Freiburg-Rieselfeld „District Development Rieselfeld“

Context

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The urban extension project for approximately 11.000 residents in the district Rieselfeld on Freiburg’s western outskirts is being realized since 1991. In response to the growing housing demand the district was conceived with the intention of avoiding the defects besetting existing large housing estates and of consciously contributing to a functional augmentation in housing development. A significant step forward was already achieved by the fact that various amenities and the tram connection had been realized before people even started settling in the area.

Project description

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Stable social structures were to be created via professional social work and the socio-cultural infrastructure was to be developed jointly with the new residents. To achieve this, the task of building up the residential district was assigned to the intermediary organization “Contact Point for Practice-Oriented Research” at the Protestant Polytechnic Freiburg.This agency took on the challenge of initiating, supporting and mediating the development of a workable everyday culture. For the work within the district, the charitable association “K.I.O.S.K. (Contact, Information, Organization, Self-Help, Culture) in Rieselfeld was established.

The K.I.O.S.K. association’s various activities are aimed at creating a supply-oriented open communication structure. One of the central tasks was promoting the involvement in the planning and construction of the new district. The association is a point of address for the diverse planning stakeholders and simultaneously sees its mission in the transportation of resident suggestions and requirements. The opening of the K.I.O.S.K. shop meant that infrastructures such as a post office and bakery as well as a central contact point for the new residents could be provided as early on as in the construction stage. Besides the council grant, significant third-party funds (job creation schemes, employment promotion programme, research funds) could be mobilized so that several people could work on the project continuously.

With the relocation of “K.I.O.S.K.” into the newly build district club “Glashaus” in autumn 2003 the association’s position now forms the cultural central point of the district.

Project chronology

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Aims

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• Creating a workable everyday culture in the sense of a functioning communication structure
• Support for resident involvement in district build-up and development
• Building up a social and cultural infrastructure as early on as during the estate’s construction start
• Promoting and supporting public involvement and self-administration
• Promotion of neighbourhoods

Types of measures

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• Establishment of the district’s club as the centre and starting point of the district/quarters work
• Organization of the district’s club as an open centre run also by resident’s involvement
• Organization of the social and cultural life in the district with socio cultural and generation-spanning offers and activities
• Contact point for various matters like child guidance, migration consultation hours etc.
• Neighbourly help
• Tree godpheres
• Integration of the districts working groups (disco group, senior group, culture forums etc.), local shops and initiatives
• Events like flea markets, Christmas markets, festivals
• Information offers such as the district newspaper „LITFASS“, website, discussion forums etc.

Innovations

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During the first settlement stage of the project “District Development Rieselfeld“ the shaping of the new district’s social and cultural identity in a targeted fashion began. Resident identification with the new estate and the early involvement of residents in the design of the estate environment and the entire district contributed to the development of a varied residential quarter which is worth living in. Not least the good cooperation with the city council contributed to that.

Sources

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• Stadt Freiburg (Freiburg Council) (ed.): Wo Freiburg weiter wächst – Dokumentation zum Projektstand (Where Freiburg Continues to Grow – Documentation on Project Progress). Freiburg 2002
• Maier, Konrad (1997): Quartiersaufbau Rieselfeld (District Development Rieselfeld), in: Humpert, Klaus (ed.): Stadterweiterung: Freiburg Rieselfeld. Modell für eine wachsende Stadt (Urban Extension: Freiburg Rieselfeld. Model for a Growing City.). Stuttgart
• Stadt Freiburg (Freiburg Council) (ed.): Der Stadtteil Rieselfeld in Freiburg. Von der Planung zur Realisierung (The Rieselfeld District in Freiburg. From Planning to Realization). Provisional appraisal June 1997. Freiburg 1997

Further information

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• http://www.efh-freiburg.de
• http://www.rieselfeld.freiburg.de

The project location can be directly translated into Google-maps. Project in Google-Maps

The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 79111 - town: Freiburg - street: Maria von Rudloff Platz 2.

Protagonists

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• Projektgruppe Rieselfeld (Project Group Rieselfeld), Fehrenbachallee 12, 79106 Freiburg i.Br., homepage: http://www.rieselfeld.freiburg.de
• Association „K.I.O.S.K“ auf dem Rieselfeld e.V. Maria von Rudloff Platz 2 , 79111 Freiburg, http://www.rieselfeld.org