Advancing Research on Urban Sustainability: Fitria Feliciani Defends Dissertation

On 11 May 2026, DLGS fellow Fitria Feliciani successfully defended her doctoral dissertation, “From a Frontrunner City in Solid Waste and Green Open Space Management to a Leader in Urban Sustainability in Indonesia? The Case of Surabaya City.”

The dissertation was supervised by Prof. Dr. Dr. h.c. Bernhard Müller. Prof. Dr. Robert Knippschild (Dresden University of Technology) served as the second reviewer, and Prof. Dr. Leenawaty Limantara (UK Petra University, Indonesia) served as the third reviewer and second supervisor. The dissertation committee was chaired by Prof. Weitkamp, with Mr. Peter Rothe (Dresden University of Technology) as a member, alongside the reviewers and supervisors. Throughout her studies, Dr. Peter Wirth and Dr. Alejandro de Castro Mazzaro (IOER) served as mentors.

In the context of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and specifically SDG 11 on Sustainable Cities and Communities, Feliciani’s research offers a timely contribution to understanding how cities in the Global South can move beyond sector‑specific initiatives toward more integrated and strategic approaches to urban sustainability. Her work examines how local governments navigate fragmented institutional environments, mobilise non‑state actors, and integrate goals, actors, and financing. These insights are grounded in a detailed longitudinal case study of Surabaya spanning five decades.

The dissertation contributes to ongoing debates on urban sustainability in the Global South by showing that transitions toward comprehensive planning are incremental, often occurring not through formal planning reforms but through implementation practices. Feliciani’s work provides valuable insights for scholars and practitioners in urban sustainability and governance, urban transformation, public administration, and policy studies.