Renewable raw materials on demolition sites in a large housing estate
(Saxony-Anhalt)
Photography: Stadtwirtschaft GmbH Halle
Halle-Neustadt was built in the 1960s to 1980s as one of the exemplary inner-city projects of the GDR. Since German Reunification, the urban district has lost approx. 44% of its residents. Large levels of vacancies in 2001 led to the city, together with the housing companies, developing a city-wide Integrated Urban Development Concept (ISEK), with the aim of extensively demolishing apartment buildings.
Because of the location on the urban fringe, the low development condition and the high vacancy rates, there is a strategic focus on reducing Housing Complex VI. The demolition sites there are to be expanded into the neighbouring landscape areas and used as green spaces for local relaxation, allotments or managed for agriculture. The pilot project should test how, due to the lack of demand for housing and a lack of resources for maintaining public green space, it is possible to use wasteland areas productively as an "energy forest".
Photography: BEC GmbH Biotechnic
Stadtwirtschaft GmbH Halle, together with Gesellschaft für Wohn- und Gewerbeimmobilien (GWG) has developed an innovative concept to turn the 0.8-hectare wasteland of the Lüneburger Bogen into a short turnover plantation of fast-growing poplars. The motive for the Stadtwirtschaft is the production of a marketable fuel (woodchip and wood pellets) from the resulting lop. As the current wood proportion of the lop is too low for the market, a solution to the problem was found by adding high-quality woodchip from the short turnover plantation. In 2007, therefore, 18,000 cuttings were planted, whose wood should be "harvested" every 3 to 4 years.
The project was defined as a pilot project as it was not possible at short notice to reclassify the land for agricultural use. The pilot project should test the feasibility on a demolition site and, in particular, the profitability should be assessed.
Gesellschaft für Wohn- und Gewerbeimmobilien (GWG) is the owner of around one third of the housing stock in Halle-Neustadt and has a strong interest in cost-neutral forms of new use for renaturation areas. As a result, the leasing of the spaces to the Stadtwirtschaft represents a win-win situation for the participating stakeholders which can develop into an example for other areas. Under private law, a lease agreement was concluded between Stadtwirtschaft and GWG, which envisages the management of the short turnover plantation for a maximum of 20 years.
The costs for the application of top soil and the planting of the short turnover plantation were financed with urban redevelopment funds. For Stadtwirtschaft, no rent or lease payments are due and in return the costs for GWG for the care and maintenance of the spaces decrease. Over the medium term, Stadtwirtschaft aims to develop new market opportunities, as the climate discussion and the aims of the German Renewable Energies Act (EEG) means a shortage in bio-fuels is expected. Short turnover plantations are only profitable, however, for areas of at least 2 hectares, as only then can large machines be used for care and harvesting. Income is estimated at around Euro 600 per hectare per year. Normally, short turnover plantations barely need any care until harvesting. Secondary value-added chains can also be developed with short turnover plantations. The buds of the poplars can be used, for example, in the manufacture of cosmetic products.
The project also has positive effects for the inhabitants of the urban district. The periodically changing "urban forest" contributes both to the upgrading of the landscape of the living environment and to the value of a worthless space through a "productive landscape form". The short turnover plantation Lüneburger Bogen represents a component for implementing the guideline set by ISEK to expand the landscape space into the housing estate. The pilot project meets with high levels of acceptance both from the residents and from other housing companies. Other housing companies have already expressed their interest in realising short turnover plantations on renaturation areas.
Opportunities and solutions
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Demolition of the building block on the Lüneburger Bogen and application of top soil |
| 2007 | Planting of cuttings |
| 2007 | Measures to remove weeds |
| 2008 | Expansion of the short turnover plantation |
Source: Stadtwirtschaft GmbH Halle
Source: Stadtwirtschaft GmbH Halle
An energy forest in a large housing estate is an entirely new idea. The planting of renewable raw materials on spaces formerly used for buildings does not compete for space being used for food production. The project reuses wastelands by creating productive landscapes. The city stakeholders involved in the short turnover plantation demonstrates courage for innovative action by developing a joint solution for the location, despite the unclear economic consequences and uncertain legal positions, with the aim of being transferrable. The problem situation of the housing companies of having to maintain too many unproductive green spaces met the need of Stadtwirtschaft for cost-effective spaces for developing a new product for energy generation. The short turnover plantation pilot project is an example of innovative cooperation between two local authority companies.
The project location can be directly translated into Google-maps. Project in Google-Maps
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 06126 - town: Halle - street: Lüneburger Bogen.
Record inserted on 26.06.2009 by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) within the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBR).
Last update: 30.10.2009
