PhD Student

Dr. phil. Laura Marie Höss

Dept. 2: History and Social Sciences

Institute of History, Department of Modern and Contemporary History

Working area(s)

Contact

work +49 6151 16-28562

Work S3|12 523
Dolivostraße 15
64293 Darmstadt

  • History of infrastructures in metropolitan contexts
  • Infrastructures in cities of the global south
  • Informal Urbanism
  • Urban Social Movements
  • (Urban) Planning as Politics
  • STS and the City

available soon

Infrastructure transformation in the region of Halle / Leipzig in the context of political and structural change (1980 – 2000)


The city of Leipzig was the only large city in the GDR that had continuously lost inhabitants since the 1960s. After the end of the GDR, this trend continued or was even intensified by the sudden onset of deindustrialisation, which affected almost all formerly relevant industries and resulted in a massive loss of jobs.

These developments had consequences for the region's infrastructure: numerous industrial plants had become unnecessary with the closure of the industrial sites, and networks were too large for reduced demand. Other infrastructures, however, were insufficiently developed at the time. This included above all communication infrastructures such as telephone lines and connections.

The city of Leipzig in particular tried to counteract the structural change with various economic policy measures and to counteract the loss of jobs in the chemical industry and open-cast mining by strengthening the service, banking and media sectors. The most striking example of the attempt to compensate for the loss of industrial jobs by expanding the service sector and strengthening certain infrastructures for this purpose is Halle/Leipzig Schkeuditz Airport with its adjacent logistics centre that has become one of the most important cargo airports in Europe.

The dissertation project examines the transformation of transport, communication and energy infrastructures and analyses how deindustrialisation, structural change and, not least, the political upheaval after the end of the GDR have shaped and changed infrastructures. The focus is on questions about the interdependencies between social, economic and technical change, as well as what role infrastructures played in shaping these transformation processes and what spatial effects can be observed as a result of these changes.

10/2019 – 04/2024 Doctorate at the RTG KRITIS, Institute of History at the TU Darmstadt
10/2013 – 05/2017 Master of Arts Historical Urban Studies, TU Berlin
09/2011 – 09/2012 Studium at the Universidad de Salamanca, Spanien (ERASMUS-Stipendium)
10/2009 – 05/2013 Bachelor of Arts History, LMU München. Major: Modern and Contemporary History. Minor subject: Political Science
Since 10/2019 Research associate at the Chair of Modern and Contemporary History and member of the Research Training Group KRITIS, TU Darmstadt
03/2017 – 09/2019 Project manager at Zebralog GmbH & Co KG, agency for civic and public participation, Berlin
09/2016 – 02/2017 Project assistant at Zebralog GmbH & Co KG, agency for civic and public participation, Berlin
10/2015 – 02/2016 Project assistant at Urbanizers – Bureau for Urban Concepts, Berlin
04/2014 – 03/2016 Student assistant at ZEIT ONLINE, Berlin editorial office, Berlin

“Energy transformation at the municipal level: The city of Leipzig beyond the epochal caesura of 1989 – A case study and a framework.” Paper discussion beim Workshop “Energy transitions and economic thinking in German-speaking territories, 1800-2000” des ERC-Projektes „Energy Transitions in the History of Economic Thought (19th-20th century)“ (opens in new tab), Centre national de la recherché scientifique, Paris, November 2024.

“No way out? The challenge of diverging interests in urban mobility transformations: The example of Leipzig’s public transport infrastructure 1989-2001 and its twofold transformation.” Vortrag bei der t2m-Jahreskonferenz „Mobilities and Infrastructures: Transitions and Transformations.” (opens in new tab) der International Association for the History of Transport, Traffic and Mobility (opens in new tab), Leipzig, September 2024.

„Un/Bundling of Infrastructure Systems in Transformation Processes. Conceptual conclusions from empirical findings: the case of the transformation of energy and transport infrastructures in Leipzig 1980-2000“. Vortrag bei der Konferenz „Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies: A ‘System of Systems’ Approach“ des Graduiertenkollegs KRITIS, TU Darmstadt, November 2023.

“Infrastruktur und kommunale Verwaltung in Transformation”. Vortrag bei der Auftaktkonferenz der Forschungsstelle Transformationsgeschichte (Uni Leipzig) (opens in new tab) zusammen mit dem Forschungsverbund “Wendezeiten” der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Leipzig, Dezember 2022. Conference Report bei HSozKult

“Strukturwandel durch Digitalisierung: Armutsfalle oder Wachstumsmotor? Stadtentwicklung und lokale Wirtschaftspolitk in Leipzig, postwende”. Vortrag beim XI. Internationaler Förder-Kongress “Junge Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft” der Schleyer-Stiftung und dem ifo-Institut, München, Juni 2022.

“From Bust to Boomtown? Post-Socialist Urban Transformation and Neoliberal City Management in the Context of the Deindustrialisation of the Central German Lignite Area After the “Wende”: The Case of Leipzig 1980 – 2000.” Vortrag bei der Konferenz “From Boom to Bust: The History of Industrial Regions (1870-1970 and beyond)”, Université de Luxembourg, Juni 2022. Conference Report bei HSozKult

“Zwischen Kontinuität und Veränderung: Infrastrukturtransformation in der Region Leipzig im Kontext von politischem Umbruch und Strukturwandel (1980 – 2000)”. Vortrag im Kolloquium des Lehrstuhls für Geschichte des 19. bis 21. Jahrhunderts (Prof. Dirk van Laak), Universität Leipzig (online), November 2021.

