In his inaugural lecture "Demokratie als Bauherrin" ("Democracy as Builder") at the Humboldt University in Berlin in 1994, Ulrich Battis programmatically outlines the urban and at the same time the democratic development of the Federal Republic after German unification up to the present day. Democracy as a builder" is an expression of a committed understanding and teaching of constitutional law that is aware of its liberal and social responsibility. The actuality of the inaugural lecture is demonstrated in five commentaries. They take up central concepts and positions of Ulrich Battis in order to unfold their meaning with regard to urban planning practice and democratic change.