23.12.2024

New round for national urban development projects

Building design

The Hansakai in Stralsund. The redevelopment of this quay area was included in the federal National Urban Development Project program in 2019. Photo: Lars-Christian Uhlig

Municipalities can submit urban development projects to the BBSR until December 14, 2021. As a rule, the projects must be large, structurally ambitious and also experimental projects that are exemplary for urban development throughout Germany.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior has announced the next funding round. National urban development projects will once again receive financial support in 2022. Cities and municipalities have until 14 December 2021 to apply to the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR) for the program.

National urban development projects are projects and development measures that demonstrate particular quality. It is not only their urban development approach that is exemplary. The projects also provide important impulses for building culture. They also show in an exemplary way how different stakeholder groups can be involved and integrated into the design of the city. The German government has been recognizing outstanding projects as National Urban Development Projects since 2014. In doing so, it pays tribute to them and draws attention to them. In addition, the Federal Ministry of the Interior uses the projects to demonstrate how and where its construction policy goals are realized.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community is currently announcing a new round of funding for National Urban Development Projects. A total of 50 million euros is available in this upcoming cycle. Against this backdrop, local authorities across Germany are being asked to nominate exemplary projects from their sphere of influence. Cities and municipalities have until December 14, 2021 to submit candidates for National Urban Development Projects 2022 to the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR). This call marks the ninth round of the funding program. So far, the program has already supported 193 projects. This means that almost 200 projects throughout Germany have received federal funding from the National Urban Development Projects pot.

All projects in the National Urban Design Projects program are considered exemplary. They can and should all be recognized nationally and internationally. Furthermore, all selected projects are emblematic of the German government’s building policy goals. And the government, in turn, is keen to enhance the value of Germany’s architectural heritage, design districts and urban spaces and make them fit for the future. To enable experimentation on this path, this search for innovative solutions, the funding program primarily supports large, structurally challenging and experimental projects. The projects funded since 2014 therefore include forward-looking investment and conceptual projects in urban planning and urban development. They all provide important impetus for the respective municipality or city, for the region or for the entire urban development policy in Germany.

The diversity of the funded projects reflects the range of current urban development challenges. They range from the revitalization of important individual monuments to the high-quality development of districts and urban development experiments to solve future tasks. The projects are located in metropolitan areas as well as in smaller towns and municipalities. They are spread across the whole of Germany.

In the 2021 funding cycle, three municipalities in Baden-Württemberg, five in Bavaria, four in North Rhine-Westphalia, one each in Hesse, Rhineland-Palatinate, Brandenburg, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Lower Saxony, Schleswig-Holstein, Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia as well as Berlin, Hamburg and Bremen received money. Subsidy money is helping Straubing, for example, to rebuild its town hall, which was destroyed in a fire. In Gelsenkirchen, on the other hand, the conversion of the Nordstern colliery’s coal bunker into a cultural production site is being funded. The conversion is not only a national urban development project, but also a key project of the IGA 2027 in the Ruhr metropolis. In Saalfeld, Thuringia, the revitalization of the Bergfried reformist villa ensemble is benefiting from the investment programme. In the German capital, funds are flowing into the Haus der Statistik. A community-oriented meeting place is being designed there. Finally, Erkner in Brandenburg will be able to renovate the Villa Lassen, a listed building. The former residence of playwright Gerhard Hauptmann is now a museum dedicated to his life and work.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community will continue to fund important urban development projects in the coming year 2022. To make this possible, 50 million euros have been reserved in the first government draft for the 2022 federal budget. National urban development projects are generally projects and tasks of a large financial dimension. This is why the program has an above-average funding volume. This makes it possible to tackle problems quickly and comprehensively on site. The federal government has already invested a total of 596 million euros since the start of the program. In 2021 alone, 24 projects received around 75 million euros in support. It remains to be seen which and how many projects will receive funding in the coming year.

The ball is now in the municipalities’ court. They are called upon to submit suitable projects to the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development (BBSR). The projects should represent the major challenges currently facing German cities. These include tasks such as the preservation of existing buildings, conversion, sustainable neighborhood development and, above all, climate adaptation.

The Federal Ministry of the Interior, Building and Community is also promoting the convergence of digitalization and urban development. Model projects for smart cities were sought for the third time. One such city is the Smart City Münster.

Interested in other projects of the federal program “National Urban Development Projects”? For several years now, this programme has been supporting the renovation and revitalization of the Art Nouveau Volksbad am Plärrer in Nuremberg.

10.01.2025

Product

Architecture.mountain.encounters

Building design

The mountain is Formula 1 for the construction industry. What works at an altitude of 3,000 meters usually also works in the valley.

October 13 – 16, 2016
Architecture Camp

The mountain is Formula 1 for the construction industry. What works at an altitude of 3,000 meters usually also works in the valley. Wind, snow, sun, rain – you have to be able to rely on your materials in extreme conditions. This is just as true for (high-altitude) mountaineers as it is for hut keepers in the mountains of this world.

A very special training and further education program awaits 50 architects at the International Mountain Summit 2016. At the Mountain Festival of Encounters, these architects from Germany, Austria, Switzerland and South Tyrol will not only encounter extraordinary speakers, but above all the mountain itself, as well as their own inner mountain.

“Everything is difficult high up”

Topics from the world of architecture are intermingled with insights from the craft, garnished with experience reports from hut owners and builders. Specialist lectures are followed by adventure hikes, a world premiere of a mountain film and a tour of Europe’s largest construction site in the mountains. This mix of further education has never been seen before in the world of architecture.

“Architect meets craftsman meets mountain hut owner – a summit meeting of a special kind”

Download pdf program

Registration at ims@prefa.com or +43 2762 502 849

08.01.2025

Intercultural stonemasonry project

Building design

The opening of the Intercultural Stonemasonry Project will take place on Saturday, September 10 at 1 p.m. in the Orangery in Kirchheimbolanden. After a welcome by Mr. Peter Stumpfhäuser, First Alderman of the City of Kirchheimbolanden, and a small snack on the terrace garden, a guided tour of the baroque terrace garden will follow, led by building researcher Achim Wendt. The intercultural dialog project […]

The opening of the Intercultural Stonemasonry Project will take place on Saturday, September 10 at 1 p.m. in the Orangery in Kirchheimbolanden. After a welcome by Mr. Peter Stumpfhäuser, First Alderman of the town of Kirchheimbolanden, and a small snack in the terrace garden, a guided tour of the baroque terrace garden will be given by building researcher Achim Wendt.

The intercultural dialog project brings together German and Ukrainian stonemasonry students. The three-week program, which runs from 09.09.2016 to 30.09.2016, aims to teach the professional techniques of the stonemasonry trade and also offers the opportunity to get to know a foreign culture and its people better.

The project is largely funded by the Eberhard Schöck Foundation in Baden-Baden and the master school for craftsmen in Kaiserslautern. Here, under the guidance of master stonemasons and based on the results of the building research from the baroque terrace garden, the covering slabs for retaining walls and pedestals will be produced.

The stonemasonry work will be complemented by a cultural program. This includes expert guided tours of museums in the region, various excursions, a visit to the Otterberg Abbey Church and the Bad Münster am Stein Stone Sculpture Museum as well as participation in the concerts of the Kirchheimbolanden International Organ Masterclass. On Thursday, September 29, at 4 p.m., the graduation ceremony will take place in the suggestive barn of the Theodor Zink Museum in Kaiserslautern.

Find out more about the project here.