BU 4.0 – Learning from Bubenreuth
How can we promote spatial development that is resource-efficient and accepted by the population in the transitional area between city and landscape? This is the central question of the project „BU 4.0 – Learning from Bubenreuth“. It deals with the example of the rural city by the same name, located within the metropolitan region of Nuremberg. The aim is to identify potentials for future planning and design approaches based on existing fields of action of local development, demographic change, finite resources and mobility patterns. The objects of inquiry include the interdependencies and structural weaknesses within the region, the opportunities of redefining the relationship with the metropolitan center, and the qualification of the city-landscape-region in the context of Germany’s energy transition.
Phase 1 (03/2013-09/2013)
A quantitative basic evaluation serves to precisely describe and analyze the existing spatial structures in Bubenreuth, their connections and measurable characteristics. This is complemented by a qualitative research component on the spatial interrelations of existing structures and their interpretation.
Phase 2 (10/2013 – 02/2014)
In phase 2 initial approaches for solutions related to questions and problems in the various fields of action are analyzed and evaluated based on a comparison with national and international examples. A successive step tests the applicability of the insight gained from reference examples in Bubenreuth.
Phase 3 (03/2014 – 07/2014)
Together with Guest Professor Anne Lacaton of the renowned French architecture firm Lacaton & Vassal 14 master students developed proposals addressing the enormous changes that metropolitan urban development has triggered in Europe’s rural landscape. The insight gained by the comparison of projects served to formulate particular theses for the case study Bubenreuth that were tested within the design process and the citizen forum events that took place at regular intervals. An active participation of the population in planning and transformation processes was established within interdisciplinary workshops and exhibitions. This increased the public awareness of the project, and as a result, the adjacent municipalities were informed of this procedure, which in return led to a stronger communication between municipalities. This interdisciplinary process served to test new methods of participation of citizens for the generation of ideas, development of concepts, formulation of alternative solutions and decision making within spatial development and building construction.
Phase 4 (since 12/2014)
A funding application was developed and submitted and the team of Department and the municipality of Bubenreuth received a grant from the State of Bavaria for urban design, planning and research (integrated urban design development concept).
Duration: 03/2013 – 12/2014
Director: Prof. Dr. Richard Woditsch
Research associate: Florian Bader M.A.
Cooperation partners (external):
Prof. Dr. Tobias Chilla, Institute of Geography at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
Anne Lacaton, LACATON & VASSAL ARCHITECTES, Paris
Prof. Jürgen Teller, AdBK Nürnberg
Cooperation partners, Nürnberg Institute of Technology:
Ulrike Krämer, Faculty of Social Sciences
Prof. Arno Dentel, Institute for Energy and Building
Prof. Dr. Harald Kipke, Faculty of Civil Engineering
