The SPATIOTEMPO project has been launched in Bolzano!
Time and space in service of more caring cities? A first step
The SPATIOTEMPO project (2026–2028) was recently launched in Bolzano, bringing together partners from Barcelona, Vienna and Bolzano to explore what it means to plan cities not only through space, but also through time.
While urban planning has long focused on proximity—how close services, infrastructures or opportunities are—time often remains implicit. Yet everyday life is shaped by schedules, routines and constraints that differ significantly across social groups. In this sense, proximity alone does not guarantee access and lack of conscious time-oriented planning does not support local welfare.
SPATIOTEMPO starts from this gap. It looks at how spatial and temporal arrangements intersect, and how they affect care, mobility, health, everyday provisioning, and how they can support sustainability and more harmonious relation with the environment.
The project combines different approaches: time-use data linked to space, interviews with institutions such as time offices, and co-design processes with residents and practitioners. Researchers from Vienna, Barcelona and Bolzano, three city halls from the respective cities and Time Use Initiative seek to gather and co-create data to understand and evaluate what makes a Caring City? And how can planning tools better account for diverse temporal and welfare needs?
The project pays particular attention to activities that are often overlooked in planning, such as care work, social interaction, or collective practices. These are essential in moving towards more caring cities and need supporting infrastructures for a good life for all.
Work will continue across the three cities, drawing on their different experiences—from proximity-based planning to time policies—and exploring how these can be combined and adapted. The aim is not to propose a single model, but to develop tools and approaches that can inform more inclusive and responsive forms of urban planning.
The people behind SPATIOTEMPO:
- WU Vienna: Stefanie Peer, Lukas Heck, Clara Himmelbauer, Corinna Dengler, Julia Fankhauser
- unibz: Kris Krois, Teresa Palmieri, Jacopo Ammendola, Ingrid Kofler, Nicole Faiella
- Universitat Pompeu Fabra: Angelina Kussy, Lucinda Cash-Gibson, Arnau Quinquillà Capdevila, Adrian Bua
- City Halls: Julia Girardi-Hoog (City of Vienna), Sylvia Profanter, Sabina Scola & Noemi Alfi (Comune di Bolzano), Blai Marti Plademunt & Laura Caralt de Casanova (Ajuntament de Barcelona)
- Non-Governmental Partners: Marta Junqué, Ariadna Güell Sans, Marc Martorell Escofet (Time Use Initiative)
Learn more about the project: https://dutpartnership.eu/projects/spatiotempo
