CentrO Oberhausen - Eltis

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TRANSLAND in-depth case study CentrO Oberhausen 4 Also in 1992 the Regional Development Plan was modified to get planning permission for the development of the CentrO. This would not have been possible without the strong support of the state government. The City of Oberhausen modified both its preparatory land-use plan and the legally binding land-use plan for the project and issued the planning permission. In the course of the modification of both plans, the city contacted the neighbouring cities and was able to create a consensus for the project within the region. This seems surprising in the light of the negative impacts the CentrO has had on the retail sales in these cities but can be explained by the light pressure from the state government that stopped criticism. In parallel with the above planning process, a transport study was commissioned and its results were incorporated into the existing Traffic Development Plan of Oberhausen. The amendments corrected the assumptions of the plan to take account of the likely effects of the CentrO, added a scenario for sustainable transport, compact urban development and the improvement of public transport, and proposed measures for the improvement of the pedestrian and bicycle network, an increase in parking fees and restrictions for car traffic. One major feature of the improvement of public transport was the conversion of a former freight railway line into an exclusive right of way for buses and light rail leading from Oberhausen’s main railway and bus stations via the CentrO to northern suburbs. In 1993 the construction of the mall and the conversion of the freight line were started. The opening of the CentrO and the start of operation on the new line both occurred in 1996 (Schmidt, 1995). 2.2 Financing In general owners of brownfield sites in the Ruhr area are not particularly eager to sell their former industrial sites because they have to clean the contaminated soil before the sale. To overcome this resistance, the City of Oberhausen, in co-operation with the state of North- Rhine Westphalia, in 1992 bought the site from Thyssen for about 10 million Euro without prior decontamination. The contaminated soil was cleaned and infrastructure was created for about 65 million Euro entirely from public funds (Gansäuer, 1997). Significant public investments were also made for the transport infrastructure linking the CentrO to the rest of Oberhausen and the Ruhr area. To provide good motorway access to the mall, the nearest motorway exit and the access road leading to it were upgraded for 22 million Euro. The 135 million Euro investment for the new public transport line were financed jointly by the City of Oberhausen and the state of North-Rhine Westphalia. The elevated bus and tram stop at the mall was paid for by the developer. The total investment volume for the CentrO amounted to approximately 1,200 million Euro. The federal state of North-Rhine Westphalia contributed approximately 300 million Euro in subsidies, as the CentrO was seen as a flagship project for the revitalisation of the Ruhr area. 2.3 Urban Design Concept The layout of the CentrO follows familiar principles of greenfield-site shopping mall development. The main shopping mall with its 70,000 m² of retail space extends as the backbone of the development across the whole site between major department stores as anchors. Between the mall and the access road there are multi-level garages (Figure 2). 30-9-99 / 4
TRANSLAND in-depth case study CentrO Oberhausen 5 30-9-99 / 5 Figure 2. Site plan of the CentrO On the opposite side of the mall there is a row of mock-up old-town houses with a variety of restaurants alongside an artificial canal. Beyond the canal there is an amusement park with various attractions and more restaurants (Böhler, 1996). The main entrance to the mall faces a plaza with a pool and the access to the new public transport station. On the other side of the station there is a new auditorium for musical and sports events. In the vicinity of the mall is a small office and business park with various old and new buildings used by research-oriented enterprises. The housing north of the mall has not yet been implemented. 2.4 Transport Concept The transport concept of the CentrO is mainly car-oriented. The centre is strategically located near three important motorways (A 42, A 516, A 2). Within a radius of 2,5 km there are twelve motorway exits leading of the CentrO. As mentioned before, one of them, the exit Osterfeld/Neue Mitte on the A42, and the access road leading to the CentrO were upgraded.
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CentrO Oberhausen - Eltis

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