The Project "Realisation of the Model District Vauban" (1997-99)
Funded by the European Commission, LIFE programme
The project "Model District Vauban" worked on the realisation of a more sustainable urban development in five thematic areas. The topics and their representatives were:
- 1. Planning and Co-operation (City of Freiburg)
- 2. Consultation and Citizen Participation (Forum Vauban e.V.)
- 3. Traffic (Car Sharing Association "Freiburger Auto-Gemeinschaft e.V.," Forum Vauban e.V.)
- 4. Energy (Freiburg’s public utilities FEW, Forum Vauban e.V.)
- 5. Model House (Genova Building Co-operative eG)
The management of the project rested with the Forum Vauban e.V., the dissemination of the results was supported by the city network ICLEI as project partner. Forum Vauban was responsible for the financial co-ordination of the project.
I. Planning and Co-operation
As owner of the Vauban area, the city of Freiburg is responsible for its planning and development. From the beginning, the city aimed(at)strengthening social and ecological aspects and made them part of the development plan: a compulsory low-energy standard for new buildings, a tram connection by the year 2006, infiltration of rainwater into the ground, a social balance of residents, and a preferential allocation of property to private builders and co-operative building projects.
The principle "Learning while Planning" adopted by the city allowed flexibility in reacting to new developments. This allowed an extended citizen participation that went far beyond the legal requirements and enabled citizens to participate in the planning process. Furthermore, the citizen's association Forum Vauban has a seat in the City's official Vauban committee formed by members of the administration and Council members.
Due to "Learning while Planning" and the "extended citizen participation," the plans in the areas traffic (car-free living), energy (passive houses), building (co-operative building projects), and social life (neighbourhood centre) were substantially modified on the basis of the input received from future residents. Furthermore, the City of Freiburg together with the Forum Vauban organised meetings to enhance citizen participation.
The intensive participation caused quite a substantial increase in work on the part of the City of Freiburg. However, this is outweighed by the gains that were made in transparency and acceptance, which will result in a stable district in the long run. Residents are motivated to take responsibility for their own district and are thus less likely to be frustrated by politics. Despite occasional conflicts, both the City of Freiburg and the residents feel that the district has gained in quality by using a participatory and co-operative concept and that this concept will also be an important aspect of the district's future development.
II. Consultation and Citizen Participation
Forum Vauban was successful(at)integrating future building owners into realising the model district. With a push-and-pull approach in mind, the goal was to go beyond the ecological requirements laid down in the development plan and the contracts of purchase with voluntary activities on the part of the building owners. For this purpose, Forum Vauban developed a concept of consultation covering a diversity of topics relevant in ecological and social building. Private building owners and "Baugruppen" (groups of future builders) as well as development companies were informed about the above-mentioned topics through meeting, exhibits and publications. Especially with the private building owners and "Baugruppen," this approach resulted in a strengthened commitment to ecological and social concerns.
Building in "Baugruppen" developed into a successful model in Vauban. The many private co-operative building projects not only cut down on the building costs considerably but also created stable neighbourhoods long before the residents moved in. Since the "Baugruppen" were especially open toward ecological and social concerns, the project gave organisational support to this form of building. By encouraging networking among the groups the concept spread quickly and successfully.
The extended citizen participation enabled young and old to participate in the planning and building process and was an important addition to the consultation. In workshops discussing topics like traffic, energy, women or "Baugruppen," the participants worked out suggestions which were later presented to the official planners and integrated into the plans to a large degree. There were special participatory workshops dealing with the topics of designing residential streets and designing public green spaces.
III. Traffic
Vauban is well connected to public transportation and public bicycle trails. Schools, shopping facilities and recreation will all be accessible on foot in the "quarter of short distances." Large parts of the residential area are defined as "parking-free" in the development plan: cars have to be parked in a community car park located(at)the periphery of the residential area.
Forum Vauban initiated a pilot project for car-free living. Households that neither own a car nor use one regularly are exempted from having to buy one of the expensive parking spaces in the community car park. Each car-free household thus saves more than 25,000 DM. Almost 50 % of the households in the first development section have chosen to make use of this offer and will live in Vauban without a private car. Using car-sharing cars, however, is allowed even to the car-free households. A special feature of the project is its flexibility: residents can change their preferences in hindsight and change from parking-free to car-free living and vice versa.
