Its serves to advance research, stimulate publications and, in particular, promote PhD students and young academics. The promotion of young academics on the subject of land policy is the core of the research activities at the chair. This field of research can only develop further through continuous support for young academics. Publications, project acquisition and doctoral funding are mutually dependent. Therefore, project acquisition serves to support PhD students, either through direct funding for doctoral students or through indirect funding for empirical work and networking.

Ongoing Projects

RAINBOW – Improve Climate Resilience in Cities by Restoring Water Cycles (2026-2029)

The RAINBOW project, part of the Interreg North-West Europe research funding program, researches the increasing impacts of climate change on urban areas and develops innovative solutions for climate-resilient urban water management. Running from 2026-2029 with a total budget of €5.7 million, it brings together nine partners from Germany, Belgium, France and the Netherlands. On the local and regional level, the consortium partners will guide pilot actions in selected urban areas and work together with municipalities to support them in implementing more resilient water management practices.

Land Take in Europe – In Pursuit of Net Zero (2026–2029)

The international ARL Working Group “Land Take in Europe – In Pursuit of Net Zero”, coordinated by Thomas Hartmann (TU Dortmund) and Peter Lacoere (HOGENT), explores strategies for implementing the European goal of achieving net-zero land take by 2050. The group promotes international exchange on land policy and spatial planning, identifies success factors and obstacles to this transition

ALBATROSS – Advancing knowledge for Long-term Benefits and climate Adaptation ThRough hOlistic climate Services and nature-based Solutions, Horizon mission (2024-2027)

The EU-funded ALBATROSS project aims to accelerate climate adaptation in Sub-Saharan Africa by pioneering innovative and sustainable adaptation strategies based on nature-based solutions and grounded in actionable climate information. Thomas Hartmann is part of the team of TU Dortmund.

Form follows policy – Casual relationships between urban form and practices of land policy (2024-2027)

This research aims to investigate casual relationships between urban form and practices of land policy. It develops and validates an empirical approach that innovatively integrates the fields of data-driven urban analysis with a neo-institutional conceptual framework. A PhD student (0.8 FTE) supervised by Thomas Hartmann works on the project.

LAND4CLIMATE – Utilisation of private land for mainstreaming nature-based solution in the systemic trans-formation towards a climate-resilient Europe, Horizon Mission (2023-2027)

The LAND4CLIMATE project is part of the European Horizon Programme (HORIZON-MISS-2022-CLIMA-01-06) and researches and supports transformative efforts to make Europe more resilient to issues caused by climate change, implementing and scaling innovative land policy strategies. With a budget of around 13 million Euro, it spans six study areas in Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Italy, Romania and Slovakia. The project, led by Stefan Greiving and Thomas Hartmann, is comprised of five universities and many stakeholders at different levels.

Concluded Projects

SUBDENSE - Understanding polyrationalities of space, actors, and policies on suburban densification (2023-2025)

The project investigated how various land policy methods interact with the interests and agency of local stakeholders and landowners to shape suburban densification and its effects on suburbia across various planning regimes. The consortium with partners from the UK (University of Liverpool), France (National Institute of Geographic and Forest Information) and Germany (IÖR Dresden and TU Dortmund) combined spatial analyses with socio-anthropological approaches under the leadership of Thomas Hartmann. Several PostDocs and PhD students were recruited for this.

DOKORP conference “Planning in times of multiple crises" (2025)

The Dortmund Conference on Spatial and Planning Research (DoKoRP) is jointly organized by the Department of Spatial Planning at TU Dortmund University, the Academy for Territorial Development in the Leibniz Association, Hanover (ARL) and the Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development (ILS), Dortmund. From 10th to 12th of February 2025, about 300 academics came together in Dortmund to discuss ongoing topics related to the conference theme. The conference included a special PhD Workshop.

