Prof. Peter Droege
Overview: policy, design, planning and training background
Prof. Peter Droege is a leading international expert on urban sustainability, specializing in advanced urban policy, transport strategy, urban design, and renewable infrastructure development. He is a co-founder of the Global Climate Geodesign Challenge, conducted with the University of Minnesota and supported by the Environmental Systems Research Institute, Esri.
His academic career spans the School of Architecture and Planning at MIT, the University of Tokyo (Urban Development Engineering Endowed Chair), the University of Sydney (Lend Lease Chair and Professor of Urban Design), and the University of Newcastle’s School of Architecture and Built Environment. At the University of Liechtenstein, he founded and held a highly influential Chair for Sustainable Spatial Development for eight years.
Award winning author and editor of seminal books on city futures, resilience, regenerative design, energy and climate
A recipient of the European Solar Prize, Droege is an award-winning author and editor of seminal works on urban transformation. His major publications include Intelligent Environments (Elsevier, 1998), The Renewable City (Wiley, 2006), Urban Energy Transition 1 (Elsevier, 2008), 100 Percent Renewable (Routledge, 2012), Climate Design (ORO Editions, 2010), and Regenerative Region (Oekom, 2014). His 2018 700-page handbook, Urban Energy Transition 2 – Renewable Strategies for Cities and Regions was followed by two 2023 Elsevier volumes: Intelligent Environments 2 and Urban and Regional Agriculture. Urban Energy Transition 3 – Urban and Regional Strategies for a Stable Planet is copyright 2026.
International ecological and renewable energy based urban management, planning and design expertise
Peter Droege has served as sustainability innovation advisor to Zurich’s Urban Design Department, Principal Advisor to Beijing’s Municipal Institute for City Planning and Design, President of Eurosolar, General Chairman of the World Council for Renewable Energy, and inaugural Selection Committee member of Masdar’s Zayed Future Energy Prize. He advises organizations including UNDP, UNCHS, UNECE, and the Australian, German, Vietnamese, and Indonesian governments.
His applied research includes initiating the ‘Renewable Wilhelmsburg’ theme of IBA-Hamburg, leading the EU-funded ‘Energy Region Lake Constance-Rhine Valley’ study, and directing the ‘Renewable Liechtenstein’ model development. He has also shaped the energy and climate agenda of IBA-Hamburg 2007–2013, advised on Melbourne Docklands and Ultimo-Pyrmont, and served as urban design advisor for the Australian Technology Park.
