Expert opinion process for the urban development of the city centre in the area around Bahnhofstrasse and Brückenstrasse completed
The city of Chemnitz has commissioned four planning teams consisting of urban planners, architects, landscape architects and traffic planners to develop ideas for the further urban development of the city centre as part of an appraisal process. Offices from Chemnitz as well as from all over Germany were invited to take part. The results are now available.
The second and final planning workshop took place on Wednesday, in which the teams presented and explained their results. Following an intensive discussion, the panel of experts chaired by Prof. Heinz Nagler recognised all the entries for their valuable proposals for the further development of the city centre. The first prize was unanimously awarded to the office:
- lohrer . hochrein landschaftsarchitekten und stadtplaner gmbh, Munich/ Magdeburg in partnership with
- löhle neubauer architekten bda, Augsburg and
- ambrosius blanke verkehr.infrastruktur, Bochum.
The winning design was convincing in all respects. Particularly noteworthy are the proposals to increase the pedestrian frequency of the Straße der Nationen and the focus of future structural development on the residential and retail functions. The work submitted sensitive and high-quality proposals for overcoming the barriers of Brückenstraße and Bahnhofstraße as well as for a development that accentuates the respective location in terms of scale and urban space.
The results of the assessment process will be further visualised in the coming weeks and presented and comprehensively explained to the citizens of Chemnitz, city councillors, potential investors and the press together with the other competition entries in an exhibition. The opening of the exhibition is planned for the end of June/beginning of July 2015. The exact location and date will be announced in good time.
Convincing solutions, in particular from the work of the first prize winner, will be taken into account both in the currently pending update of the urban development framework plan for the city centre and for the creation of building rights and marketing of individual building plots. They also represent an important basis for upcoming investments in the transport infrastructure, in particular for the further expansion of the Chemnitz model.
Background: Appraisal procedure
The appraisal process took place from December 2014 to the beginning of June 2015. Interim results were presented by the participating offices in an initial planning workshop at the beginning of March 2015, discussed by the expert panel and recommendations for finalisation were developed. In addition to experts from the fields of urban development, open space planning, transport and property management, the expert panel included representatives from all political groups on the city council as well as stakeholders from the city centre economy.
The starting point was the current status of the city centre: since the mid-1990s, it has developed very well around Markt and Neumarkt. Nevertheless, it is necessary to plan and implement further steps to revitalise the city centre. Deficits exist, for example, in the lack of retail presence. Therefore, location potential for the retail trade must be developed and at the same time the question of how to optimise the development of pedestrian areas must be answered. The city centre must also be rediscovered as a residential location for the further necessary revitalisation. The housing on offer, which has so far been strongly characterised by the residential typologies of the industrial terraced buildings of the 1960s and 1970s, needs a development boost in terms of quantity, quality, variety and also forms of ownership.
The inner city, which has so far been tightly confined within the city centre ring, must be networked with the neighbouring urban districts. The transitions need to be upgraded in terms of function and design, and the street sections of the ring need to be framed by buildings and greenery. The potential of the Straße der Nationen as an important inner-city arterial road and walking route for connecting the northern city centre to the city centre core has only been partially exploited to date. The pedestrian frequency in the area of Wall and the Rawema building has dropped significantly. The Brückenstraße barrier must be overcome.
In order to overcome the aforementioned deficits, new development impulses and a clear strategic direction for further city centre development are required.
Due to the particular importance of this area and the complexity of the urban development, open space planning and traffic requirements to be overcome, the city had invited tenders for the process. The advantage was to work out the best possible solutions from alternative development and design variants, which were developed in parallel by four planning teams with the involvement of a panel of experts.