Europan Germany

E9: Sites

E9: Babenhausen

Short description of the location

Inhabitants: 16,500
Area under consideration: 70 ha
Project area: Urban redevelopment area and barracks area

Subject

With the abandonment of the site by the U.S. Army, the century-old barracks will be transferred to civilian life. Due to its former function, the area is currently isolated in terms of urban space, dominating the situation on the eastern edge of the city in terms of area. Together with the commercial wasteland opposite, the area is to be integrated into the overall situation as part of a restructuring process, thus forming the new eastern entrance to the city. A positive revaluation and address formation should contribute to the development of a residential and commercial location that has its own identity (site identity). In addition to its function as a city entrance, the site should in the future reflect the city's self-image as a location for future-oriented energy technologies and working environments and transfer this to the city as a whole.

Agglomeration

Babenhausen is a sub-center and prosperous residential location in the southeastern Rhine-Main region on the Darmstadt-Aschaffenburg local traffic and settlement axis. Frankfurt Airport is 35 km away. About 60% of the 16,500 inhabitants live in the core city. The competition area is located 1.5 km southeast of the city center and forms the eastern entrance to the city through the barracks and the northern commercial wasteland. The area is spatially separated from the city center by the embankment of the Darmstadt-Aschaffenburg railroad line and the B 26.

Area under consideration

The listed administrative area of the barracks dates back to 1900-1903. The supply area, cinema, sports and technical halls as well as the residential area with approx. 360 residential units are more recent and partly completely redeveloped. The contaminated site situation is unresolved (former military airfield, tank washing plant, depots, with ammunition residues to be expected). To the north of the barracks, between the B 26 and the railroad embankment, there are various brownfield sites, including the area of a former cast fittings factory. To the south, there is an airfield with a fauna-flora habitat and bird sanctuary (nature conservation guidelines), and to the east, forest and nature conservation areas. Residential and recreational uses are located to the west of the site, and a planned bypass road will run along it. The barracks will be handed over from the U.S. Army to the Bundesanstalt für Immobilienaufgaben in October 2007.

Program

A long-term concept is to be developed that can be implemented in development phases. Interim uses are considered sensible. In the long term, the area's missing links to the city center and train station are to be bridged in order to integrate the area into the urban context.

Project area

The barracks are to be provided with a mix of uses including residential, commercial, and educational while respecting the historic area's landmark status. Extensive preservation of the building structures is sought. Limited preservation of the newer development is possible. The existing facilities such as hotel, cinema, technical halls and sports fields can provide impulses for a sports and leisure park. Commercial use is envisaged for the commercial wasteland north of the B 26.

Program

Uses and structures are sought that attract sustainable service and commercial enterprises. Environmentally compatible projects in the alternative energy sector could serve to sustainably supply the area and shape the image of the location.

E9: Berlin

Short description of the location

Inhabitants: 3,4 Mio.
Consideration area: 170 ha
Project area: Individual areas to be selected by the participants

Topic

The Südkreuz area is very well connected in terms of infrastructure in the urban context, as well as regionally. However, the internal development of the area is inadequate, even pedestrian and bicycle paths break off at its borders. The existing traffic areas (rail, car) currently only cross the area, the train station is used as a transfer station, but not as a destination station by S-Bahn users; the station is hardly used by long-distance trains. In order to break up this insularity, an overarching development concept is necessary that includes both the public sector properties and the numerous private brownfields. For integration into the urban context, the "Schöneberger Schleife" (Schöneberg Loop), a pedestrian and bicycle path, is planned that will lead from the so-called bottleneck via Südkreuz back to Gleisdreieck/Potsdamer Platz/Tiergarten. The linking of the public spaces, including existing parks and sports facilities, is intended to combine the mosaic-like structure of the neighborhood into a cohesive whole and link it to the city center.

Agglomeration

Berlin, located in the northeast of Germany, is the capital and seat of government. The competition area, located south of Berlin's city center, is about 3.5 km from Potsdamer Platz and 1 km from Tempelhof Airport. As a former supply location of the city (gas, electricity, large-scale industry, etc.), the area is well connected in terms of transport: In addition to the "Schöneberger Autobahnkreuz" access road (surrounding city center), two S-Bahn lines and the Berlin Ringbahn as well as long-distance traffic to the north and south run through the new Südkreuz train station. As the second largest train station in Berlin, it represents the new hub of the area. By restructuring the derelict areas (railroad lines, industrial and commercial yards, etc.), the area is to be integrated into the urban space with an overarching open space and infrastructure concept as a city extension area.

