Christian Fertner

Christian Fertner is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geosciences and Natural Resource Management at the University of Copenhagen, where he has been employed since February 2017. He is a core member of the research groups Spatial Change and Planning and GIScience and Geodesign, focusing on spatial planning, sustainable urban development, and digital planning methodologies.

His educational background includes a PhD in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Copenhagen (awarded 2012) and an MSc in Urban and Regional Planning from Vienna University of Technology (awarded 2006). His doctoral research addressed urbanisation, urban growth, and planning frameworks under supervision of Gertrud Jørgensen, Thomas Sick Nielsen, and Stephan Pauleit.

Fertner's research spans spatial planning, sustainable urban development, resource and energy efficient cities, land use change, urban sprawl, functional regions, small towns, spatial analysis, and digital planning. He actively investigates smart cities, urban metabolism, and peri-urban dynamics with emphasis on European and Danish contexts, particularly through EU-funded initiatives like Regions4Climate and ESPON projects.

His recent publications demonstrate strong trends toward climate adaptation planning, digital spatial tools, and compact urban development. Key thematic clusters include municipal planning for carbon neutrality, ecological corridor implementation, and data-driven evaluation of planning practices, reflecting his dual focus on theoretical frameworks and practical policy applications.

No scientific awards are documented in the provided information.

Christian Fertner has co-supervised six PhD students:

• Current: Mette Juhl Jessen (climate adaptation and regional planning), Junyu Hu (e-biking in urban/rural areas)
• Former: Tongyun Du (social networks during urban renewal, 2021), Liang Xiao (agriculture/migration in Southwest China, 2019-2020), Lu Sun (Beijing's green belts, paused), Juliane Große (travel behaviour and urban structure, 2017)

His research is supported by major grants including:

• Regions4Climate (EU Horizon, 2023-2026)
• Sustainable urban densification (Realdania, 2022-2023)
• Small and medium-sized towns in Denmark (EU ESPON TOWN DK, 2022)
• Evaluating Spatial Planning Practices with Digital Plan Data (EU ESPON DIGIPLAN, 2020-2021)
• Urban metabolism and waste behaviour in touristic cities (EU-H2020 URBAN WASTE, 2016-2019)

He actively collaborates within IGN's Spatial Change and Planning and GIScience and Geodesign groups, integrating landscape architecture, planning theory, and geospatial analysis in interdisciplinary urban research.