prof. wolfgang christ: the urban index® -- towards quality urban environment

Prof. Wolfgang Christ

CNU 17, Denver | June 10, 2009

Stadtqualität vor Augen!

Towards Quality Urban EnvironmentThe Urban INDEX®

The Urban INDEX – Towards Quality Urban Environment | 2


Urban INDEX® – Stadtqualität vor Augen!

Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy Duisburg, Ruhr, Germany



Urban INDEX® – Stadtqualität vor Augen!

Parma, Emilia-Romagna, Italy Duisburg, Ruhr, Germany



1. New Urban Landscape

UI Perspectives on Urban Sustainability




2. New Urban Mobility






3. New Urban Neighbourhoods







4. New Urban Heritage




Regional Park– Rhein-Main Planning Authority –

UII: Experience in sustainable development




Sustainable Train Station– German Railway Company–





Sustainable Train Station– German Railway Company–

Car-free Neighbourhoods– Research project, ‘Bundesstiftung Umwelt’ –





Sustainable Train Station– German Railway Company –


Placemaking– International Building Exhibition –




Regional Park for the Rhein-Main Metropolitan Area



HOW TOo really protect green

corridors?




HOW TOo Really protect green

corridors?o combine the urban realm &

(artificial) wilderness?




HOW TOo Really protect green

corridors?o combine the urban realm &

(artificial) wilderness?o create a landscape Image of

the Metropolitan Region?




HOW TOo qualify agricultural land –

both aesthetically and ecologically?






o stop ‘Zwischenstadt’- Sprawl?







o stop ‘Zwischenstadt’- Sprawl?

o design the urban edge?



The Potential of Landscape Urbanism

Combine Urban Development & Landscape Development

Integrate economy & ecology & aesthetics

Improve local identity

Develop regional profile

Create new public realm

Stimulate inter-communal cooperation

Enrich people’s ‘love affair’ with their region

2

1

3

4

5

6

7

Frankfurt

– Masterplan 1994 –Regional Planning Authority- Umlandverband Frankfurt -

We recommend:



Sustainable Train Station

Handbook, 1995

The ‘Green Station’: Information center for sustainable mobility

The ‘Green Station’: Integrated part of green infrastructure



Sustainable Train StationProvide amenities ‘all under one roof’

Design a Station Square

Connect neighbourhoods

Densify the urban fabric

Create a new ‘station neighbourhood’



Sustainable Train Station: Bullay / Pilot Project

Opened: 2000 // BDA Award 2000



Car-free Neighbourhoods

• More public / private space available

• Parking as external service

• No public subsidies for private parking



Nürnberg,Langwasser P

Wittenberg,Werksiedlung Piesteritz

Tübingen,Südstadt

Amsterdam,GWL-Terrein

• Cost savings reinvested in neighbourhood amenitiesPlayground, kindergarten, ‘turkish bath’, bike service, café, car sharing station

• Higher urban density without compromising quality of life

• Interactive ground floor frontage





• Flexibility in designing the urban fabric

• Diversity in the public realm

• Minimize the urban footprint

• Mixed-use development

• Cohousing

• Green Building

• New urban living

New areas ofpotential in urban planning

New York Times. May 11, 2009



Placemaking

“Ariane is proud to be ‘Miss Bitterfeld-Wolfen 2001’. For the first time ever, she’s made it to the top of the ‘Pegelturm’ at the end of Bitterfeld pier. ‘It’s wonderful up here’ exclaims the 22-year-old from Aken..”



Placemaking



Placemaking

o A new frontier in urbanized areas

o Community Building

o Attracting the ‘creative classes’

o ‘Planning the sense of a region’

Transforming the industrial heritage



Programme

“On the one hand urban

neighbourhoods

represent the smallest

practicable unit for

complex, holistic urban

development strategies.

On the other, they are the

largest urban area that a

single person can relate

to and experience as a

whole: my

neighbourhood, my

quarter, my district...”

I. Urban Neighbourhoods

“According to Prof Dr.

Klaus Töpfer, ‘a poor-

quality building in

the right city has a

higher value than a

better building in the

wrong location’.”

II. Urban Value

“The UI Star-Ratings

show how far one

can go when a

willingness to

cooperating in

shaping one’s

surroundings goes

hand ind hand with

ambitious aims”

III. Urban Star- Ratings



Category I: Context

UI-Category I considers the urban quarter in its surrounding urban and regional context. The environmental quality of an urban quarter is, among other things, also depnedent on interactions with external influences such as trade and retail facilities or open countryside.

