Dichte und Schrumpfung - Leibniz-Institut für ökologische ...

22 IÖR Schriften │ Band 49 • 2008 Dichte und Schrumpfung – Christiane Westphal
densities in many Eastern German cities have decreased by up to 50 % on the
neighbourhood level since 1989.
To deal with these problems the programme “Urban Restructuring in Eastern Germany”
has been set up by the German federal government and the federal states.
This funding programme is directed towards the demolition of vacant flats to stabilise
the housing market as well as towards improving living quality in urban areas
affected by shrinkage.
Due to current shrinking processes in Eastern Germany the question of adequate
densities needs to be answered within a new context. Adequate densities cannot
only be defined according to the requirements of public utilities but need to be discussed
in an integrated manner. Therefore criteria to determine adequate densities
for housing in shrinking cities have been summarised from various fields of urban
planning, based on literature review. Criteria developed for growing cities have been
adapted to the context of shrinking cities. As with growing cities, different fields of
urban planning result in varying requirements regarding urban densities.
- Transport: Declining densities due to urban shrinkage causes rising costs for the
provision of public transport. Cost effective public transport requires minimum
densities within catchment areas of its stops and therefore depends on integrated
urban and transport planning.
- Social facilities: In the context of shrinkage and demographic change the density
of potential users of social facilities declines, especially for schools and preschools.
Therefore social facilities as well depend on the preservation of sufficient
densities within their catchment areas. If these densities cannot be
achieved, then either accessibility of social facilities will decrease or costs for
their provision will grow.
- Green space provision: Declining densities offer the possibility to improve the
quantity and quality of green space provision. However, also from the point of
view of green space provision there are limits to the decline in densities. Decreasing
building densities lead to derelict land that is not necessarily developed
into usable green space. This is especially the case in shrinking cities where financial
resources are scarce. When densities decline the continuous emergence
of derelict space is more and more experienced as a loss of urbanity.
- Housing demand: Due to current housing vacancies inhabitants in Eastern
Germany have good opportunities to fulfil their housing preferences. Therefore
housing preferences are essential for the further development of housing demand
as well as housing vacancies. While preferences for low density housing
predominate, lately preferences for higher densities, that enable urban lifestyles,
have increasingly emerged.
Quantitative target values of adequate densities are summarised in table I. To reflect
the heterogeneity of urban structures density targets are differentiated according to
types of housing and urban character. While population densities (number of inhabitants
per net hectare [ha] of residential area) determine the utilisation of infrastructures,
building densities (floor space ratio) are part of planning regulations.