NEW VISIONS OF URBAN POLITICS MEDIUM-SIZED EUROPEAN CITIES IN THE 21 ST CENTURY MAY 14-16, 2014, OLOMOUC, CZECH REPUBLIC

NEW VISIONS OF URBAN POLITICS MEDIUM-SIZED EUROPEAN CITIES IN THE 21 ST CENTURY MAY 14-16, 2014, OLOMOUC, CZECH REPUBLIC

The Green City as Model for Cities in CEE? Sustainable urban development strategies of Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany) revisited Jakob Hurrle // Charles University Prague, Faculty of Sciences

1. Introduction: Freiburg, a role model for cities in Central and Eastern Europe?

Three key challenges for urban development in the Czech Republic Urban sprawl

Three key challenges for urban development in the Czech Republic Urban sprawl Shift of functions from city centres to periphery and from shopping streets into closed centres

Three key challenges for urban development in the Czech Republic Urban sprawl Shift of functions from city centres to periphery and from shopping streets into closed centres Increase of carusage and cardependency

Risks: The potential of historic centres is not fully used People move out of the city and retailers locate to periphery or into closed centres Streets in city centre turn empty City centre is perceived as a less attractive or even dangerous place Creation costs for additional public infrastructure Higher maintainance costs for infrastructure due to lower density Ecological costs (congestion, conversion of fertile lands, emmissions) Arguably, lower quality of life More people leave the city and more shops close

The city of Freiburg im Breisgau (Geremany) is often presented as a role model of sustainable urban development. To what extend is this reputation deserved? What inspirations do Freiburg s experiences offer to cities in Central and Eastern Europe in relation to the above-defined urban development challenges?

Freiburg in a nutshell: Favourable natural environment Currently 218 000 inhabitants Large university (ca. 22 000 students) and various research institutes Absence of larger industry Famous cathedral in old town Image as ecological town Cycling Quality of public transportation Solar energy Reduction of CO2 emissions Stronghold of Green Party

2. Political history How Freiburg turned green

1950s and early 1960s Freiburg, the Conservative-Liberal City

Destruction and Reconstruction: Conservative Freiburg vs. Progressive Frankfurt

Conservative Freiburg: Maintainace of tram system contrary to expert advise One thing can be predicted with certainty. The time of streetcars is over. In the future tram systems will be dismantled in more and more of our cities. - Interim report of an expert commission 1971

1960s till 1980s: Protest city

Since the 1980s: Towards a participatory political culture and a new ecological consensus - The protest movements of the 1970s loose relevance. Thanks to the rise of the Green Party to some extend they become integrated in the regular political system. - Many important local decisions are taken after intense political debates, public votes, etc. Arguably, this improved the quality of the results of public policy and led to interesting - Sustainable development is more and more accepted as a political priority and has developed into Freiburg s trademark ( solar city, green city, ecological capital ).

Municipal elections Year Total seats in city council Green party Christian Democratic Party (CDU) Social Democratic Party (SPD) 1965 48 18 18 1968 48 19 17 1971 48 19 18 1975 48 21 17 1980 48 4 20 14 1984 48 9 18 13 1989 48 10 14 13 1994 48 12 13 11 1999 48 10 16 11 2004 48 13 13 8 2009 48 12 10 9 2014 48

Whose city?

3. Freiburg as a model for urban development - 2010 award by Academy of Urbanism European City of the Year - publication Freiburg Charter

Freiburg Charter The model for the development of all future settlements is that of a compact, decentralised city. It consists of functional units where all services are accessible on foot to all of the population, and involves a consistent focus on in-town development. The city of the future is one that embraces cultural and functional overlapping, cultural diversity, education,careful resource management, energy efficiency and regional communication. When cities grow, it may, in exceptional cases, become necessary to develop settlements on their outskirts. Such settlements must fulfil the criteria of a compact city. The following 12 principles should therefore be considered and applied in all planning and development measures for a sustainable city: I. CITY OF DIVERSITY, SAFETY AND TOLERANCE II. CITY OF NEIGHBOURHOODS III. CITY OF SHORT DISTANCES IV. URBAN DEVELOPMENT ALONG PUBLI C TRANSPORT ROUTES HIGH -DENSITY MODEL V. CITY OF EDUCATION, SCIENCE AND CULTU RE VI. CIT Y OF COMMERCE, ECONOMY AND EMPLOYMENT VII. CITY OF NATURE AND ENVIRONMENT VIII. CITY OF QUALITY DESIGN IX. CITY OF LONG -TERM PLANNING X. CITY OF COMMUNICATION IX. RELIABILITY, OBLIGATION AND FAIRNESS XII. CITY OF COOPERATION, PARTI CIPATION AND PARTNERSHIP (2010 Academy of Urbanism, City of Freiburg: Freiburg Charter)