Land ownership transparency – a comparison of seven countries (2023-2024)
The project, financed by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) and initiated by the German Ministry for Housing, Urban Planning and Building, focuses on land market transparency in terms of ownership transparency. Ownership data forms an important basis for a sustainable and planned management of the resource soil, but the availability, quality and transparency of the data is often inadequate. This project, led by Prof. Dr. Thomas Hartmann, examines the causes and consequences of varying degrees of data availability and the associated transparency, particularly regarding ownership structures, in an international comparison. The investigation aims to enable a comparative perspective and structured reflection.

LAND4FLOOD Conference 2023
The International Water Resources Association (IWRA) Task Force Land4Flood Network held a Land4Flood conference in Dortmund, Germany, from September 27 to 29, 2023. Hosted by the “Land policy and land management" research group, part of the Department of Spatial Planning at the TU Dortmund University, the conference invites contributions by experienced academics, young researchers and practitioners related to the theme of "land for flood risk management and resilience."

GoverDENSE – Governing densification. The impact of performance-based planning on qualitative urban densification (2020-2024)
The project is led by Bern University (CH) and deals with the land governance of urban densification. In cooperation with the IÖR Dresden, case studies from the Netherlands and Switzerland are compared with regards to land policy and legal aspects combined with GIS methods. The project with 3 PhDs, co-supervised by Thomas Hartmann, and one PostDoc position, has a budget of 670,000 Euro.

Horizon2020 SUMEX – SUstainable Management in EXtractive Industries (2020-2023)
The main mission of SUMEX is to assist policymakers and other stakeholders in extractive industries to provide a sustainable supply of mineral raw materials. Thomas Hartmann was mainly responsible for identifying effective, efficient, legitimate, and just land policy strategies for this highly location-dependent land use. He is responsible for a budget share of 140,000 Euro.

Managing Public Space (2020-2025)
Based on two earlier studies and on funding from a consortium of professional partners, the dedicated research programme on "managing public space" includes an associate professor and a PhD student. The total volume is approximately 1.4 million Euro. The project managed by Thomas Hartmann covers 750,000 Euro.

NWO GROEN III SPLENDID - Spatial Planning for Environmentally Diverse circular Development (2020-2024)
The project "Spatial PLanning for ENvironmentally DIverse circular Development" (SPLENDID) provides policy makers with a methodology to assess the spatial implications of implementing circular agricultural practices. It explores a reorganization of the land use patterns. Thomas Hartmann covers the topic of instruments and strategies of land policies to achieve this. The project budget is 1,240,000 Euro.

ARL project on „Land Policies in Europe” (2019)
The Academy for Spatial Planning and Research (ARL) supports an international working group on land policy. Thomas Hartmann initiates and leads this project together with Andreas Hengstermann, Bern University. The ARL provides approximately 40,000 Euro.

MaPS – Towards an educational programme for Managing Public Space (2019)
This project explores educational needs and potentials of an academic educational programme for managing public space. This pre-study for a larger project is budgeted at 32,500 Euro.

AESOP thematic group activity “Teaching Planning Law” (2019)
Thomas Hartmann participates in the AESOP thematic group on teaching about planning law and property rights. AESOP supported this project with 1,500 Euro.

AESOP Lecture “50 years spatial planning in the Netherlands” (2019)
Within the AESOP lecture series, Thomas Hartmann organized a lecture by Barrie Needham with a co-presentation by Eveline van Leeuwen and a symposium. AESOP supports this lecture with 2.000 Euro.

COST Action Public Value Capture of Increasing Property Values (2018-2022)
The main aim of this COST Action is the development of a common framework for value capturing and the provision of innovative tools for public value capture based on comparative analysis to optimize the allocation of development costs and benefits. Thomas Hartmann was a member of the Management Committee.

COST Action LAND4FLOOD (2017-2021)
The COST network LAND4FLOOD with partners from more than 30 countries addresses “Natural Flood Risk Management on Private Land” and was initiated together with colleagues from JEP University in Ustí nad Labem, CZ; Thomas Hartmann is Vice-Action Chair. The total budget is approximately 650-750,000 Euro.

