In 2050, 75 per cent of the world’s population will live in towns. Today, this figure is already 50 per cent whereas, a century ago, only one in ten people was a town dweller. Urbanisation is proceeding rapidly. And the consequences of this can be seen by visiting any of the world’s metropolises and, indeed, by visiting the 2006 Architecture Biennial in Venice. The main theme of the exhibition was “Cities – Architecture and Society”. Metropolises around the globe were analysed in terms of growth of population, density and social structure – all juxtaposed in plans and diagrams. Urban statistics for urban design, gathered by the architect and town planner Richard Burdett from London where he advises the mayor.

What strategies are followed by towns such as Mexico City, Johannesburg, Los Angeles or Caracas in their densely populated conurbations to make these suitable in the future for their inhabitants? Approaches differ: where Caracas is planning a basic development of the slums with paths and steps, New York is building enormous parks on former harbour sites. One thing is becoming increasingly clear, however, which was also obvious in the Biennial exhibition: the problems of the metropolises cannot be solved by architecture alone. The Bilbao effect, lighthouse architecture which should help a quarter, a district or a town come to life, is nowhere near an adequate approach. Comprehensive designs are necessary that encompass not only urban planning concepts but also social, cultural, political and economic concepts. Networked thinking and planning is called for.

Let us look at the example of Bogotá: the Columbian capital has already been following a strategy since the mid-nineties that spans cultural programmes and urban redevelopment to newly formed public spaces and an effective traffic system. Numerous town squares, parks and streets were newly constructed and cycle lanes several hundred metres long put in place. Meanwhile, the city, that was still considered to be the most dangerous and inhospitable city in Latin America in the mid-nineties, has a clearly sinking crime rate as well as an increasing number of cycle lanes.

Compared with megacities such as Bogotá, Caracas or Mexico City, European cities - and German cities in particular – of course appear in a totally different light. In Germany, the buzzword has been “contraction” for some years. Fewer and older people want correspondingly more space to be available – urban spaces, for most people, even in Germany, live in conurbations. Surveys by the German Urbanistic Institute show that if the living space in towns is affordable, then the majority prefer the town to the country; they want to live where the jobs are. Commuting loses its appeal. Both single people and families with children like a town environment with short journeys and useful open spaces.

Even European cities find themselves in a situation of change. Unlike Shanghai or São Paulo, history and tradtion in general continue to determine the cityscape. This ideal of the European city with a densely populated old town at its heart together with a useful mix outside is proving difficult to conserve. Shopping centres form new hubs on the edge of towns, industrial areas break up city centres and in East German towns entire streets of houses stand empty in city centres. Towns have long been more dynamic than a picture ever could be. In the context of shifting basic parameters – restructuring of industrial society, demographic change and a heterogeneous population – towns are changing and – in Germany at least – the guilds visualise the challenge of shaping urbanity with luxury; having space – for most, clearly more important than money.
The strategies are different for Munich or Hamburg than they are for Berlin or Essen and certainly for Leipzig. The fact that parks and squares are assuming a key role in urban planning is demonstrated by the Munich Arnulfpark on the Bahnbrache between Hackerbrücke and Donnersberger Brücke, that the investor had built at the same time as the first residential buildings as a showpiece. Or the Riemer Park that was recently awarded the International Urban Landscape Award 2006 by Eurohypo and the magazine Topos and which stands on the site of the former airport. This should offer the pioneers in the new exhibition centre near their home an ample amount of green space in which to recuperate.

Even in districts that have to contend with peoples’ comings and goings, open spaces can contribute significantly to urban identity, as demonstrated by the Frankfurter Allee residential area in Berlin. With a tight budget and little encroachment onto the rundown open space a new quality was achieved there.

The book Urban Design 1 – Standpunkte und Projekte [perspectives and projects] is issued by Garten + Landschaft, the leading German magazine for architectural landscaping. It presents trends and tendencies for towns and quarters in a state of flux, predominantly in Germany and Europe. This first book in the Urban Design series encompasses a spectrum of city centre projects such as the Spreepromenade in Berlin and the Jungfernstieg in Hamburg, but also plans for industrial wasteland such as the Zeche Zollverein Coal Mine Industrial Complex in Essen or concepts for town quarters such as 22@Barcelona in the former industrial quarter Poblenou. It is not simply a matter of pure description of designs and their depiction in images but the strategies of planners and administrations who have the courage to put their ideas into practice.

Urban Design 1. Standpunkte und Projekte [perspectives and projects]. 116 pages. Callwey Verlag, Edition Garten+Landschaft (Editor), Munich 2006. (German language)
ISBN: 978-3-7667-1685-9

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