The quarter and the urban region.

Category IV: Communication

UI-Category IV considers the informal dimension of the contemporary urban realm. As with category I, here too the urban quarter must react to external conditions. The indicators show clearly that sustainability results from a wide-ranging alignment of the forces that shape the city

The quarter and its character.

Category II: Complexity

UI-Category II considers the ‘hardware’ of the urban quarter and with it its functional elements – such as employment, housing, education or retail. In particular, the UI examines the mix and diversity of different functions available in the quarter.

The quarter and its constituent elements.

Category III: Contour

UI-Category III assesses the ‘software’ of the urban quarter, for example, how well heterogeneous elements are interconnected. Special emphasis is given to the character and disposition of ist public spaces and ist formal qualities of place that lend the quarter a distinctive character.

The quarter and its framework.

UI:Urban Categories



UI: Toolbox



UI Category I: CONTEXT

1. Region2. City3. Landscap

e4. Mobility 5. Centres6. Energy7. Resource

s8. e.g. Nature

The quarter and the urban region.



UI Category II: COMPLEXITY

1. Housing2. Work3. Services4. Retail5. Health6. Knowledg

e7. Recreatio

n8. e.g. Public transport networks




UI Category III: CONTOUR

1. Spatial Figure2. Spatial

Structure3. Townscape4. Routes5. Squares6. Places7. Centre8. e.g. Historic Monuments

The quarter and its framework.



UI Category IV: COMMUNICATION

1. History2. Community3. Access4. Views5. Street Life6. Culture7. Cooperatio

n8. e.g. Web Community




UI: Iconic Frame



Urban INDEX: Partners



Rheinufer Süd (LU)

…Alte Kolonie (LU)

Mannheim Speyer

Worms

Urban INDEX Pilot Projects



Andernach …Ansbach

Berlin Duisburg

Erlangen

UI Shopping Pilot Projects



Coordinates:49°38′ N, 8°22′ O

Location of pilot area

in relation to the city centre

Worms, Liebenauer Feld



Indicator: Transport Nodes

Airport < 40 minutes away.

Hi-speed rail < 30 minutes away.

Motorway < 15 minutes away.

Airport < 75 minutes away.

Hi-speed rail < 45 minutes away.

Motorway < 20 minutes away.

Two of three transport nodes can be

reached from the centre of the

quarterwithin the time given in point 2.

Assessment criteria

Worms, Liebenauer Feld



Coordinates: 49°29′ N, 8°28′ O



Mannheim, Herzogenried



Indicator: Urban Form

The formal definition / typology of public

urban space is clear and distinct.


urban space is perceptible.


urban space is for the most part

perceptible.

Mannheim, Herzogenried

Assessment criteria



Coordinates: 49°30′ N, 8°26′ O



Ludwigshafen, Rheinufer Süd



The majority of buildings in the quarter

have active street frontages that enliven

the street space.

At least 12 km of street frontages in the

quarter contribute to enlivening the street

space.

At least 10 km of street frontages in the

quarter contribute to enlivening the street

space.

Assessment criteria

Ludwigshafen, Rheinufer Süd

Indicator: Views



Stars are awarded according to the score attained within the rating assessment procedure.

UI: Star Rating



Four Urban Categories are key to sustainable development:

1. CONTEXTThe urban quarter as a platform for a culture of integration

2. COMPLEXITYThe urban quarter as the ideal scale between large and small

3. CONTOURThe urban quarter as a stage for ‘civic art’

4. COMMUNICATIONThe urban quarter as a biotope for community planning.

Chess Set, Josef HartwigBauhaus, 1924

Still Life with Chair,Pablo Picasso, 1912



The UI support of the Oslo-Denver Initiative onUrban Design and Climate Change: STADTQUALIÄT!

Impuls for the futureRebuilding the European City is

honoured by UI – Star Ratings

ResponsabilityEncouraging leadership in

urban and environmental development

Urban SustainabilityAnchoring the sustainability

debate in the urban environment



Görlitz, Germany, 2004: Signing of the CEU.D Charter

prof. wolfgang christ: the urban index® -- towards quality urban environment

Business