"Grüner Saum" and "Grüne Mitte" as open space concept
(Saxony)
Photography: bgmr Landschaftsarchitekten
As one of the most important coal and energy centres in the GDR, Hoyerswerda recorded huge jumps in population between 1950 and 1981 from approx. 7,500 to approx. 71,000 inhabitants. Since 1990, the number of inhabitants has halved, so that empty apartment buildings were already being pulled down in 1997. The city of Hoyerswerda has also been able to gain experience of dynamic transformation processes early on, in particular of extensive demolition.
As a response to the forecast downward trend in population to 30,600 by 2020, the demolition of entire housing complexes will continue over the long-term. According to Integriertes Stadtentwicklungskonzept (InSEK), a total of 12,100 residential units have been demolished just in the Neustadt. The planned use of the space envisages a focus on renaturation in the marginal areas in order to strengthen the centre.
Photography: bgmr Landschaftsarchitekten
In addition to the urban development concept, the city council developed an overall inner-city open space concept: "Neue Freiräume Hoyerswerda". In this way, the further urban redevelopment process is steered target-orientated and isolated renaturation measures on demolition sites are avoided. The central aim is to create a flexible framework in order to integrate the open spaces created into a high quality and economically sustainable open space system. It connects to the available open spaces, paths and bodies of water in the city and networks it with the cultural landscape of the surrounding area. The focus is on the restructuring of the urban fringe areas and the redefinition of the interface between Altstadt and Neustadt.
The aim was to steer the view away from the loss of a residential part of the city towards new chances for urban development by demonstrating the qualities and potential. The stakeholders have agreed the "Grüner Saum" and a "Grüne Mitte" between two centres as the preferred scenario. The feature of the concept lies in the requirement for clear space structures and quality space. A patchwork landscape is created, which makes the conditions of the urban redevelopment visible and which reinterprets it as an urban culture landscape. The "New Landscapes" are being created in the renaturation areas on the eastern fringe of the Neustadt. A graded, colourful forest edge with foliage creates areas of experience.
That the renaturation spaces are largely owned by two local housing companies was helpful in reaching a consensus. The "New Landscapes" were created and are maintained largely on a cost-neutral basis. This was possible as a result of the support for the initial forestation within the framework of the Agrarumweltmassnahmen und Waldmehrung (RL AuW/2007) (agricultural environmental measures and forestation) support from the Saxon State Office for Environment, Agriculture and Geology, and through leases, both of the forest and the meadows, as pasture. In current practice, part of the initial forestation was financed through funding for 70% of the net costs from "Agrarumweltmaßnahmen und Waldmehrung" and the other proportion by the housing companies. The largest part is forested using equalisation funds. To this end, the renaturation areas are leased for 5 years to persons and companies with equalisation requirement and without rent. The renaturation of the transport areas is financed by the city with equalisation funds.
The housing companies are gradually downgrading the book value during the demolition and renaturation process. The costs for the sustained care and maintenance of demolition areas are estimated by the housing companies in Hoyerswerda at Euro 350 /ha. The conversion of the public landscapes into mixed orchards is also an aim as a management option.
The public exhibition of the results and the agreement of the scenarios in the working group "Urban redevelopment" during the development of the open space concept had an effect. To make the communication permanent, the "Orange Box" was set up as a city information centre with information about the "Neue Freiräume Hoyerswerda" concept.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2005 | Student workshop in Hoyerswerda |
| 2005 | Public exhibition of the results |
| 2008 | Agreement of the guiding concept "Neue Freiräume Hoyerswerda" by the city council |
| 2009 | Inner-city guiding concept (management plan) |
Photography: bgmr Landschaftsarchitekten
As a result of the innovative use of an informal instrument, the "Neue Freiräume Hoyerswerda" concept, the development of the entire inner-city open space, is steered in the urban redevelopment process. It creates a binding framework for the consensus-orientated implementation of individual measures and at the same time leaves room for freedom of expression. The moderation by an external institute accelerated the agreement process and encouraged consensus. Through new landscape images, the loss of parts of the settlement is seen as a win for better quality of the location.
The project location can be directly translated into Google-maps. Project in Google-Maps
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 02977 - town: Hoyerswerda - street: Albert-Einstein-Strasse.
Record inserted on 06.07.2009 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: 29.10.2009