Area under consideration

The competition area is a project area of the development program "Stadtumbau West". The structures of the area consist of railroad areas, former utility areas (Gasag) and barracks areas and of very different privately owned commercial areas. The upgrading of the area is in the interest of both the city and private investors. To support the new route (Schöneberger Schleife) through the neighborhood, the conversion of some commercial structures and the creation of east-west connections, also in the form of bridges over the railroad line, are planned. An overall concept for the Schöneberger Schleife is to be developed as a gap between existing and planned green spaces.

Project area

As part of a preliminary urban development study, the area was divided into individual areas to which future uses are assigned in order to sharpen the profile of the neighborhood: Offices and residential (Schöneberger Linse), services, commercial areas, leisure/culture (Gasometer). As the backbone of the various uses, the Schöneberger Schleife is intended to link these segments together and connect them to downtown Berlin. An improvement of the residential quality in adjacent areas is aimed at as well as a positioning of the neighborhood in the tourism sector of Berlin. Individual measures along this route connection are to initiate a step-by-step realization of the Schöneberger Schleife. Different areas of specialization with different thematic and programmatic focal points are proposed for processing, which are to be integrated into a strategic overall concept.

E9: Donauwörth

Short description of the location

Population: 18,500
Survey area: 4.7 ha
Project area: 0.56 ha

Subject

The Parkstadt district was developed from the end of the 1950s to the 1970s as a planned urban district to expand the settlement capacity of the core city to the southwest. The area is located on the ridge of the so-called "Schellenberg", a foothill of the densely wooded heights of the Franconian Jura about 100 meters above the actual core city. The urban quarter, which was designed on the drawing board, shows deficiencies in practice, especially with regard to public space. The open park structure offers no central points of reference, and the street space lacks amenity quality. An important project for the next few years is therefore the redesign and upgrading of the central area of the Parkstadt, which already has important infrastructure facilities but has not been able to develop any central function. The aim is to create a point of identification for the district that is adequate for the public functions and an area for meeting and spending time. An improvement of the access situation is to be developed as well as the adaptation of the road network. The aim is to adapt the area to the changing needs and demands of the residents from the point of view of sustainability and to further develop the public space as a communicative place of encounter.

Agglomeration

The large district town of Donauwörth is located in the administrative district of Swabia, at the point where the Wörnitz flows into the Danube. The city is a middle center for about 65,000 inhabitants of the southern district of Donau-Ries. Its central location in the region, about 45 km north of Augsburg, makes the city the economic, cultural and social center of northern Swabia. Donauwörth serves as the transportation hub of the region and is also connected to supraregional economic areas due to its favorable location.

Area under consideration

The Parkstadt was realized from the end of the fifties until the seventies. About 4,200 residents currently live in the neighborhood. With the influx of more than 1,000 emigrants from the former USSR in the mid-1990s, strong social tensions arose. To counteract this development, the city decided in 2004 to apply for the "Social City" program. In the course of the preliminary studies required for this, both a detailed urban planning analysis and extensive socio-spatial data were collected. Initial projects, such as the creation of a youth center, have already been successfully implemented. In addition to the pending renewal of the thirty- to forty-year-old building fabric, the goal is to activate the public space by reorganizing the urban space and upgrading the central area. Donauwörth is placing particular emphasis on the topics of "climate protection" and "energy efficiency" in the further development of the urban district. The redesign of public spaces is to begin as early as 2008.

Program

Infrastructural measures regarding the connection of the district in the urban context; pathways within the Parkstadt to activate the public space; structural additions to enhance the urban space and complement/redesign the existing development.

Project area

The planning area comprises the central area of Parkstadt. The most important infrastructure facilities of the district are located here in the immediate vicinity: Kindergarten, school, church, community center, stores, doctors, pharmacy, shopping center, as well as a public green area with fountain. The goal is to approach this existing center with new visions, to incorporate the changing needs of the residents and to strengthen the identity of the neighborhood. In the context of the renovation of the building fabric to be carried out in the coming years, special emphasis is to be placed on ecology and sustainability.

Program

Redesign and activation of the center; place for meeting and staying in the public space; concepts for ecological redevelopment and renewal of the existing building fabric; improvement of path relationships.

E9: Rostock

Short description of the location

Population: 197,200
Application area: 17.8 ha
Project area: 17.8 ha

Topic

The Hanseatic City of Rostock intends to further stabilize and develop the inner city as part of a city-wide planning process. In this context, housing also for new user groups and the stabilization or increase of the number of inhabitants in the city center play a decisive role. The competition is to develop concepts for the subsequent use of a largely fallow, very historic former commercial and residential area directly on the edge of the old town and its development into an urban, inner-city, ecologically oriented residential location. A new small urban district is to be created below the old town, which will consciously set itself apart from it in terms of its appearance. The aim is to achieve a sensible concentration of buildings in favor of a generous landscape area along the Lower Warnow and the city wall. The special location of the area on the water should be emphasized and made tangible in the public space.

