Amely Jesinghaus

Doctor of Philosophy candidate

Urban planning, Urban design

Amely Jesinghaus
Amely Jesinghaus

Biography

Amely Jesinghaus is a doctoral researcher in a JointPhD program at RWTH Aachen University and The University of Melbourne. She completed a Master of Science in Urban Planning at RWTH Aachen University in 2024 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Architecture from the University of Wuppertal in 2021.

Her academic and professional experience spans research, teaching support, and architectural and urban planning practice in both Germany and Australia. Through roles at universities, research institutions, and design offices, she has contributed to interdisciplinary projects in architecture, landscape architecture, and urban planning, combining academic research with practical experience in the built environment.

In recognition of her academic achievements, she was awarded a PROMOS Scholarship from the DAAD in 2023 to support her master’s thesis in cooperation with Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. She was also named to the Dean’s List in 2023 for her academic performance.

Thesis

Sociotechnical Impulses in Urban Planning and Design for Sustainability

Although there is plenty of research and development on sustainability in progress, its application to urban spaces is lacking. Respective research projects at universities offer mainly abstract solutions. However, there is a shortfall in the process of translating these solutions into a spatial context due to a lack of collaboration between research and practice. While many research projects are successfully implemented in laboratory settings, their outcomes are rarely translated into broader planning processes. This is often the result of limited cooperation between researchers, planners and government authorities, hindering the scaling up and mainstream adoption of these solutions across urban planning practices. On the other hand, many university research projects have cooperation partners in practice, but haven’t linked their research yet to urban space. Since this is a crucial part of the translation process, attention should also be given to making research project outcomes accessible for use in urban planning practice.

This research leverages the contexts of RWTH Aachen University and The University of Melbourne research projects, providing accessible and rich datasets to explore the introduction of sociotechnical impulses in sustainable urban planning. This will contribute to understanding how sociotechnical processes can be adapted across different geographical and cultural contexts.

The overall goal of this research is to develop a comprehensive framework. Which seeks to overcome challenges while seizing opportunities for creating adaptive, sustainable and inclusive urban environments. This resulting framework will offer actionable tools to strategically incorporate sociotechnical impulses based on their synergies, spatial relevance, and technological maturity. Rather than focusing solely on outcomes, it will also create adaptable and practical planning methodologies. In doing so, it establishes a foundation for translating university research projects into the real world, demonstrating how cooperation with practitioners can stabilise interventions across a broad range of urban planning practices.

Contact

Principal supervisor

Co-supervisor(s)

  • Dr Agnes Förster (RWTH Aachen University)

See all research profiles