4.How green and how effective? Three dimensions of Freiburg s green strategies revisited

4.1 Transportation policy - Introduction of pedastrian zone (1972) - Gradual enlargement of tram system ( city rail ) since 1980 (from 14 km to currently 40 km) - Support of cycling infrastructure - Restrictions to parking - Building of (partly) car-free Vauban district (since 1998)

Transportation policy the regional dimension RegioCard - unique price system Gradual transformation of local rail lines into regional S-Bahn system Train as backbone of regional public transportation Enormous increases in ridership Financial problems and capacity problems slow further development

Modal split 1982-1999

Ridership increase on local rail lines to Breisach and Elzach ( Breisgau S-Bahn ) 1999: ca. 1,5 million 2006: ca. 6,5 million 2009: ca. 7,28 million 2011: ca. 7,45 million Increase by 480 % within 10 years

Transportation policy sucess factors Intense regional co-operation Increase of frequency (30 and operation time Attractive price system and integration of regional and urban transportation system

4.2 Development of new city districts: Rieselfeld (since 1993) and Vauban (since 1998)

Rieselfeld

Rieselfeld expansion of city through new district built since 1993 on municipality-owned land (former irrigation fields): 1992 open urbanistic competition for urban design of new autonomous district with access to tram network, elementary school, high school, kindergartens, infrastructure, stores, work places; high density, high quality of street spaces, squares and free spaces; Diverse living and ownership structures; small-scale structures, mix of functions,variety of usages and social structures Winning proposal by local interdisciplinary team: Return to traditional block structure inspired by Freiburg s 19th century districts Herdern and Wiehre Development centred around new tram line Limitation to five floors Today, Rieselfeld is home to 9200 people and offers 1000 work places

Management of the realization: Development of new district and sale of construction lots was managed directly by the city in co-operation with the (future) inhabitents Rules to prevent dominance of single investors in order to prevent monotone architecture (max. 3 houses per location) Small-scale mix of ownership mix and mix of subsidised and commercial housing 20 % of investors are construction groups (treated with preference by city) Investments into public infrastructure are re-financed through sale of property to private investors. The pre-financing is managed by a public bank.

Rieselfeld as ecological model district High requirements on energy efficiency Mandatory access to district heating network Preference for public transportation, walking, cycling Concept for water saving

Vauban 1992 2012

Character of Vauban: High population density (12.500 /km² - highest in Freiburg!) Parts of the Vauban district offer carfree housing Development centred around tram line 80 % of housing was built by construction groups Less social mix - most of the inhabitants are young and highly educated families Area with passive houses Car-ownership: 165 cars / 1000 inhabitants (Rieselfeld 313, Freiburg 335, Germany 517) Management of redevelopment: City purchased land from Federal government Development was managed by public bank in co-operation with city

Development of new city districts: Freiburg vs. Prague City owns land and leads and manages the process of development Final form of district as the result of open competitions and participatory processes Attempts to achieve small scale structures and social mix Public property is transferred to private developers even before land use rights enabling construction of housing are established The public planning authorities do not truly steer the process, yet react to proposals by private developers Risk to create monothone structures, which do not generate urban live and lack a social mix Lack of social housing in new developments

4.3 Regulation of retail development The last decades saw a growth of retail spaces outside of the city centre and the district centres. Negative effects: - Weakening of traditional functions - Increase of property costs for craft and industry due to competition by retailers could lead to loss of working places - Negative effect on modal split The city reacted in 1992 with the introduction of the Market and centre concept.

Market and centre concept Definition of central zones in city centre and district centres and integrated and nonintegrated non-central zones Definition of products that are centre relevant. These products can be sold only in central zones. Specific status of large retailers (larger than 800m2) in accordance with Federal Building Law. Attempts to

Conclusions: Freiburg as a role model for cities in Central and Eastern Europe? Some of the specific strategies applied in Freiburg are difficult to transplant in a different cultural and economic structure, as they depend strongly on local conditions (e.g. demand for car-free housing, readiness to pay extra for ecological solutions) Yet the overall direction of urban development in Freiburg illustrates how a city can effectively reduce car dependency and prevent the weakening of its centre. Many of these lessons could be applied also in very different contexts. The precondition is political will and a professional city administration that is capable to manage complex tasks.