The Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning

Research projects

The Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) supports federal politics with its projects. The projects deal with current issues of spatial planning, urban development as well as building and housing. They reveal the need for political action and provide scientifically sound bases with which political instruments and measures can be further developed.

You can find an overview of current and completed research projects on this page. You can use the search function to search for specific topics using key words.

84 Search results

Department Stores in Transition Type: Research Project

The study examines the architectural historical and urban relevance of department stores for inner city centres. The focus is primarily on their architectural and cultural qualities. On the one hand, it looks at the historical development of department stores in Germany …

Programme: ExWoSt Status: Completed Project duration: April 2022 – December 2023

Affordable housing and climate protection against the background of the housing situation and housing costs of low- and middle-income households Type: Research Project

Climate protection requires a significant emission reduction in all sectors. This also includes the building sector, which missed its climate protection targets in 2020. Climate protection measures change housing costs: modernisation can result in higher rents, while …

Programme: General Departmental Research Status: Completed Project duration: November 2021 – November 2023

Transparency of land ownership in Europe Type: Research Project

Transparency of land ownership serves as a crucial basis for sustainable land policy. However, data availability, data quality and transparency are often deficient. The project therefore examines the causes and consequences of the divergent levels of data availability …

Programme: General Departmental Research Status: Ongoing Started: Since October 2023

Analysis of the changed conditions and context of the structural change in the Lusatian lignite mining area using the example of the administrative association of Schleife Type: Research Project

The coal phase-out will result in comprehensive changes in the spatial structure and planning for the municipalities, districts and regions that are characterised by the mining industry. This requires dynamic adaption, while available instruments are more static. The …

Programme: Measures to strengthen the cole regions Status: Completed Project duration: December 2022 – July 2023

Structure of the construction backlog and its reasons Type: Research Project

The so-called construction backlog (German: Bauüberhang), i.e. approved but not yet completed dwellings, has increased in recent years. The research project examined structures and changes in the construction backlog and analysed reasons for this. The results serve as a …

Programme: General Departmental Research Status: Completed Project duration: November 2020 – December 2022

Common good orientation 3.0 Type: Research Project

Programme: General Departmental Research Status: Completed Project duration: February 2021 – August 2022

Practicability check ‒ development orders Type: Research Project

Inner-city gap sites, waste land or other under-used land offer great potential for housing construction, which is desperately needed in many towns, cities and municipalities. However, this land is often left unused. The development order under Section 176 BauGB can …

Programme: ExWoSt Status: Completed Project duration: January 2020 – December 2021

Population Dynamics in Medium-sized Towns – Interactive Town-portraits! Type: Research Project

Programme: General Departmental Research Status: Completed Project duration: October 2020 – August 2022

Future of the building stock – Development prospects for key historic buildings Type: Research Project

Within the funding districts of the Urban Development Support programme, the research project examined municipal’ approaches to historically valuable key buildings in urgent need of intervention. Feasibility studies conducted locally created new possibilities in terms …

Programme: Urban development grants Status: Completed Project duration: January 2018 – December 2021

Inventory investments 2020: The structure of investment activity in residential and non-residential property inventories Type: Research Project

Official statistics fail to adequately capture the market of existing buildings in German residential and non-residential construction. The goal of this research project was to gather current and reliable data on inventory activities in residential and non-residential …

Programme: Future Building Status: Completed Project duration: October 2020 – June 2022

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