The city of Wuppertal is hosting the 2031 Federal Garden Show. In October 2022, the German Federal Horticultural Society (DBG) gave its verbal commitment. Those involved are now working on the preparations and one focus is crystallizing – the mobility turnaround. Everything you need to know about Wuppertal BUGA 2031 here.

Following the council’s decision and the successful referendum, the city of Wuppertal applied to host the 2031 Federal Garden Show. In October 2022, the German Federal Horticultural Show Association (DBG) made a verbal commitment. Those involved are now working on the preparations and one focus is crystallizing – the mobility turnaround. Everything you need to know about Wuppertal BUGA 2031 here.

Back in November 2021, the Council voted by a large majority in favor of Wuppertal bidding to host the Federal Garden Show (BUGA) in 2031. Voices against this were initially loud and a referendum was held in May 2022. However, the majority of voters were in favor of the BUGA, meaning that planning can now continue. The German Federal Garden Show Society (DBG) visited Wuppertal and was impressed by the plans. The application will now be officially confirmed at a notarial appointment in December.

In the meantime, the city of Wuppertal is working on the concrete work for the projects. The non-profit “BUGA Wuppertal 2031 gGmbH” is to be founded on January 1, 2031. It is to be supported by DBG and the city and realize the BUGA as a company. The contracts for this have already been agreed. Three qualified experts are at work in the project office.

Current tasks include developing a utilization concept for the Vohwinkel station building with Deutsche Bahn and DBG, holding talks with the state ministries on funding scenarios and commissioning in-depth expert reports on the planned suspension bridge. In addition, the city association of citizens’ associations is working on the idea of a cycle route around Wuppertal, which will become a central project of the BUGA plus concept. And the BUGA sponsors’ association is working on sponsorship and financing models.

There will be three core areas at the Wuppertal BUGA 2031: Tesche, Green Zoo and Wupperpforte. The project office is currently working on defining the planned measures for these areas in more detail and then commissioning them in good time. The topic of mobility will play a special role with new cycle paths and improvements to the Wuppertal suspension railroad, among other things.

Links to the IGA Ruhr 2027 are also planned. This will present local initiative projects, municipal projects and future topics such as climate resilience, biodiversity and sustainable mobility on three levels: My Garden, Our Gardens and Future Gardens. The BUGA in Wuppertal aims to build on these themes.

Urban development projects in Wuppertal are to be advanced over the next ten years and beyond the BUGA at a maximum cost of 70 million euros. This includes the “Wuppertal’s new green urban landscape” project, including the development of the Tescher Wiesen recreational area. This will create an easily accessible park landscape that will improve the quality of life in Vohwinkel.

Other ideas for the BUGA include new sports facilities, better footpaths and cycle paths, the upgrading of historic parks and a cable car for access to the heights. The planned suspension bridge between Königs- and Kaiserhöhe is to become a permanent tourist attraction.

The thematic focus will be on the circular economy, the water-sensitive city or sponge city and a sustainable, climate-friendly BUGA.

Uwe Schneidewind, the Lord Mayor of Wuppertal, announced that he would strive for a Federal Garden Show without additional parking spaces. He would also like to present Wuppertal as an example of the transport revolution. The city offers innovative and very good local public transport with the suspension railroad, which is known throughout Germany and carries 60,000 passengers a day. In addition, you can reach a city path from anywhere in the city in ten minutes on foot.

He has been Lord Mayor since 2020. Before that, he was Managing Director of the Wuppertal Institute, a renowned think tank for sustainability research, for ten years. Schneidewind was also President of the University of Oldenburg and held the Chair of Innovation Management and Sustainability at the University of Wuppertal.

BUGA 2031 in Wuppertal is to be largely car-free. The expected two million visitors should see the mobility turnaround in the city. This includes projects such as a massively expanded cycle path network, land reclamation, the train station as a central gateway and improvements to the suspension railroad.

For the city of Wuppertal, the Federal Horticultural Show is a unique opportunity for funding programs, sustainable urban development projects and public and private investment. The numerous supra-regional visitors can massively improve the image of a city through the Federal Horticultural Show.

On the other hand, a Federal Garden Show always entails financial risks. The planning period of ten years is very long, which makes it difficult to make reliable forecasts for the city’s budget. Burdens such as corona and the war in Ukraine cannot be predicted. In addition, there are necessary investments that have priority.

The city of Wuppertal commissioned an initial feasibility study back in 2018. This determined that a BUGA concept in Wuppertal is feasible in principle. The revised second feasibility study will form the basis of the official application. However, the feasibility study does not yet represent detailed planning, but rather a first step.

The successful application will be followed by a broad-based participation process involving citizens, institutions, companies and city districts. The aim is for everyone to benefit from the BUGA. In addition to the core areas, the focus is also on external sites and additional projects as part of “BUGA plus”, such as a bicycle circuit, a suspension bridge and other ideas of touristic value.

By the way: Read more about the IGA Ruhr 2027 here.

With the work Tesseracts of Time, Jessica Lang and Steven Holl, choreographer and architect, combine architecture and dance.

Architecture and dance. Two disciplines that could not be more different. Built architecture is long-lasting, it surrounds us every day, while choreography is perceived at the moment of performance. What the two forms of expression have in common, however, is the exploration of space and light; they play with form and color, with light and shadow.

With the work “Tesseracts of Time”, which premiered at the Harris Theater in Chicago last November, Jessica Lang and Steven Holl, choreographer and architect, are now combining these two fields. “What architecture needs is a mixture with other art forms. Poetry, music and dance should be sources of inspiration,” says Holl.

The starting point for the collaboration was the prepositions: under, in, on, over. They divide the work of art into four sections, each lasting only five minutes. At the same time, the sections represent the four seasons. Inspired by the film “Andrej Rubljow” from the 1960s, dark colors and geometric shapes dominate the first scenes in accordance with the tides, while the finale ends in an explosion of color.

In the third scene, fragments of a four-dimensional hypercube form the center of the dance performance. The white-clad dancers seem to float under, in, on and above the dynamic construct in their midst, making it their own. Architecture and dance merge into one mass.

You can find out more in Baumeister 5/2016