Book Presentation with Panel Discussion: Unplanned Spatial Planning

Description

Of Donuts, Berliner, and another spatial planning:
Hollowed city centers, vacant village cores, rising prices amid diminishing value creation: Swiss spatial planning is stuck in the donut trap. Christine Seidler shows what a dense, mixed, and lively alternative could look like in her new book "Of Donuts, Berliner, and another spatial planning" (Triest Verlag, 2026). The urban planner, researcher, and long-standing political actor combines scientific insights with decades of practical experience and outlines paths for a real paradigm shift in spatial planning culture. Program:

• Welcome by Andrea Wiegelmann, publisher of Triest Verlag, and Daniel A. Walser, architect and lecturer at the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden
• Book presentation by Christine Seidler, author, professor at the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden, Chur
• Panel discussion moderated by Daniel A. Walser with Christine Seidler and Rita Bollmann, head of the Department of Urban Development / Urban Planning Chur About the book:

"Of Donuts, Berliner, and another spatial planning" Author: Christine Seidler Publisher: Triest Verlag, © 2026 ISBN: 978-3-03863-074-6
Christine Seidler
Of Donuts, Berliner, and a new spatial planning: Strategies for a paradigm shift in spatial planning culture
The book consolidates economic and planning perspectives and shows the dependencies of economic framework conditions and their influence on planning processes, with a direct reference to practice.
"In spatial planning, the 'donut' stands for hollowed-out spaces. For city centers that lose life and economic substance, while settlement and employment locations increasingly move to the outskirts. Similar developments are seen in alpine regions, where village cores are preserved through second homes but remain uninhabited for much of the year. Places with structure but without everyday life are emerging – with houses but without community, with rising prices but diminishing local value creation. In contrast, the 'Berliner': dense, mixed, and lively. It represents a spatial planning that not only organizes areas but also combines use, social diversity, and economic viability. 'Of Donuts and Berliners' shows how inner development can succeed without losing quality of life – and why it has become so difficult today to realize the effectiveness of spatial planning." About the author:
Christine Seidler combines scientific research, planning practice, and political experience like hardly anyone else. She heads the Department of Urban Planning in Zofingen and has been researching since 2025 at the DAViS department how spatial planning can be systematically connected with artificial intelligence. Previously, she led research in spatial planning, settlement development, and economics at the Institute for Building in Alpine Regions and was a professor of urban development and mobility at the Bern University of Applied Sciences, as well as co-director of the Dencity research focus. Christine Seidler connects scientific research, planning practice, and political experience, integrating her long-standing practice in urban development with academic work and over twenty years of political experience in municipal planning.
Christine Seidler is a professor at the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden in Chur, teaching urban development, sustainability, digitalization, and economics. At the Institute for Building in Alpine Regions, she led research in spatial planning, settlement development, and economics.

Highlights

• Book presentation by Christine Seidler
• Panel discussion with urban development experts
• Topics: Spatial planning and urban development

General Information

The book presentation takes place at the University of Applied Sciences Graubünden in Chur and addresses the challenges of Swiss spatial planning. Christine Seidler introduces her new book and discusses possible alternatives to current practices.

Location

Pulvermühlestrasse 57, 7000 Chur, Switzerland

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