Rural experiment in "prefabricated building"
(Saxony)
After large population losses in the 1990s, the population of Leipzig has been increasing slightly again. The growth is concentrated, above all, in the Wilheminian housing stock. The population losses in the areas on the urban fringe, in particular in the large housing estates, is continuing.
Paunsdorf-Heiterblick was built on the north-eastern edge of Leipzig in the late 1980s. The project Grüner Bogen Paunsdorf aims, in particular, to stabilise the residential location. Renaturation and revitalisation of the directly adjacent, former barracks "Heiterblick" play a central role in the upgrading of the living environment.
A valuable biotope developed on the site of the barracks as a result of the military use. While the barracks itself is being revitalised as a commercial location, the exercise area owned by the city is secured in its protected landscape and biotope character and protected against vegetation encroachment. To this end, the area was fenced into parts and leased for year-round grazing. The grazing project is integrated into the Grüner Bogen Paunsdorf, which with 120 ha is the largest open space development project in north-east Leipzig.
Photography: bgmr Landschaftsarchitekten
The Grüner Bogen Paunsdorf forms a staged interface between the urban open spaces and the rural surrounds. A circular promenade forms the design frame, which leads to various leisure areas and to pronounced viewpoints. Together with agricultural and military wastelands, it forms the new Park Ring.
Next to the large housing estate of Paunsdorf-Heiterblick, the former military exercise area is being replaced by a contemporary public park with high quality designed leisure space, exemplary natural conservation strategies and alternative management concepts. A lake (rain retention basins), a sports park and other sport and leisure facilities should also increase the attractiveness of the large housing estate. Another component is a unique grazing project in which Heck cattle and Przewalski's horses maintain the open land character of the former exercise site and considerably increase the value of the landscape. The wild animals have already become a treasured component of the urban district for the residents. The intensively designed areas of the Grüner Bogen are also attended by a shepherd.
A development plan was necessary for the development of the Grüner Bogen. This created a basis for the purchase of the space by the city, equalisation areas are defined, rights of way on private properties secured and, not least, the settlement of a large retailer is prevented. A competition design as a nature reserve concept formed the basis of the overall concept.
The Grüner Bogen Paunsdorf is evaluated internationally as a good example because of its stakeholder constellation and is researched by the EU project "GreenKeys – Stadtgrün als Schlüssel für nachhaltige Städte". The tradition of the Leipzig citizens' societies is being actively used. The Bürgerverein Paunsdorf e.V., together with the Leipzig Amt für Stadtgrün und Gewässer (Office for City Green Areas and Water), is the permanent contact partner for the public and interested parties. Small partnerships were established in order to anchor the project in the urban district. The neighbours became involved in the conception, as well as in the maintenance and management of the park. They assume the responsibility for care of the trees, Heck cattle and wild horses.
The general conditions of the grazing in the sense of nature conservation, such as the number of animals, are governed by the management contract. One feature of the project is that new problems, such as new EU directives on vaccination requirements and costly methods of slaughter, are proactively addressed outside the practised planning routines.
The leasing of the grazing areas to an ecologically working farming company of the Naturschutzbund (Nabu, Natural Conservation Association) is proven as a new form of funding. The city provides the leased areas for grazing free of charge. The leaseholders finance themselves, inter alia, through grassland premiums. After the end of the funding, however, the company has to support itself in full from the marketing of organic meat, breeding animals and the nature conservation-based landscape management support. Through the organic meat production, the attempt is to use the renaturation spaces economically in the future.
The public park is financed with the city's funds, funding from various programmes (commercial space development, urban redevelopment) and from donations. The conscious strategy is to steer the equalisation measures of other projects towards the spaces and to assist with the initial financing for the realisation of the Grüner Bogen, so that 60% of the measures are financed from equalisation funds. Youth clubs and exercise areas are pilot projects in the European Research Project GreenKeys and are partly financed through this. The development (paths, steps, terraces) was financed with city funds.
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2000 | Landscape architecture competition |
| From 2004 | Start of grazing |
| 2005 | Completion of the 1st section of the "Grüner Bogen" |
| 2007 | Architecture prize of the City of Leipzig |
| until 2011 | Planned completion of the entire "Grüner Bogen" project |
Photography: Stadt Leipzig
Photography: bgmr Landschaftsarchitekten
The open land character is created on the urban fringe through extensive and natural grazing. Grazing is a sensible alternative to conventional maintenance measures in the urban and suburban space. The motive of the grazing strengthens the residents' identification with their environment. Supporting pillars of the project are the small stakeholder structure and the necessary adjustment of the respective "area tactic" to the changing requirements. The high level of commitment among the public and the administration must be stressed as a factor for the success of this project.
The publicly effective participation in European projects (Greenkeys research project) supports the intensive publicity work and ensures international publicity.
The project location can be directly translated into Google-maps. Project in Google-Maps
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 04329 - town: Leipzig - street: Waldkerbelstraße.
Record inserted on 15.07.2009 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: 30.10.2009