Agglomeration

Rostock - founded in 1218 on the Baltic Sea - is a city with centuries of Hanseatic tradition. It is the economic, service, trade fair and congress center of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and the cultural center of an entire region. In its upper-central catchment area live 25% of the 1.7 million inhabitants of the federal state. With its overseas port, Rostock functions as a hub in the Baltic Sea region. With its university, founded in 1419 and the oldest in northern Europe, the city is also an important location for research and science. Tourist attractions are the largely renovated historic old town on the Lower Warnow with a lively city center area, but also the small-scale, charming Baltic seaside resort of Warnemünde directly on the Baltic Sea beach, which has grown over centuries.

Area under consideration

The area under consideration, once the domicile of fishermen and tanners, with remnants of original buildings and a formerly branched open water ditch system (fractures), is ideally situated: between the historic old town in the west with a complete infrastructure and the shore edge of the Lower Warnow in the east, the view opens up here to a partially undeveloped landscape area. Required flood protection against coastal flooding, difficult subsoil conditions and a heavily trafficked adjacent road in the north require creative approaches for the development of the site into an attractive residential area within the framework of a given urban planning framework, taking into account a sustainable and ecological orientation of the planning area.

Program

Development of a reality-based urban planning and architectural model and flexible utilization concept. Utilization of the favorable location to the water and the possible qualities of an open water ditch system; sensible concentration of development in favor of a generous landscape space along the river and the city wall.

Project area

Inner-city living in green areas and along the water, ecologically oriented building forms, barrier-free living for a wide variety of users in different building forms (single-family house, multi-family house) and the opening of the neighborhood to the water as well as the connection to the old town are the goals of the design.

Program

Development of housing forms in ecological construction with energy-saving as well as alternative urban and domestic technology. Consideration of flood protection.

E9: Selb

Short description of the location

Inhabitants: 17,500
Area under consideration: 11 ha
Project area: 1.3 ha

Subject

The city of Selb, which is affected by shrinkage and aging, is to receive residential and open space qualities through a reorganization of the northern inner city, which will include this topic in the design: the guarantee of mobility, barrier-free development, as well as a coordinated program of cultural facilities are part of the urban development requirements. Particular emphasis is placed on a comprehensive open space concept that links individual urban areas and offers the city new qualities for pedestrians. A coherent traffic concept is to be designed for the area, which is economically and ecologically sensible and takes into account stationary traffic. The architectural part of the design includes both the conversion of existing dwellings to handicapped-accessible standards and the planning of cost-effective new house types that enable barrier-free living in an innovative way, both for young families and for elderly or handicapped people. The design of the living environment and a differentiation of the outdoor spaces is an important component.

Agglomeration

The city of Selb is located in the north of Bavaria on the border to the Czech Republic. Economically dominated by the porcelain industry, it suffered a drastic break in urban development in the mid-1990s due to a sales crisis in the ceramics industry: the number of employees fell by 19%, the population by 9% (with a downward trend). The unemployment rate of 10% is accompanied by aging (42% older than 50 years). Therefore, the central urban and economic goal is the sustainable urban development, taking into account the demographic and economic changes.

Area under consideration

The competition area is located in the northern city center. The central location offers a high potential of living qualities especially for elderly people. The already existing cultural facilities as well as the traffic infrastructure form the ideal prerequisites for the development into a barrier-free city with attractive open spaces, social facilities and a cultural offer that promotes activity and communication. Based on the integrated urban development concept of the city of Selb, a redesign of streets, squares, traffic and green spaces is planned.

Program

Economically sensible designation of traffic areas; upgrading of public space and creation of urban qualities with a focus on the development of a barrier-free living environment.

Project area

In the planning area, there is considerable potential for conflict due to the contaminated sites of an abandoned railroad line, sealed parking areas in the immediate vicinity. Residential uses located in the immediate vicinity of auto repair shops, vacant commercial and residential spaces, and unattractive views into the open spaces of the adjacent residential development also necessitate comprehensive upgrading of the surrounding area in order to facilitate the use envisioned by the city as an attractive residential neighborhood.

Program

Conversion of existing residential structures into high-quality housing units suitable for the elderly; cost-effective new development based on the premise of barrier-free living; development of new housing concepts for seniors and the disabled.

