Spatial Development in a Post-Capitalistic Economy: A Contingency Plan for Leipzig and its Region

Abstract

This research and design thesis addresses the transition towards a post-capitalistic economy and explores a corresponding spatial development perspective for Leipzig (Germany) and its hinterland. The starting point of this project is the theoretical assumption that there is a mutual relation between spatial and economic development. From there, it builds up the hypothesis that current neoliberal capitalism will fail and explores a spatial strategy, which prepares Leipzig and its hinterland for this event. At its base is the establishment of a self-sufficient regional agriculture and the spatial decentralization of the region. Sketching post-capitalistic socio-economic relations, in which the common good and not individual profits are the goal, the project explores the transformation of various example places in Leipzig and the region. In the end, this thesis promotes a new form of spatial organization, in which the city and its hinterland form one socio-economic and political unit.Architecture, Urbanism and Building Science