Johann Jessen

Prof. Dr. Jessen is a visiting professor with Virginia Tech's Department of Urban Affairs and Planning from the Institute of Urban Planning and Design, Department of Architecture, University of Stuttgart.

Johann Jessen, born in 1949, is professor of Local and Regional Planning at the Institute of Urban Planning and Urban Design of the University of Stuttgart since 1992. From 1983 to 1991 he was lecturer at the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, University of Oldenburg where he earned his doctorate and his habilitation. He was founding member of the research group Arbeitsgruppe Stadtforschung at the University of Oldenburg. He has a diploma in Architecture and Urban Planning from the Hochschule Darmstadt.

His research concentrates on social aspects of urban development and methodological aspects of urban and regional planning. Most of his research is policy oriented. Recent projects include studies of metropolitan strategies in Europe, comparative research of housing and urban regeneration in Europe, and new methods in urban planning. Past research focused on the changing role of planning concepts and planning models, mixed use developments, and the conversion of old buildings. Many of the research projects have been funded by Federal and state ministries and by foundations. He is member of the editorial board of the journal „Die Alte Stadt“.

His local and regional planning classes are offered to students from programs as diverse as architecture, urban planning and geography.

He is a member of the Akademie für Raumforschung (Academy for Spatial Research, ARL) and the Deutsche Akademie für Städtebau und Landesplanung (Academy of Urban and Regional Planning, DASL). From 2003 to 2007 he was a member of the Scientific Board of the Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung (BBR), the Research Institute of the Federal Ministry of Transport, Construction and Urban Development.