344 pages, softcover,
ISBN 978-3-96238-199-8,
22,00 € (D).
Also available as an e-book.
Cities without growth - a vision hardly imaginable so far. But climate change,
waste of resources, growing social inequalities, and many other
Future threats are fundamentally calling into question the previous panacea of growth. How do we
we live together today and tomorrow? How do we design a good life for everyone in the city?
While in individual niches these questions are already being answered to some extent, there is a lack of
still lacking comprehensive designs and transformation approaches that would fundamentally
contour a different, solidary city. The project Post-Growth City dares to make this attempt.
In this book, conceptual and pragmatic aspects from different areas of
of urban policy are brought together, pointing out and linking new paths. The contributions
discuss urban growth crises, transformative planning, and conflicts over
design power. Last but not least, the question of the role of urban utopias will be revisited.
is being put forward. This is intended to initiate a long overdue debate on how necessary
urban turnarounds can be realized through a socio-ecological reorientation on the ground.
"Europe's largest rental scheme for e-load bikes has started in Cologne. The initiators see the project as an active contribution to the energy transition and want to transfer the system - if it is successful - to other cities."
The illumination of night landscapes by artificial lighting increases globally by about 2 to 6 percent per year, with effects on people and nature. A new guide describes how municipalities can minimize light pollution by making their street and building lighting more efficient. Researchers from the Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), the Federal Agency for Nature Conservation (BfN) and the University of Münster have now jointly published the guide on redesigning and retrofitting outdoor lighting.
About 30 percent of vertebrates and even more than 60 percent of invertebrates are nocturnal and can be affected by artificial light at night. The protection of the night must therefore be understood more strongly than before as a fundamental task of nature and landscape conservation, says Prof. Dr. Beate Jessel, President of BfN. The guide to action now published shows that it is possible to minimise the ecological damage caused by artificial lighting. It contains numerous concrete recommendations for action and practical tips for outdoor lighting.
Good lighting is efficient and reduces power consumption while increasing visibility and safety. It is aesthetically pleasing and minimises environmental impact. Many of the measures presented in the action guide are also simple and inexpensive to implement, is how IGB researcher and study leader Dr. Franz Hölker sums up the requirements. Franz Hölker's team is a leader in Germany and internationally in research into so-called light pollution. This is the term used when artificial light at night has a negative impact on humans and light-sensitive creatures. The guide is largely based on scientific findings that his working group, together with researchers from the BfN and the University of Münster, have gained over many years of work.
In the absence of explicit regulations for outdoor lighting, industrial standards for lighting are often treated in practice as legal provisions. In many cases, even the minimum requirements of the technical standards are far exceeded in order to exclude possible claims for damages, for example in the event of traffic accidents, and to prevent accusations that the street lighting does not comply with the state of the art. The result is that outdoor areas are often illuminated much more than necessary, with possible negative consequences for people and nature. However, it is possible to minimise the ecological impact of artificial lighting and at the same time meet social requirements such as safety and aesthetics.
The first author, Dr. Sibylle Schroer from the IGB, gives examples of solutions: Municipalities should use luminaires that do not emit light upwards. The illuminance should be as low as possible and cold white light with a high blue light content should be avoided. This is because the circadian system of higher vertebrates and humans is particularly sensitive to blue light. The use of warm white light can mitigate the negative effects on many organisms and is often perceived as more pleasant by humans.
The interdisciplinary collaboration with the lawyer for environmental and planning law, Benedikt Huggins from the University of Münster, uncovered gaps in environmental law in order to better protect organisms from exposure to poorly installed, unnecessary or excessively bright artificial light in the future. The recommendations were made on the basis of the two research and development projects Analysis of the effects of artificial light on biodiversity, Determination of indicators of impairment and derivation of recommendations for action to avoid negative effects in the context of interventions and Light and glass: Legal issues of the endangerment of species by light and glass, funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and accompanied in terms of content by the BfN.
The restriction of light pollution brings further advantages, for example in terms of energy savings and thus climate protection, as well as for human health. The guide offers those responsible in local authorities as well as those responsible for lighting, urban and regional planning a free professional decision-making aid to actively promote the conscious use of artificial light.
