All news at TU Wien

LECTURE: Die Zeiten wandeln sich, und wir ändern uns mit ihnen (Times are changing, and we are changing with them)

Spatial Change and Social Cohesion (Prof. Dr Martina Löw, Technical University of Berlin)

Portraitfoto Martina Löw

© Oliver Helbig

The Viennese Sociolocial Association invites you to a lecture by sociologist Martina Löw at the Institute for Spatial Planning, Research Unit Sociology at TU Wien.

Date and Time: Wednesday, 17 June 2026, 5.30 pm

Location: Institute of Spatial Planning (TU Wien), Research Unit Sociology
1040 Vienna, Karlsgasse 11, EBEG-2-RPL

 

In her lecture, Martina Löw will use a number of examples, drawing on empirical research, to explain the extent of the spatial reorganisation of the world that we are currently experiencing globally: spatial orientation is changing with navigation systems. Diaries today are mostly virtual pins on social media. Our home is a home office. We have more fixed national borders worldwide than ever before, and yet space seems to be global. In which spaces do we live?

Löw explains why conceptual tools such as the category of ‘social change’ no longer apply, because they are conceived exclusively in temporal terms. She proposes rethinking social change spatially as a refiguration.

About the speaker:

Martina Löw is Professor of Sociology of Planning and Architecture at the Technical University of Berlin. She heads the interdisciplinary DFG Collaborative Research Centre “Re-Figuration of Spaces” and draws on extensive international experience, having held visiting professorships in many countries and published works in numerous languages. In 2025, she received the prestigious Schader Prize for pioneering academic work and exemplary commitment to engaging with professional practice. Publications: Raumsoziologie (stw 2000); Soziologie der Städte (stw 2010); Vom Raum aus die Stadt denken (transcript 2018), as well as numerous edited volumes and essays.