Summary
The graduate research program GRK780 was dedicated during the first three years period to the more general perspectives of urban ecology in large cities as Berlin. The program will focus now its work on the current processes of the shrinking city, in the application for renewal. The 14 subprojects submitted by the program's 10 core science faculty, are assigned to two workpackages, the natural system of the city, and the social system of the city. The extension phase is focussed on investigation of the effects of the shrinking process, while determining the opportunities and risks of nature in an urban environment, and what this means for city dwellers. The ecological, social, and economic potential of urban fellow space are investigated as a basis for their different optional users, with examples from different points of view. A fundamental goal is the recognition of natural and social mechanisms, and their consequences, which accompany structural changes in cities, and which may contribute to optimising the quality of life for city dwellers. In addition, conclusions will be drawn for the development of new planning instruments, which can applied to the shaping of the novel processes of shrinking cities.