Why is the G+L on women in planning so important? Because we lull ourselves too much into a sense of security.

We think female landscape architects are underrepresented. That’s why we’re giving them a platform in G+L 02/2020. We present projects by women, discuss why there are so few female office owners and whether the gender pay gap and the few women-led offices are individual or structural problems. Why is the G+L on women in planning so important? Because we lull ourselves too much into a sense of security.

Gender equality? We are almost all in favor of it. At the moment, it’s even downright hip to stand up for women’s rights and an absolute no-go not to take part in the relevant debates. Feminist issues have become part of discussions with family and friends. However, if you are confronted with questions about egalitarian gender relations in your own professional environment, things get trickier. In fact, it takes courage and overcoming to advocate for equal rights in front of your employer or colleagues.

We had a similar experience when working on this issue. We asked numerous planners for statements on the topic of “women in planning”. The response was muted, to put it mildly. One planner wrote to us in an email that the topic was too complex for a statement. If this is the case, then we in the editorial team want to open up the discussion all the more.

In this issue, we take a look at the working and living environment of female planners in 2020, as well as whether and how planners need to respond to women as a separate stakeholder group in our designs.

The profession lulls itself into a sense of security

In this interview, we get expert input from Tanja Mölders, Junior Professor of Broadcasting and Space at Leibniz Universität Hannover, and talk to her about the gender pay gap, parental leave and quotas. We let the professionals have their say, including Doris Grabner from grabner huber lipp, who describes her positive experiences in the profession, and Laura Vahl from lavaland, who argues that politicians should set more guidelines for gender-equitable freedom. Only then would these become a reality.

What have we learned from working with the magazine? In terms of salary, career and family planning, there is also an imbalance between men and women in planning – to the detriment of women. However, the profession itself is hardly aware of this. They are lulled into a sense of security. As a result, there is no reason to take a closer look at the issue. We would like to change this and ask you to take the commentary in the current G+L to heart, because: We need to discuss it more openly.

You can purchase G+L 02/2020 on the topic of women in planning here.

Interested in the latest competition results in landscape architecture, but hardly have time to look at them properly? In the G+L competition overview, Heike Vossen provides monthly updates on the most exciting competition results. Domplatz Goslar, nsp christoph schonhoff landschaftsarchitekten stadtplaner, Hanover From stone square to collegiate garden: the imperial palace in Goslar is no longer to be surrounded by outdated functional buildings and parking lots, […].

Interested in the latest competition results in landscape architecture, but hardly have time to look at them properly? In the G+L competition overview, Heike Vossen provides monthly updates on the most exciting competition results.

From a stone square to a monastery garden: in future, the Imperial Palace in Goslar will no longer be surrounded by outdated functional buildings and parking lots, but will have an environment that makes its historical identity legible. The winning design is committed to the location and creates an open space that enters into a dialog with the imperial palace and cathedral area, but at the same time allows a contemporary approach to history. A large lower meadow roundel forms the new center, bordered by seating steps that blend into the rising topography. Like a large magnifying glass, the meadow roundel provides insights into history through fragmentary tracings of the former ground plans of the collegiate church and cloister. To protect the fragile remains of the foundations, a layer of gravel and poured concrete built on top marks the historical traces and gives the site the necessary robustness to allow it to be used for events.

The Ohne as an identity- and design-forming guiding element: the winning design for the Thuringian State Garden Show 2024 embeds the new Gartenstadt residential quarter in a coherent, varied green corridor including the renaturalized Ohne floodplain. The authors are building on the Green Axis coming from the southern part of the city and are leading it through the green corridor as a finely tuned path concept – partly as a striking promenade, partly as curved paths following the course of the stream. The new city edge promenade links the landscape park with existing footpaths and cycle paths and completes the network of paths to form a continuous circular route. The active zone is characterized by a robust range of play and sports facilities and presents itself as a park-like landscape with open meadow areas. The Ohne floodplain, on the other hand, is being developed as a high-quality, small-scale natural space with a meandering watercourse and undulating alluvial forest. Green fingers interweave the new garden city with the adjoining landscape and, according to the jury, also justify the elimination of the allotments in this location.

From parade ground to climate-active city square: instead of sealed traffic and parking areas, Ludwigsburg’s central city squares are to be given space for pedestrians and traffic is to be reorganized – in future, only public transport is to cross the squares. The winning design transforms Schillerplatz into a city tree and urban square with individual plane trees and long benches that provide sufficient space for events and festivals. Arsenalplatz, where soldiers used to patrol, will become a “green salon” with a large tree canopy (Paulownia tomentosa), mobile seating elements, drinking fountains and play areas. Similar to the castle courtyards, the center will have a light-colored gravel surface that can seep away, which the jury considers to be an interesting and necessary contribution to urban climate adaptation together with the new green volume. The design strengthens the connections for pedestrians and also links to the adjacent green spaces of the Arsenal and Zeughaus gardens, which are strengthened as a green oasis.