Prof. Dr. Fred Krüger

Fred W. Krüger is a Full Professor of Geography at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg, Germany. His research and teaching interests, committed to cross-disciplinary approaches, focus on Development Geography and on Urban Studies. Major research fields in the Development Studies arena cover linkages between culture(s) and risk, with a focus on theoretical approaches and the empirical, actor-oriented analysis of poverty (especially in cities), vulnerability, livelihood security, (public) health, and disaster prevention and preparedness. A regional focus lies on Eastern and Southern Africa and South-East Asia. In Urban Studies, he specialises in issues of the "just city" and the "right to the city", in urban planning and urban everyday cultures, and the social production of urban public spaces. Current research and teaching activities focus on interlinkages between culture (in its broadest and non-essentialistic sense), human action, the environment, risk and disasters.

TRANS-WELL, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation since 2025, is a major international and cross-disciplinary research project exploring the complex interplay between migration and health in crisis regions, where economic turmoil, violence and the critical impact of climate and environmental change are driving people to migrate. These mobility flows challenge conventional policy approaches and measures. Understanding these dynamics is essential for designing health systems that are responsive to the needs of both mobile and immobile populations across diverse contexts and political, social, economic and environmental settings. This is where the TRANS-WELL project is situated. The project investigates into three regional settings: Northern Thailand, Northern Mozambique, and the Dominican Republic.

COVLess, funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, explored the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on urban food security and social cohesion in Bangkok and Singapore. The project terminated in 2024. It looked at potentials and opportunities to enhance creative and more socially inclusive food initiatives in the wake of the Covid-19 crisis and assessed lessons learnt in the context of citizen-oriented solutions for more resilient and ecologically and socially sound urban food systems.

There are quite a few other projects in the risk and disasters realm (in the broadest sense) which were concluded several years ago: CHIDA, funded by the BMBF, investigated into risks and disaster-prone urban lifeworlds and livelihoods in Malawi and South Africa and assessed the potentials of Nature-based Solutions for a more sustainable and just urban development. AfriCity, a major BMBF/DAAD funded project, looked into linkages between adaptation, livelihoods, risks and the right to the city in Sub-Saharan African cities. LIPSINDAR was a BMBF-funded networking project with a focus on Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). JustUrban(Plus) analysed liveability, rights-based issues, risks and urban green infrastructure in Bangkok and Singapore. Two research projects funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) investigated into the impact of HIV/AIDS on human livelihoods and society in Botswana. Smaller-scale studies included "Urban Coolture - Why some urban places are hip and others are not". Other past third-party funded research activities in the context of the "Global South" included involvement in the international research initiative on "Urbanisation and Its Impact on the Use of Natural Resources in Africa" (LUNA) funded by the Volkswagen Foundation, and also involved urban planning issues, the festivalisation of urban governance, social vulnerability patterns, and drought management and food security in southern Africa.

Culture(s) and risk, with a focus on theoretical approaches and the empirical, actor-oriented analysis of poverty (especially in cities), vulnerability, livelihood security, (public) health, and disaster prevention and preparedness. A regional focus lies on Eastern and Southern Africa and South-East Asia.

Urban Studies, especially issues of the "just city" and the "right to the city", urban planning and urban everyday cultures, with a focus of Urban Green Infrastructure (UGI) and Urban Nature-based Solutions (NbS).