Region A: Ruhrgebiet (Ruhr Area)

The Ruhr represents the largest conurbation in Germany and one of the biggest in Europe with 5.4 million people on 4.443 km. The population density is about 1.213 persons per km. Framed by the rivers Ruhr to the south and Rhine to the west, the region stretches over 116 km from east to west and 67 km from north to south. Being one of the world´s oldest industrial zones, the Ruhr comprises 11 cities and four counties with 42 more municipalities. Several important highways cross the Ruhr, turning it into the heart of the European traffic network.

The Ruhr is not an administrative body as there is no boundary which precisely defines the region. The region has historically grown and developed during the industrialisation. Today the term "Ruhrgebiet" is generally associated with the boundaries of the KVR (Kommunalverband Ruhrgebiet) which has been a planning institution for the Ruhr Area in former times and is now responsible for the promotion of regional initiatives and the development of regional statistics and analyses.

Over the past 150 years the region experienced a lot of changes: From a rural area with only 250,000 inhabitants in 1840 to a densely built up conglomeration. The industrialisation in this area started in the 1840s and continued during the following 60 years until the beginning of the 20th century. During this time, the Ruhr Area became one of the most important centres of coal and steel production in Europe. Consequently, the population grew in an explosive manner, leading to an uncoordinated growth of the affected cities (urban sprawl).

With the end of industrialisation, the growth and advancement of the region slowed down, leading to a depression that necessitated ongoing structural change. In the Ruhr the unemployment increased from only 12.500 in 1970 to approximately 283.000 people today. This rate of 12.5% is above the average of 10.8% in Germany.

Stemming from the historical development of the region which began on the banks of the river Ruhr and then moved northwards, three horizontal layers with structural differences can be distinguished in the region today: The "Ruhr-Zone" in the south of the region where coal extraction began; the "Hellweg-Zone", an old medieval route of commerce including the cities of Dortmund, Bochum and Essen in the middle and the "Emscher-Lippe-Zone" with the cities of Gelsenkirchen, Herne and Bottrop in the northern part of the Ruhr. After the economic depression experienced by the coal and steel industries at the end of the 1960s, the major cities of the "Hellweg-Zone" initiated a structural and economic evolution from former heavy industry domination to the tertiary sector. The "Emscher-Lippe-Zone" was influenced by the depression some 20 years later and it therefore continues to experience more difficult economic and structural conditions. Here, the mining industry still plays an important role and structural change is not as advanced. This sub-region was part of the "Internationale Bauausstellung Emscherpark" (a predominantly publicly financed international building exhibition of modern urban planning and housing development).

Today the region deals with a multitude of brownfield sites with many old buildings which represent the region´s industrial heritage. By turning these sites into attractive locations for commercial, leisure and residential development, the region aims to integrate its heritage into a modern landscape. Many projects attempt to reuse sites that were formerly occupied by heavy industry. One of the most famous projects of that kind, the "Zeche und Kokerei Zollverein" in Essen (Zollverein coal mine and coking plant) has been listed by UNESCO as a World Cultural Heritage site since 2001. This location now houses the Centre for Design of North Rhine Westphalia, modern exhibition space and restaurant facilities. However, lacking the status of a legal administrative body, the Ruhr region has no general planning concept. This creates problems in terms of a coherent regional development strategy.

Project A: Radbod, City of Hamm

RADBOD
1. Location	Hamm-Bockum-Hövel, in the north-east of the Ruhr Area
2. Site: size / previous use / urban context	Location in the city and surrounding land uses - directly south of the urban area of Hamm-Bockum-Hövel - green spaces to the west, south and east Traffic access / connection: - motorway A 1 (to Bremen / Cologne), aprox. 8 km - motorway A 2 (to Berlin / Oberhausen), aprox. 11 km - high speed train stops at the railway station of Hamm Size: 21 ha Previous use: - coal mine named Radbod 1/2/5, including the cookery Radbod - started 1904 - extraction since 1906 - 1976 closure of the cookery - 1990 closure of the coal mine
3. Contamination and Debris	- 1992 to 1995 exploration/ investigation phase with an historical inquiry - 1997 to 1998 development of the sanitation and preparation concept - 1999 start of preparation and coverage of the project area Remediation / soil management - necessity to partly fill up the area - soil with light concentrations of hydrocarbon and others were safely accumulated in the southern part of the project area - removal of constructional barriers/ obstacles, also in the underground - disposal of heavy contaminated materials
4. Buildings and Infrastructure	Buildings: - the old porter-house - the vehicle hall - shaft towers (2x): listed buildings - steam engine house: listed building - shaft Winkhaus (shaft n° 5), this one is still in operation
5. Concept / Future use	- Industry - The concept bases on a divers and flexible design. Important facts are the integration of historical buildings, existing greens, the divers design of streets, including green and different squares. The concept should be flexible to react on and integrate the ideas and desires of the investors. The so called "module plan" with its special raster offers a very flexible partitioning of the lots. The objective is to create a harmonically urban overall picture. - Legally binding land use and building plan ("Bebauungsplan") has been elaborated
6. Realization	- 1995 - 2002 - Three plots of land have already been sold

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Region B: The Southern District of Leipzig (Südraum Leipzig)

The term Southern District of Leipzig (Südraum Leipzig) stands for a geographical, residential and economic area straddling the federal states of Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia. Stretching between Leipzig, Zeitz and Altenburg, it consists of 450 km2 in Saxony, with a population of some 110.000. Südraum Leipzig is defined primarily by its industrial economic and social history. Political and strategic factors dictated that the regional economy was to be determined by large-scale open-cast mines and around 25 sites of lignite processing. The result was massive environmental destruction. At the end of the 80´s 70 towns and villages had been devastated. After the political change in 1989/90 the economic mono-structure of Südraum Leipzig proved to be no longer economically or environmentally viable. The ongoing structural change is in its speed and effect unmatched in the history of the Central European region.

Seven opencast mines and 90% of the lignite processing plants have been closed. The reconstruction of the open-cast landscape and the redevelopment of brownfield sites from 20 ha up to 600 ha is the objective. At the end of this process twelve lakes with a surface area of more than 40 km2 total will create a "West-Saxony lake district". Hereby the environmental regeneration as a precondition for the economic brownfield redevelopment will be supported. First concepts for major brownfield areas have been developed by the international urban planning competitions held in the mid-90´s. A new regional development agency have been set up in order to co-ordinate the redevelopment in a integrated manner.

Project B: Espenhain

ESPENHAIN
1. Location	Central location in the former lignite basin "Südraum Leipzig" between the city of Leipzig and Borna
2. Site	- Former chemical plant, briquette factory and 2 power stations
3. Contamination and Debris	- Organic pollutants, metals - Waste tip from lignite mining
4. Buildings and Infrastructure	- Demolition works since 1990, remaining industrial monument, power station, and administrative buildings
5. Concept / Future use	- Industrial- and Science park, cultural uses in the former briquette factory
6. Realization	- Ongoing, Industrial park 2002 - 2004

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