City Council adopts "brownfields concept" as part of the urban development concept - "Chemnitz 2020"
At its meeting yesterday, Chemnitz City Council approved the "brownfields concept" as part of the urban development concept - Chemnitz 2020, or SEKo for short.
At the same time, the council instructed the administration to initiate funding applications for the revitalisation of brownfield sites. To this end, funding from the European Regional Development Fund is to be applied for by 2020.
Based on surveys of the city of Chemnitz's brownfield register, the now confirmed "brownfield concept" was developed. The areas recorded in it correspond to around
11 per cent of the settlement area and cover a total of around 600 hectares of the built-up area of Chemnitz.
As brownfield sites are potential building land in the centre of the city, their reuse has become a key task of urban renewal. In practice, however, their conversion is usually a challenging process. The economical use of land is expressly enshrined in the German Building Code. For this reason, the Free State of Saxony also utilises funding instruments for the strategic activation of derelict sites in the municipalities. On 12 May, the Saxon cabinet approved the realignment of the state's brownfield programme, which was primarily necessary due to changes in EU funding. It also regulates the conditions under which local authorities receive financial support for the revitalisation of brownfield sites. Among other things, they must draw up integrated urban development concepts including a "brownfields" section.
On the one hand, mobilising such unused land resources leads to an improvement in the urban structure from an economic, social and ecological perspective.
On the other hand, this "redensification" is also an important component of sustainable urban development, as the subsequent densification of existing neighbourhoods offers potential for climate protection through resource and space efficiency.
From both an economic and ecological perspective, it is important to curb the constant expansion of settlement and transport areas. This is one of the reasons why city planners in Chemnitz are looking for ways to integrate new residential areas into the existing infrastructure. Brownfield sites and gaps between buildings are ideal for this. For example, the "Sustainable housing development" concept has been focussing on the aspect of housing development by identifying brownfield sites for the construction of owner-occupied homes since 2010.
Background:
The state brownfield programme is a funding programme of the Free State of Saxony and has been in existence since 2009. On 12 May of this year, the Saxon cabinet decided on its reorientation, which was primarily necessary due to changes in EU funding. In the state brownfield programme, the municipalities' own contribution was also newly regulated. Previously, cities and municipalities had to finance at least ten per cent of the eligible expenditure as their own contribution from the municipal budget. Now, with the approval of the Saxon State Ministry of the Interior, this own contribution can be completely replaced by other funds in justified cases. Municipalities receive funding, for example, for demolition, clearing, securing buildings, removing contaminated sites as well as for development, site design and renaturalisation. In order to benefit from such funding, local authorities must draw up integrated urban development concepts including a "brownfields" section.