Entwicklungsprozesse von Umstrukturierungsgebieten in Düsseldorf : Analyse, Bewertung, Folgerungen für eine strategische und kooperative Stadterneuerung

• Development processes of conversion areas in Düsseldorf : analysis, valuation, conclusions for a strategic and cooperative urban renewal

Fischer, Hagen; Wachten, Kunibert (Thesis advisor)

Aachen : Publikationsserver der RWTH Aachen University (2011)
Dissertation / PhD Thesis

Aachen, Techn. Hochsch., Diss., 2011

Abstract

Structural change is a constant process in urban development. In the same way that industrialisation had a dramatic effect for the towns on shaping their structure from the middle of the 19th century onwards, the process of deindustrialisation that began from the middle of the 1960’s also led to changes in the structure of towns. The structural change shows the way to areas being abandoned that could be used in new ways by the owners of the land, with the support of the relevant planning and approval processes by the local authorities. The literature primarily covers proposals for action and organisation regarding the revitalisation of the areas involved in these structural changes. The literature and research hardly touch at all on the question as to which roles the process sequences and relations of the main protagonists involved adopt in the complex planning and implementation processes that are part of restructuring and which approaches by control of the processes arise. Clearing this deficit is the start-ing point of this work and justifies the interest in researching it. The development sequences of nine cases from Düsseldorf and four external conversion cases were analysed and evaluated so as to obtain a knowledge of the overall conditions involved in complex renewal and restructuring processes. Why take Düsseldorf as an example? Düsseldorf contains, except for the collieries, the complete typological cross-section of abandoned areas that had formerly been used by the Montan industry, the railways, the post office and the harbour, an exemplary case that it is very suitable to examine the structural changes and the restructuring of the abandoned areas and the involved processes. The evaluation deals with the questions after the development processes and process structures from the areas abandoned up to the completion of the realization. Particularly the combination of participants, the chronological sequences, the strategic background, the cooperation structures between public control of the procedures and private project management, the restrictions, obstructions and success factors were looked at. The aim is to verify the thesis that a strategic and cooperative form of control of urban renewal processes is crucial to future urban development. The analysis and evaluation comes to the conclusion that the cases that had been selected show very long times for conversion. In some areas changes in the overall conditions resulting from the lengthy implementation times led to changes in the planning and implementation goals and also to a change in the structure of players involved. Varying rates of speed of development of the areas concerned were found. The result of it is that those areas being managed and run by the municipal administration and the persons responsible for the project have shorter implementation times than those that had been left entirely to market forces. In the latter areas there was only cooperation between the main players from time to time during the planning and approval procedures. A form of coordinated overall control was missing here. The long times to make the changes also meant that the period of the implementation and effective marketability of potential items on these sites such as apartments, shops, commercial buildings and offices is impossible to calculate. This makes it harder to plan the urban development in advance. The conclusion to be derived from this is that an active and cooperative form of control throughout the planning and implementation processes by the municipal authorities and the persons responsible for the project is indispensable. In addition to the requirement for control by the persons responsible for the project, this also involves in the case of the municipal authorities a cooperative and supportive form of complementary control during the prolonged periods of implementation. At the centre of this is the urban planning, by which the instruments should be balanced out the various interests of investors, the administrative authorities and the local citizens. The urban planning concept that has been developed jointly through a consensus is the base for the type and quality of the entire restructuring process from urban planning, urban design, economic and ecological points of view. This is secured by the municipal development planning. The urban construction contract regulates the sharing of the costs and the joint actions of the players involved. The control requirements related to urban renewal and their strategic orientation will be of increasing importance in future. While in the past the structural changes related to the giving up land use that became available for other purposes in individual segments such as commerce and industry, railways and post offices, in the future it will also be necessary to look at the towns and cities as a whole within their regional and global context.

Institutions

• Chair of Urban Design and Institute for Urban Design and European Urbanism [212410]