Environmental innovation in Freiburg
Freiburg has a long record of environmental innovation. The Solar Institute, set up in 1981, now employs 500 people. In 1992 the municipality agreed that all development on municipal land should be low energy, and new residential buildings are now required to consume a third less than that required by German law. The climate and energy strategy in 2007 reinforced the commitment to avoid nuclear power by first saving energy, then securing energy efficiency in generation, and finally developing renewable sources of energy. Freiburg’s leadership role is helped by a cluster of environmental practitioners (over 700 are employed in solar related activities). An Environmental Protection Authority within the municipality employs 60 staff working on nature, water, waste management and energy.
The eco-town concept started with the municipality’s decision to expand
Freiburg through two new urban extensions. Planning of Rieselfeld
started in 1992 and Vauban followed in 1994. While both schemes have
different histories, there are some common management themes.
Delivering the concept
The
vision for both settlements was to produce low energy developments.
Rieselfeld’s focus was to create better neighbourhoods for families.
Vauban’s vision was to minimise the use of non-renewable energy
sources. Both sought to include small shops and community facilities.
Participation
In both cases community engagement throughout the process has been critical. The people who were going to live in the two communities have been closely involved through the extensive use of cooperatives, which not only commission blocks of houses, but also help design and manage the communal spaces.
Strategy
Both schemes share key general principles:
• Primacy is given to pedestrians and cyclists, with car speeds kept below 15 mph and parking away from the centres, or underground.
• Housing is at relatively high densities, with most people living in maisonettes or town houses, enabling high quality public transport systems and walkable neighbourhoods.
Residents sitting outside the Rieselfeld Neighbourhood Centre (Source URBED)
• Housing is designed to minimise energy consumption.
• A high proportion is given over to nature. In Rieselfeld only 70 ha
out of a total of 320 ha is used for housing, and the rest is a
nature reserve.
• The shops are kept small and can be used for a multiplicity of purposes (for example providing community facilities).
Topics associated with this project
Community engagement, Eco-town, Energy, Environmental, Housing, International, Neighbourhood, Transport