"I see it as my duty to continue providing high-quality urban design"

Campus news Munich is experiencing an acute housing shortage. Professor Sophie Wolfrum, head of the Technical University of Munich (TUM) Chair of Urban Design and Regional Planning explains why small steps alone won't be enough to solve the problem and how urban areas have to be planned in order to enrich the lives of those who live and work in them. Is urban growth more intense than it was in the past? - You can't really say that. Cities have always had growth phases, depending on the region, economy and the times. Thus for example a lot of money flowed into Germany in the form of reparations after the Franco-Prussian War in 1871. Together with industrialization and modernization, the result was very rapid growth of the cities in Germany during this period. Then we had strong growth after World War II: Ten million refugees came to the West. And cities are currently growing again. But the reasons can vary around the world. Thus for example in developing countries there is a shift from agrarian to industrial societies. In the developed countries on the other hand we see a shift from economies based on the production of goods to service and knowledge-based economies. The universities are growing, as can be seen for example at the TU Munich, where the number of students has doubled over the last ten years. The students then bring knowledge and economic activities to the city. The housing shortage in Munich is particularly visible in the case of students who have difficulties finding an apartment. Was there a lack of proper advance planning in the past?