Urban and rural areas are not just two very different living spaces in people’s minds. The two places are also viewed separately in terms of planning, which manifests itself in the different planning instruments. But what about the space in between, which is neither urban nor rural? According to Ute Margarete Meyer, Professor of Urban Planning and Design at the University of Applied Sciences Biberach, this is still far less researched than the traditional settlement cores, although the topic is not a new one. However, while there are a lot of new concepts for urban densification or combating the consequences of climate change, there is still a lack of sustainable models for dealing with settlement areas on the periphery. Reason enough for a conference entitled “Transforming Peripheries”, which took place in Ulm at the end of September. The event was the kick-off for the research and transfer initiative led by Meyer, which, under the name “urbanes.land”, focuses on the Ulm-Lake Constance region, Brussels and Riga, among others, and aims to initiate an intensive exchange between science, politics, business and civil society with further activities and events.
The explosive nature and interest in the topic was made abundantly clear by the keynote speeches and discussions of the renowned international speakers: Christian Schmid, professor of sociology at ETH Zurich, Tom Holbrook, founder of the London architecture firm 5th Studio, Georgeen Theodore, partner at Interboro in Brooklyn, Paola Viganò, professor of urbanism in Venice and Lausanne, and Andreas Hofer, director of IBA27 StadtRegion Stuttgart, to name but a few.
The insights were numerous, including Key challenges of the “urban countryside” lie in developing new mobility concepts and minimizing the previously disproportionately high land consumption in relation to the number of inhabitants. This is because the car is still the number one means of transportation and the space-consuming detached house is the most popular form of housing. There is simply a lack of attractive alternatives. There is also a lack of awareness of the problem among the population and the necessary cooperation between local authorities at regional level. Strengthening bottom-up initiatives and more courage to experiment would be desirable here.
Even if the conference may not have produced many directly transferable solutions, the findings are a good basis for ideas for the innovative and sustainable transformation of the periphery of our cities – including Ulm.
Further information on the initiative and conference: urbanes.land