“Changing the System, Changing the City? Infrastructural Transformation in Leipzig and its Spatial and Temporal Implications after the »Wende«”. Vortrag bei der Konferenz “Transformation of Infrastructure Systems” des Graduiertenkollegs KRITIS, TU Darmstadt (online), November 2021.

„Partizipation und Stadt“. Workshop am Center for Metropolitan Studies, TU Berlin, 2019.

„Bürgerbeteiligung als Bestandteil kommunaler Planungspraxis“. Workshop an der Europäische Akademie Berlin, 2018

Research Interests

  • History of infrastructures in metropolitan contexts
  • Infrastructures in cities of the global south
  • Informal Urbanism
  • Urban Social Movements
  • (Urban) Planning as Politics
  • STS and the City

PhD Project

Infrastructure transformation in the region of Halle / Leipzig in the context of political and structural change (1980 – 2000) (Working title)

The city of Leipzig was the only large city in the GDR that had continuously lost inhabitants since the 1960s. After the end of the GDR, this trend continued or was even intensified by the sudden onset of deindustrialisation, which affected almost all formerly relevant industries and resulted in a massive loss of jobs.

These developments had consequences for the region's infrastructure: numerous industrial plants had become unnecessary with the closure of the industrial sites, and networks were too large for reduced demand. Other infrastructures, however, were insufficiently developed at the time. This included above all communication infrastructures such as telephone lines and connections.

The city of Leipzig in particular tried to counteract the structural change with various economic policy measures and to counteract the loss of jobs in the chemical industry and open-cast mining by strengthening the service, banking and media sectors. The most striking example of the attempt to compensate for the loss of industrial jobs by expanding the service sector and strengthening certain infrastructures for this purpose is Halle/Leipzig Schkeuditz Airport with its adjacent logistics centre that has become one of the most important cargo airports in Europe.

The dissertation project examines the transformation of transport, communication and energy infrastructures and analyses how deindustrialisation, structural change and, not least, the political upheaval after the end of the GDR have shaped and changed infrastructures. The focus is on questions about the interdependencies between social, economic and technical change, as well as what role infrastructures played in shaping these transformation processes and what spatial effects can be observed as a result of these changes.

10/2013 – 05/2017 Master of Arts Historical Urban Studies, TU Berlin.
09/2011 – 09/2012 Studium an der Universidad de Salamanca, Spanien (ERASMUS-Stipendium).
10/2009 – 05/2013 Bachelor of Arts History, LMU München. Major: Modern and Contemporary History. Minor subject: Political Science.
Since 10/2019 Research associate at the Chair of Modern and Contemporary History and member of the Research Training Group KRITIS, TU Darmstadt.
03/2017 – 09/2019 Project manager at Zebralog GmbH & Co KG, agency for civic and public participation, Berlin.
09/2016 – 02/2017 Project assistant at Zebralog GmbH & Co KG, agency for civic and public participation, Berlin.
10/2015 – 02/2016 Project assistant at Urbanizers – Bureau for Urban Concepts, Berlin.
04/2014 – 03/2016 Student assistant at ZEIT ONLINE, Berlin editorial office, Berlin.

„Un/Bundling of Infrastructure Systems in Transformation Processes. Conceptual conclusions from empirical findings: the case of the transformation of energy and transport infrastructures in Leipzig 1980-2000“. Lecture at the conference „Critical Infrastructure Interdependencies: A ‘System of Systems’ Approach“ of the RTG KRITIS, TU Darmstadt, November 2023.

“Infrastruktur und kommunale Verwaltung in Transformation”. Lecture at the Auftaktkonferenz der Forschungsstelle Transformationsgeschichte (Uni Leipzig) (opens in new tab) together with the research association “Wendezeiten” of the Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Leipzig, December 2022. Conference Report bei HSozKult

“Strukturwandel durch Digitalisierung: Armutsfalle oder Wachstumsmotor? Stadtentwicklung und lokale Wirtschaftspolitk in Leipzig, postwende”. Lecture at the XI. Internationaler Förder-Kongress “Junge Wissenschaft und Wirtschaft” of the Schleyer-Stiftung and the ifo-Institut, Munich, June 2022.

“From Bust to Boomtown? Post-Socialist Urban Transformation and Neoliberal City Management in the Context of the Deindustrialisation of the Central German Lignite Area After the “Wende”: The Case of Leipzig 1980 – 2000.” Lecture at the conference “From Boom to Bust: The History of Industrial Regions (1870-1970 and beyond)”, Université de Luxembourg, June 2022. Conference Report at HSozKult

“Zwischen Kontinuität und Veränderung: Infrastrukturtransformation in der Region Leipzig im Kontext von politischem Umbruch und Strukturwandel (1980 – 2000)”. Lecture in the colloqium of the chair of 19th to 21st Century History (Prof. Dirk van Laak), Universität Leipzig (online), November 2021.

“Changing the System, Changing the City? Infrastructural Transformation in Leipzig and its Spatial and Temporal Implications after the »Wende«”. Lecture at the conference “Transformation of Infrastructure Systems” of the RTG KRITIS, TU Darmstadt (online), November 2021.

„Partizipation und Stadt“. Workshop at the Center for Metropolitan Studies, TU Berlin, 2019.

„Bürgerbeteiligung als Bestandteil kommunaler Planungspraxis“. Workshop of the program “Baladiya – New Paths in Urban Developement” at the Europäische Akademie Berlin, 2018.