Daseinsvorsorge und Infrastruktur : Regional- und Stadtplanung in der Infrastrukturplanung gemeinsam denken

The following article spatialises the abstract and broad field of infrastructure in such a way that it is useful for urban research so that we can capture both its functional dimension (equipment of an urban space with infrastructure) and the urban dimension (location of infrastructural offerings at a certain place in the urban space). The objects of investigation are punctiform, social and technical, urban and public infrastructures. This meso-level of spatial planning may be a neighbourhood in a large city, or the core of a small town municipality comprising urban and village districts – in both cases, with a few thousand residents each. Infrastructures mostly occur in a punctiform manner (which we will explain) and thus become an urban design feature. Since the provision of infrastructure is part of public responsibility and thus spatial governance, it is necessary to sharpen the notion of the German word Infrastruktur in contrast to the German word Daseinsvorsorge, which means the concept of services of general interest. One reason to care about the meaning of these words in an academic discussion with a spatial approach is that Daseinsvorsorge in particular has, as a notion, often been used without specific spatialisation in contemporary urban and spatial policy discourses, especially in the juxtaposition of common good and austerity orientations. On the other hand, it originates from a spatial ordinance leitmotiv. For this purpose, we examine how the terms are embedded in societal contro versies on spatial production.