Profile

Professional career

• since 02/2023
  Professor of Real Estate and Urban Development, Leipzig University
• 04/2022 - 01/2023
  Visiting Professor of Real Estate and Urban Development, Leipzig University
• 09/2015 - 01/2023
  Junior Professor of Economics, especially Macroeconomics, Hamburg University
• 08/2009 - 07/2015
  Research Assistant at the Chair for International Macroeconomics and Macroeconometrics Prof. Michael Binder, Ph.D.), Goethe University Frankfurt

Education

• 09/2008 - 12/2014
  Ph.D. in Economics Program, Goethe University Frankfurt,Dissertation: "Econometric Advances in the Analysis of Income Inequality Within and Between Countries" (summa cum laude)
• 09/2005 - 09/2008
  Master of Science in Management (Distinction) and Diplôme de GrandeEcole (Félicitations du Jury), ESCP-EAP European School of Management,London-Madrid-Paris.Multinational program with double degree: 3 countries, 3 languages
• 10/2003 - 03/2005
  Undergraduate Studies in Economics, Bonn University

I am an economist specializing in urban and regional development. From an economic perspective, cities are fascinating systems, with the density of many people and firms in one place entailing positive agglomeration effects, but also many challenges. Specific research topics include the growth of cities around the world and the drivers of income inequality within cities. The issue of clean air, urban green spaces, and efficient waste management have also become more important for sustainable urban development.

A major advantage for research is the growing availability of urban data, both within individual cities and globally.

In terms of methodology, I follow an econometric approach and analyze these datasets with modern statistical methods, including machine learning techniques. Often, I work with geo-referenced data. Satellite data of nighttime lights can be used to better measure the growth and structure of cities in developing countries than administrative data, which is sometimes difficult to obtain. For example, with my co-authors, I am analyzing the relationships between urban structure and CO2 emissions for cities around the world.

My data-driven work in urban development benefits strongly from collaborations with colleagues from other disciplines, especially the natural sciences (geography, biology, meteorology).

In the courses that I teach, I appreciate a good mixture of theory and practice. Students learn about economic models and methods, discuss the assumptions behind them, and reconcile them with empirical findings.

It is particularly important to me to guide students to do their own data work. Collecting data, processing it, evaluating it with modern statistical methods and drawing relevant conclusions from it are skills that are becoming increasingly important nowadays and are in demand in numerous professional fields.

In many of my courses, the examination thus includes project-based group work. For example, in my master's course "Big Data and Smart Cities," students apply machine learning methods to predict real estate prices based on neighborhood characteristics or the use of rental bicycles based on weather data.

• Big Data and Smart Cities (M.Sc.)

  Data is everywhere - and the amount available is growing by the second. At the same time, our world is becoming more urbanized.

  In this course, students will learn how to gather, process and analyze (big) data. They will get know statistical methods to draw insights from (big) data, discover patterns and relationships, and make predictions for urban life. In a nutshell, the question to be answered is: How we use (big) data in a responsible way to make cities more efficient and sustainable?

• Introduction to Urban Economics (B.Sc.)

  In urban economics, cities are analyzed from an economic perspective in order to find solutions to practical urban issues. In this module, students gain an insight into modern research in urban economics. They learn about models, analytical techniques, and data sources of urban economics, in order to analyze and critically discuss a current research paper.

• Socio-Economic Issues of Urban Development (M.Sc.)

  Cities face challenges as they grow. What are the needs and demands of residents as well as business executives to keep cities thriving, and how can public policy respond? We will be analyzing cities quantitatively, looking at income differences within cities, social segregration, business agglomeration and infrastructure connections. Examples from cities around the world will illustrate how climate change affects urban development and how cities respond to the challenges of the future.

• Growth, Distribution, Sustainability (B.Sc.)

  The course provides students with an in-depth, quantitatively oriented insight into the topics of long-run economic growth, the distribution of income, and sustainable economic activity. After a discussion of growth models, concepts of income inequality are discussed. Finally, we will add a sustainability aspect to the growth debate and discuss key points of the "limits to growth" and "green growth" approaches.