What Can the City of Karlsruhe Do to Address Demographic Change? A Legal Analysis

The interactive discussion series „Let’s Talk About Law“ will take place in October at the ZKM as part of the Karlsruhe symposium „Fewer – Older – More Diverse“

Karlsruhe. How can a city respond to demographic change from a legal perspective? The Forum Recht Foundation is dedicated to addressing this question Wednesday, October 14, 2026, at 4:30 p.m. at the Media Theater of the ZKM | Center for Art and Media in Karlsruhe. In the interactive discussion series „Let’s Talk About Law“ says the host Alena Lagmöller with Prof. Dr. Winfried Kluth, Professor of Public Law at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg and former judge at the Constitutional Court of Saxony-Anhalt, discussing the legal options and challenges facing Karlsruhe. The guest speaker’s research focuses, among other things, on general administrative law as well as environmental and municipal law.

This event serves as the interactive conclusion to the symposium „Fewer—Older—More Diverse: Opportunities and Challenges for Our Society.“.

We are already seeing rapid demographic change, which will continue in the coming years: While the population is shrinking in some regions, other municipalities—such as Karlsruhe—continue to grow—and are becoming more diverse at the same time. This raises specific questions for urban development: How can housing, care services, mobility, schools, and other infrastructure be designed to be sustainable for the future? What responsibilities fall to local governments, where do state and federal governments come into play—and what legal tools are available to a city like Karlsruhe to actively shape its development? The audience is cordially invited to join the discussion and contribute their own questions to the conversation.

The conversation will take place at 4:30 p.m. at the Media Theater of the ZKM | Center for Art and Media (Lorenzstraße 19). Admission is free. Registration is not required.

The Forum Recht Foundation is a co-organizer of the Karlsruhe Symposium „Fewer—Older—More Diverse: Opportunities and Challenges for Our Society“, which took place on October 14, 2026, from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. will take place. The symposium is organized by the Karlsruhe Forum for Culture, Law, and Technology, e. V., in collaboration with the City of Karlsruhe’s Office of Cultural Affairs and the ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe.

Let's Talk About Law
Since 2025, the Forum Recht Foundation has been regularly hosting the „Let’s Talk About Recht“ discussion series at its venues in Karlsruhe and Leipzig. The guests are prominent figures from various fields of law who discuss their day-to-day work and share their perspectives on current legal topics—ranging from labor law and tenancy law to freedom of speech. The discussions are recorded and subsequently released as a live-on-tape podcast.