Isabella Marboe (ed.) Bauen für die Gemeinschaft in Wien Neue gemeinschaftliche Formen des Zusammenlebens. Edition Detail 2021, 144 pages, de/eng, Euro 39.90
Review by Roman Schaurhofer, Vienna
Overview
The book "Building for the Community in Vienna" was published in 2021 by Isabella Marboe at Verlag Detail. All texts were printed in German and English in the book. In addition to an interview conducted by Marboe with Ulrike Schartner and Alexander Hagner, Robert Temel has his say in an expert article.
All in all, the book deals with 20 building projects in the Austrian capital Vienna and offers insight into the respective planning as well as the organisational and structural realisation of those very communities.
Content
At the beginning, Isabella Marboe looks back at historically relevant and significant events surrounding Viennese housing, community in everyday life and housing, and participatory building. The editor then highlights the importance and significance of the architect Ottokar Uhl and his work. Especially the projects "Living with Children" and "B.R.O.T." are mentioned and described as positive examples. In addition, Marboe goes into more detail about the historical developments surrounding the "Sargfabrik" and "MISS Sargfabrik" projects. Isabella Marboe is committed to a communal and socially solidary as well as responsible coexistence.
In Robert Temel's contribution, after a historical classification of Austrian pioneer and follow-up projects, there is also a brief description of organisational and ownership models. This is followed by an outline of the emergence of building communities and their possibilities for acquiring a building plot, as well as a comparison of several models implemented in Vienna.
In an interview, Ulrike Schartner and Alexander Hagner from gaupenraub+/- explained the many challenges that arise when creating quality housing for homeless people and at the same time show approaches to dealing with problems of this kind.
After the essays and the interview, there is a more detailed examination of the individual projects. A brief description, accompanied by key figures and background information, provides insights into the planning and implementation of the respective community ideas. In addition, illustrations and detailed plans (often in the form of floor plans) give the reader a better understanding of the structure and function of the respective project. In addition to individual buildings, row houses, multi-storey residential buildings and neighbourhood houses that stand out from their surroundings were also selected.
Criticism
The social and socially solidary approach of the project examples stands out in a clearly positive way. Each of the projects features people-oriented planning and high-quality implementation geared to the wishes of the residents, without losing sight of the demand for high-quality architecture. Although the communal and participatory character is clearly in the foreground as a unifying element, the individual projects cannot be denied their uniqueness and individuality in approach.
The detailed information, underpinned by pictorial representations, enables the reader to place the projects conceptually and contextually in their respective environment. With the overview and detailed descriptions of the sample projects, the editor Isabella Marboe offers a solid basis with carefully researched project examples for professional discourse and a more intensive examination of the topic of building communities.
February 2021, Hardcover, 23 x 30 cm, German / English
At the end of the UN conference Habitat III in Quito (Ecuador), the environmental and development organization Germanwatch draws a mixed balance. "Around 50,000 people took part in the conference. This alone shows that cities are considered to be of great importance on the way to a sustainable world. It is very good that the adopted New Urban Agenda recognises cities as important players in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris climate targets," says Lisa Junghans, expert on climate change, adaptation and urban transformation at Germanwatch. However, she qualifies: "The New Urban Agenda is not concrete enough in parts. Citizens will not feel directly addressed and there is a complete lack of measurable goals and criteria for monitoring the success of the agenda. It remains to be seen to what extent the agenda really supports cities in their development towards greater sustainability and a higher quality of life. Civil society in particular will have a key role to play in the coming years to ensure that the principles adopted here for future urban development have an impact."
Habitat III was the third World Conference on Human Settlements and Sustainable Urban Development after 1976 and 1996 and is intended to define guidelines for future urban development. Despite the highly participatory process in the preparation of the New Urban Agenda, the negotiations in the final phase took place, as expected, exclusively within the circle of government negotiators. Junghans: "Although this process is a classic UN process driven by states, it is problematic that city representatives are excluded from the final decisions on their own development."
Germanwatch is particularly positive about the fact that the final document grants cities more self-determination and ownership in the implementation of the New Urban Agenda and that "no one is to be left behind" - a reference to the particularly vulnerable population groups that must be included in the planning and implementation of future urban development policy.
The hope that a larger number of cities would lead the way with voluntary commitments, for example towards climate neutrality, has unfortunately not materialised. "Although there have been some very good announcements from civil society as well as from Germany and the EU regarding the creation of housing and climate-friendly mobility, concrete announcements from local governments themselves have been very limited," says Junghans.
Source: Germanwatch press release, 20 October 2016
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Contours of a solidarity-based urban policy
