Berlin, 9 July 2018. "We must break new ground in housing construction" - this is what 18 mayors of the "Sustainable City" dialogue demand in their Resolution paper "More sustainability of building land and soil policy".. The mayors call for the causes of the housing shortage to be addressed and for sustainable solutions to be developed in the long term. Simply sealing up natural landscapes and agricultural land would be to the detriment of future generations in cities and rural areas. A key role in the sustainable, equitable and inclusive development of local communities would be played by building land and soil policy. The heads of administration want to make affordable housing possible, guarantee a supply of day-care centres and green spaces close to home and protect natural resources. Internal development must take precedence over external development.
"Affordable housing cannot be realised in the long term without a fundamental further development of land policy. Our Basic Law puts it succinctly: property has an obligation," says Marlehn Thieme, Chair of the German Council for Sustainable Development. "In addition, the central importance of local authorities in the implementation of the global and national sustainability goals is repeatedly emphasised. This must then also be reflected in concrete policies and thus in the legal and financial framework conditions for sustainable development in the municipalities," says Marlehn Thieme.
In many places, the housing shortage is also exacerbated by the fact that land ready for construction remains unused for years. In the opinion of the mayors, it should be easier and quicker for the municipalities to mobilise these plots of land for reasons of sustainability. The municipalities should also have a right of access to such plots, which are an obstacle to the creation of inner-city housing or social infrastructure facilities close to residential areas. Specifically, the resolution paper goes on to say: "When granting building rights in accordance with § 34 BauGB, the municipality should be enabled to share in private profits that arise significantly from this."
The municipalities are already doing a lot to make housing affordable. But they could and want to do even more with an active municipal land policy and call on the federal government to improve the legal and financial framework for this. Furthermore, the federal government should specify which federally owned land is to be made available for social housing construction. In addition, the mayors demand that the facilitated designation of land in external areas be withdrawn, as it undermines the effective control of the Building Code, runs counter to the objectives of sustainable urban development - compact, mixed-use, with short distances - and integrated planning, and increases the long-term costs of maintaining the infrastructure.
The joint resolution paper "More sustainability of building land and land policy" is the result of the meeting of the Lord Mayors held on 14 June 2018 as part of the Sustainable City Dialogue. The German Council for Sustainable Development has supported the dialogue since 2010.
Keywords:
Stakeholders, Construction and operating costs, Soil & land consumption, Communities, SDG 2030, Housing policy, Economics
