Kempten „Unter der Burghalde“

Context

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At the end of the 1980s, a shortage of housing became foreseeable in Kempten, a medium-sized city with a population of 60,000. Groups with special housing requirements (large families, the elderly, the disabled, single parents and students) were particularly affected. Also, there was a lack of spatial pre-requirements for community lifestyles. The "Integriertes Wohnen" (Integrated Living) project was intended to improve the supply of suitable living space.

A location in the urban renewal area close to the city centre - "Unter der Burghalde" - was chosen for the integrative housing project. The project location is integrated into an attractive green belt right next to the river Iller. The inner city, with all its important amenities, can be reached in only five minutes walk.

The project was funded and evaluated between 1989 and 1994 as a model plan in the research project "Elderly People and their Neighbourhood" in the federal research programme "Experimenteller Wohnungs- und Städtebau“ - ExWoSt - (experimental residential and urban development).

Project description

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The project title "Integriertes Wohnen" expressed the intention to offer the groups with particular requirements suitable living space and, especially elderly people, opportunities to live independently in their own homes. Social isolation in old age was to be avoided through building up neighbourly relationships by seeking and involving residents at an early stage. In the end, elderly people should be involved in community life, even if they have health problems, and be able to remain active.

In this new building project, living space was created for around 150 people from different age and social groups: 29 publicly funded rental flats through social house building, 32 freely financed privately owned flats, rooms for therapeutic shared accommodation with six places in individual rooms and four shared flats for students. The residential and outdoor rooms are largely barrier-free and partly adapted for disabled people.

The range of flats is supplemented by a day care station with from 12 to a maximum of 18 places. Communally usable rooms, such as a café and a guest apartment, promote the neighbourhood idea and encourage the residents of the bordering neighbourhood to take up contact. The café has become a popular meeting place for elderly people, disabled people and many local residents.

An underground car park helps to reduce the amount of traffic in the residential environment. A further important building block in the project is the so-called "Netzwerk der Hilfe" (Assistance Network). The residents receive consultation services and the assistance they need from a qualified social project worker. The coordination of the social work is in the hands of a foundation which was founded especially for this project by Sozialbau Kempten, the project organiser. This housing company continues to care for the residents even after the flats were moved into in autumn 1994.

The residents' involvement is not only limited to the planning and building phase. An annually elected residents' council assembles at least once a month. The council discusses current issues and concepts to support the community and organises such things as flower box decoration for the access balconies, festivals and dinner events. The annual summer festival has become an established event in Kempten's calendar and is attended by many people, even from beyond the neighbourhood.

Project chronology

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Year	Event
1989	Start of project development
1990	Search for residents; Start of resident involvement; Prize jury including two residents' representatives
1992	Start of building; Set-up of the care foundation "Dr.-Braun-Betreuungs-Stiftung"
1994	Residents' first general assembly; Statutes and election of the residents' representation; Co-determination agreement; Building completion and habitation
1995	Retro-fit of individual fire doors with automatic door openers
1997	Landscaping of the living environment (play area, garden, tenants' gardens) completed
2004	Overhaul of stairwell no. 12 with a colour guide system for better orientation

Aims

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• Neighbourly living with different generations and social groups
• Active resident involvement in planning, execution and usage of the project
• Life in a neighbourhood with awareness of responsibility and solidarity
• Urban developmental and social integration of the project into the urban district

Types of measures

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• Cooperation between housing companies, housing consultation, residents, city administration and welfare organisations
• New building with different types of housing and ownership
• Communal facilities for institutional and neighbourly assistance
• Institutionalisation of resident representation and co-determination

Innovations

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The idea of different generations and social groups living together in a socially responsible and supportive neighbourhood sets a demanding benchmark even after ten years in existence. The housing complex in the centre of the city with the café as an attraction contributes to disabled people today being a common sight in the city. The high standard of integration and involvement can today still be described as forward-thinking. Although the project arose under special conditions with great financial and personnel requirements, certain project elements still set good examples for building blocks in socially integrative and urban developmentally integrated housing projects.

Sources

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• Sozialbau Wohnungs- und Städtebaugesellschaft mbH: Model Project "Integriertes Wohnen" (Integrated Living) Kempten. Vom Modell zum Normalfall (From model to normality), Kempten 2005
• Brech, J. et al: Integriertes Wohnen – ein Modell für sozialen Wohnungsbau (Integrated Living - a model for social house building). – Darmstadt 1994

Further information

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• Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (ed.): Wohnen im Alter – zuhause im Wohnquartier (Life in Old Age - At Home in the Neighbourhood). Model Plan of the Research Programme for Experimental Housing and Urban Development. Bonn 1995
• Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (ed.): ExWoSt - Information on the research project "Ältere Menschen und ihr Wohnquartier“ (Elderly People and their Neighbourhood) No. 10 (1993), No.11 (1993), No. 12 (1996)

The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 87435 - town: Kempten - street: Brennergasse 10.

Protagonists

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• Project Organiser: Sozialbau Wohnungs- und Städtebaugesellschaft mbH, Allgäuer Straße 1, 87435 Kempten, Tel.: 0831/25 287-54, Fax: 0831/25 287-55
• Residents' Representation: c/o Hildegard Thiess, Brennergasse 10, 87435 Kempten