Member
Timothy Moss was initially a Guest Professor at IRI THESys in April 2016 and became a Senior Researcher in April 2017, having been an affiliated member since June 2014. Prior to this appointment he headed a research department at the Leibniz Institute for Regional Development and Structural Planning (IRS), where he was also deputy director between 2009 and 2016. He holds a B.A. in European Studies (Sussex), an M.Phil. in Modern European History (Oxford) and a D.Phil in German municipal history (Oxford). In February 2020, Tim was granted the title of Honorary Professor (Honorarprofessor) by the Leibniz University Hannover.
His recent research and teaching are distinctive for connecting historical studies of infrastructure with contemporary debates on sociotechnical and urban transitions. Tim draws on relational and socio-spatial concepts from urban geography and science and technology studies to analyse past infrastructural trajectories, setting an example in theoretical grounding for historical research. Conversely, he uses analysis of the past as a source of historical contextualisation and critical reflection for scholarship on current transitions to urban networked infrastructures. He is particularly interested in the processes by which energy and water infrastructures reflect and reproduce the multiple geographies, power relations and socio-materialities of a city.
Tim has led and conducted numerous research projects for the European Commission, the German Research Council (DFG) and the German Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and published widely in leading academic journals and edited volumes. Many of his projects have had a strong transdisciplinary component, involving close interaction with practitioners in policy, administration, business and civil society. He is a member of the German Academy of Spatial Research and Planning (ARL).
Research Interests
- Transformation and governance of socio-technical systems (energy, water, wastewater) in past and present
- Co-evolution of cities and their infrastructures
- Institutional arrangements and spatial organisation of public goods in multi-level settings
Projects
DiviCiti – Powering Divided Cities: Urban Energy Systems between Separation and Cooperation
Invisible Berlin – Urban Infrastructure between Dictatorship and Democracy
KNOWING – The knowledge politics of smart urbanism
U-Pasts – Past-proofing Infrastructure Futures: Usable Histories of Urban Technology Today
UrbanRain – Urban Rainwater Harvesting from Niche to Mainstream: Challenges and Opportunities for Planning
Publications
Multimedia
Short films “Invisible Berlin”: www.lisa.gerda-henkel-stiftung.de/
Digital tour “Remaking Berlin”: www.36o.de/remaking-berlin/
Video interview about “Remaking Berlin”: www.bb2040.de/wp/project/tim-moss
