S01 E03 Cityscape(s)

This episode of our podcast Production Site takes a closer look at the so-called “Cityscape Debate” and puts it into context. In the fall of 2025, German Chancellor and CDU leader Friedrich Merz made headlines by describing migration as a “problem in the cityscape.” While some agreed with his statement, others criticized its racist undertones and the “colonial continuities” it revealed. Reason enough to take a closer look at the complex relationship between migration and the city, using insights from migration and urban studies to contextualize the debate. How and by whom is knowledge about migration in the city produced? How is migration spatialized? Which powerful concepts and categories shape the debate—and what alternatives exist to a problem-centered perspective?

These are the questions explored in this episode, hosted by three researchers from the Collaborative Research Centre “Production of Migration“ (SFB 1604) at Osnabrück University: Francina Guggenberger, Sophie Hinger, and David Templin. The episode also features perspectives from researchers, public administrators, and policymakers. [Audio only available in German]

About the Guests

The episode features perspectives from research, public administration, and politics. All short interviews (original recordings) were recorded during the workshop “The Production of Knowledge About Migration in the City,” organized by Subproject  C1 “The Production of Urban Migration Spaces by Municipalities and Academia” of the Collaborative Research Centre 1604 “Production of Migration“. The workshop took place on January 15–16, 2026, at Osnabrück University.

Guests in order of appearance:

•  Dr. Anne-Kathrin Will, Acting Professor, Faculty of Social Sciences, Zittau/Görlitz University of Applied Sciences
•  Prof. Dr. Seda Rass-Turgut, Professor of Social Work and Diversity, University of Applied Sciences and Arts Hildesheim/Holzminden/Göttingen (HAWK)
•  Stojan Gugutschkow, Former Head of the Office for Migration and Integration, City of Leipzig
•  Prof. Dr. Heike Hanhörster, Junior Professor of Social Cohesion, Diversity, and Migration in Spatial Planning, Technical University of Berlin
•  Daniel Cohn-Bendit, Publicist and Former Member of the European Parliament for Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and Europe Écologie–Les Verts
•  Prof. Dr. Hannes Schammann, Professor of Political Science with a Focus on Migration Policy, University of Hildesheim

About the Hosts

All three hosts are members of Subproject  C1 “The Production of Urban Migration Spaces by Municipalities and Academia” within the  Collaborative Research Centre “Production of Migration” (SFB 1604) at Osnabrück University. 

 Francina Guggenberger is a research associate and doctoral researcher at Osnabrück University. She studied Social and Cultural Anthropology and Political Science at the University of Freiburg and previously worked at the German Center for Integration and Migration Research (DeZIM) and the Documentation Center and Museum on Migration in Germany (DOMiD). Her research focuses, among other topics, on the nexus between migration and the city.

 Dr. Sophie Hinger is a research associate at the Institute of Geography at Osnabrück University and a member of the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS). Her research interests include the geography of migration, cultural geographies of the city, and refugee and asylum policy in Europe.

 Dr. David Templin is a research associate at the Institute for Migration Research and Intercultural Studies (IMIS) at Osnabrück University, where he is currently serving as Acting Professor of Modern and Migration History. His research focuses on the history of migration, urban history, the history of knowledge, the history of social movements, and the history of alternative youth cultures.