Urbanization is a global megatrend, an expression of the Anthropocene and a key driver of social, cultural, economic and political change reflected in the fact that more than 50% of the world's population lives in urban spaces. Accordingly, urban anthropology is an important field of comparative ethnographic research and teaching at the Göttingen Institute for Social and Cultural Anthropology, just around the corner and far away.

This website provides an overview of the research projects of doctoral candidates and students at various qualification levels that deal with the diverse expressions of urban life and urban livelihoods, urban conflicts, policies and transformations around the world. To whom does the city belong? is a broad guiding question. This question also drives the innovative teaching and learning seminars that provide methodological approaches to urban anthropology based on multimodal, transdisciplinary and multisensory approaches and contemporary theories of the urban that emphasize relational dynamics and new ways of thinking about the city.

With regard to our international teaching and research cooperation projects with universities in Southeast Asia, East Asia and India, our approach is likewise transcultural and transdisciplinary team work tested across borders.