STRIMA II – Sächsisch-Tschechisches Hochwasserrisikomanagement (2017-2020)
This project focuses on collaboration between Saxonian and Czech flood risk management. Thomas Hartmann is involved with a budget of approximately 21,000 Euro.

JPI URBAN EUROPE: FLOOLABEL (2017-2020)
The central aim of the FLOODLABEL project is to improve resilience and adaptive capacity of cities in a smart manner to sustain urban living in Europe. Thomas Hartmann co-initiated the project with a total volume of approximately 800,000 Euro.

NWO SURF Pop-Up Project: Grond voor Wonen (2017-2018)
This project explores land policy of Dutch municipalities, including a nation-wide survey. The project budget is 50,000 Euro.

INHaLE seed money (2017-2018)
This project focuses on risk perception towards natural hazards, and (in)action and decision-making. The seed money entails 5,000 Euro.

FUTURE DELTAS: FLOOD-PREP (2017-2018)
This seed money project explores resilience of historic inner-city areas. An international workshop and a special issue are core activities. The project volume is approximately 15,000 Euro.

LANDac II (2016-2018)
The LANDacademy (LANDac) deals with the link of "Land Governance" and sustainable spatial development. Thomas Hartmann organizes special sessions, leading to a special issue in Land Use Policy and a book project on "Property Rights and Climate Change". LANDac is financed by the Dutch Cadastre and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Thomas Hartmann is involved with a budget of 80,000 Euro (total budget: 2 million Euro).

FUTURE DELTAS: FLOODLAND (2016-2017)
In this seed-money project, Thomas Hartmann organized a workshop of the consortium FLOODLAND in Utrecht in April 2016, where a book project was prepared and a Horizon 2020 project proposal was prepared on Land for Flood Risk Management. The seed money was 15,000 Euro.

Cost Action INOGOV (2015-2018)
Within the COST network "Innovations in Climate Governance" Thomas Hartmann was part of the management committee (Dutch substitute).

International competencies in one-year master's programmes (2015-2017)
The aim of the project is the internationalization of one-year master's programmes at Utrecht University. Thomas Hartmann represents the case study on the MSc Spatial Planning. The project has an overall volume of 250,000 Euro, with a budget of 20,000 Euro for spatial planning.

HKC project: Akzeptanz von Auenretention (2015-2017)
In the project Thomas Hartmann is developing communication strategies to increase the acceptance of retention measures in collaboration with the German Flood Competence Center in (HKC) and the German water authority Lippeverband (EGLV). This project is linked to a master's thesis and comprises 6,000 Euro.

CrossFLOOD (2014-2017)
CrossFLOOD is a project in the EUPRO II research program financed by the Czech Ministry of Education. Thomas Hartmann and Prof Jiřina Jílková, JEP University in Ústí nad Labem, CZ initiated this project with a budget of 100,000 Euro.

AESOP Congress “From Control to Co-evolution” (completed in 2014)
Thomas Hartmann was the main organizer of the Congress of the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) 2014 in Utrecht. Almost 1,000 abstracts were submitted and about 800 international academics participated in the event. The project had a total volume of 240,000 Euro.

ARL Summer School “Sustainable Governance of Land and Water” (completed in 2013)
The PhD Summer School was financed by the German Academy for Spatial Research and Regional Planning (ARL). Thomas Hartmann organized the event with a total budget of 12,000 Euro. The results are an IWRA Webinar and Policy Brief, a Special Issue (Water International) and a book publication (Routledge).

HKC project: Hochwasserpass (2012-2022)
In collaboration with the German Insurance Association (GDV) and the German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA), the German Flood Competence Center (HKC) is developing a flood label for buildings. It inspired the JPI Urban Europe project FLOODLABEL The GDV finances the project with a volume of 100,000 Euro.

Conference “Planning, Law, and Property Rights” (completed in 2010)
About 125 international academics participated in the 2010 annual conference of the International Academic Association on Planning, Law and Property Rights (PLPR) at TU Dortmund. Thomas Hartmann was one of the main organizers. The total budget amounted to 25,000 Euro.