E9: Spremberg

Short description of the location

Inhabitants: 26,000
Area under consideration: 6.5 ha
Project area: approx. 3.5 ha

Subject

The city of Spremberg offers a varied urban and topographical appearance. The historic, compact inner city is enclosed by the two arms of the river Spree. The watercourses and existing green belts separate the later developed districts from the city core. In the course of urban redevelopment, the networking of the inner-city residential areas is of great importance. The city park on Georgenberg, located between the train station and the city center, must be developed in a contemporary manner in accordance with its hinge effect. The city park/Georgenbergpark presents itself as a diffuse place consisting of the park, its monuments, the Bismarck tower, the cemetery, the open-air stage, the fairground and the swan pond. In the previous urban development, no attention was paid to the functional or spatial connection of the individual objects. The task is to make the space experienceable and to increase the quality of stay by better linking and enlivening the squares. By controlling the pedestrian individual traffic between the historic city center and the train station, the Georgenberg should be upgraded in its importance as an infrastructural development element and contribute to a better linking of the areas.

Agglomeration

Spremberg is one of the regional economic centers in the state of Brandenburg and is located about 100 km southeast of the federal capital Berlin and about 30 km from neighboring Poland. The development is mainly characterized by the industrial site Schwarze Pumpe, which is currently experiencing a renaissance with about 3,500 jobs. The main task of urban development is the stabilization of the residential and living location. Another goal is to provide additional incentives for individual transit traffic to stay.

Area under consideration

The area under consideration extends from the historic old town to the train station located on the northern edge of the Georgenberg. The Spree forms a caesura between the city center and the Georgenberg Park, which is additionally separated from the southern city park by Georgenstrasse. The spatial separation of the urban part of the Spree island/city center separates the train station, which is 40 m higher, from the urban area.

Program

Upgrading of the public space, extension of the variety of offers and attractiveness of the city center; overcoming of topographical obstacles and increase of the experience value "Spree" by visual integration; enrichment of the long-distance cycle path "Spree" by the leisure area Georgenberg.

Project area

Within the area under consideration, four project areas between the train station and the city center are proposed for in-depth consideration: setting and reorganization of the area around the train station, including the train station building; multifunctional use of the fairground by introducing new programs; upgrading the existing open-air stage by adapting it to technical and programmatic requirements; development of the industrial wasteland north of the Spree River.

E9: Straubing

Short description of the location

Population: 45,000
Survey area: approx. 23 ha
Project area: approx. 9 ha

Topic

The world-famous sporting goods manufacturer Völkl is not only an example of the development of a down-to-earth craft into an innovative and productive industrial enterprise, Völkl is also associated with sports, leisure and "youth culture". A piece of urban history is still present at the site of the former factory facilities, which are now largely empty after the company was relocated to the outskirts of the city, and whose revitalization is being sought in an overarching urban planning context. The change from an industrial to a service society and the demographic development to an increasingly aging social society pose a special challenge for future urban development in the conflict area between commerce and housing. Taking into account building structures worthy of preservation and incorporating or developing existing green structures, a multifunctional quarter is to be created that offers an innovative form of urbanity. The structuring and upgrading of public space is seen as an essential part of the necessary urban repair, as is the enhancement of architectural qualities, even in existing buildings.

Agglomeration

The independent city of Straubing is located in eastern Bavaria and is the cultural and economic center of the region between the Gäuboden and the Bavarian Forest. The convenient location on the Danube has enabled prosperous commercial development, in recent years especially in the field of research, production and processing of renewable raw materials. In the future, the city wants to position itself as the business location for Germany in the direction of Eastern Europe.

Area under consideration

The area is located about 2 km south of Straubing's city center. South of the railroad facilities, in the immediate vicinity of the correctional facility, one of the city's first contiguous commercial areas developed in the post-war years. Today, surrounded and intermixed by residential uses, an extremely heterogeneous urban structure has developed here. Functional problem areas result from the immediate neighborhood of commercial and classic residential areas. The large area of the Ludwigsgymnasium is adjacent to the south.

Program

A sustainable model for the neighborhood is sought that, with special consideration of the unique urban development character of the site, increases the attractiveness of the district and offers new qualities of life for future generations. This requires a flexible redevelopment concept for an innovative, new urbanity that can be realized in the long term and is designed for sustainability.

Project area

Embedded in higher-level district development approaches, the core area around the industrial wasteland of the Völkl company and the neighboring gasworks steel frame, which has now also become non-functional, is to be developed into a place that offers space for urban lifestyles.

Program

A multifunctional quarter is to be created around the Völkl site, incorporating buildings worthy of preservation and existing green structures. What is meant is the linking of working and living on the one hand and leisure, education and culture on the other.