In order to make car-free or parking-free living more attractive, a car sharing organisation, the "Freiburger Auto-Gemeinschaft" (FAG) offered two cars for shared use as early as April 1999 and five cars by July 1999. In co-operation with the Forum Vauban, the car sharing organisation also developed a special "mobility package" in which households participating in Vauban's car sharing receive a one-year free pass for all public transportation within Freiburg as well as a one-year 50 % reduction on every train ticket in form of the "Bahncard." More than 70 of the 300 households living in Vauban have made use of this package.
Further activities focused on optimising the connection to the local bus lines, enhancing the quality of the bicycle trails, developing a delivery system as well as redesigning the residential streets.
IV. Energy
Freiburg's public utilities FEW are responsible for Vauban’s energy supply. FEW presently builds a district heating grid in Vauban. Almost all households in Vauban will be connected to this grid. There are plans to operate the grid with a highly efficient co-generation plant by the year 2003, although the financial feasibility of this plan is currently threatened by the liberalisation of the energy markets. Attempts are being made to guarantee its financial feasibility by marketing "Regio-Strom", locally produced and ecologically-sound electricity partly gained through co-generation plants.
FEW, together with Forum Vauban, offered extensive consultation on energy-related questions. A great economic and ecological success were the joint supply lines for "Baugruppen." Further offers were concerned with the topics "energy-efficient household appliances," "energy-efficient building," and "solar energy." These consultations were carried out jointly by FEW and Forum Vauban.
With the help of two funding schemes, many private households were enticed to use solar energy and energy-efficient household appliances in their building projects. The promotion of solar energy was run by the FEW as an addition to their own program whereas the program for energy-efficient household appliances was co-ordinated by the Forum Vauban.
With the realisation of 40 housing units in the first development section alone, an especially energy-efficient form of building, the passive house, made the jump from pilot project to regular production. The Forum Vauban was successful in enhancing the possibilities for building passive houses in the second development section by convincing the City of Freiburg to modify the division and marketing of the lots. Furthermore, a development company is building Europe's largest solar settlement in the eastern part of Vauban. This settlement will have 210 housing units built with a plus energy concept. Vauban will thus feature Europe's largest settlement consisting of passive and plus energy houses.
V. Model House
The building co-operative Genova eG, founded by members of Forum Vauban in 1997, is responsible for a very special building project featuring 36 housing units for rent and a socio-ecological conception. One of the two houses is the "model house" of the LIFE project, in which social and ecological measures were turned into reality with the help of an inexpensive and transferable concept which is applicable to similar projects. The original concept of a house for mixed use located directly(at)the market place could not be realised because the City of Freiburg did not allocate the lot to Genova.
The model house combines ecological and social measures: improved low energy standard by using triple-glass windows and improved insulation, a large solar energy installation for hot water, use of rainwater cisterns, greening of roofs, floors made out of domestic wood and PVC- and FCH-free construction. Furthermore, 35 of the 36 households are car-free. Unusual social features are: Vauban's largest project with apartments for rent, extensive participation of the future tenants, the living project Young & Old, barrier-free access including lifts and access galleries for 32 of the 36 housing units, flexible basic plans as well as the shared use of guest rooms, wash room and drying room, communal house and garden.
Especially noteworthy is the extensive participation characterising the project. The intensive discussion of ecologically-sound building led to additional ecological measures in the building. The project with its ambitious ecological goals could be realised with as little as 3,200 DM/m2 dwelling space including buying the property and is the most inexpensive new building in Vauban. The economic side of sustainability was therefore achieved as well. Projects in the second development section are already orienting themselves(at)the example set by Genova.
VI. Project Management, Dissemination of Results
The management of the project, including co-ordination between the participating partners, rested with the Forum Vauban. The dissemination of the results was also stressed. Meetings, publications and extensive press and public relations efforts helped to disseminate both the offers and the results for the relevant target groups on a local, national, and international level.
The most important event was the four-day conference UrbanVisions that was jointly organised by ICLEI and the Forum Vauban and took place in Freiburg in October of 1999. 130 participants from 21 European countries discussed issues of sustainable urban development and new forms of citizen participation. A high light were the excursions to the district Vauban.
Several brochures and flyers were produced in the course of the project. Important among these was the handbook "Sustainable Urban Development Begins in the Quarter" (in German). In seven chapters, the topics citizen participation, building/living/social life, nature in the city, mobility, energy, water, and waste are discussed in detail. Each chapter begins with a theoretical discussion and concludes with reports on actual projects, with an emphasis on the successes and experiences gained in the district Vauban.
Brochures about "Energy efficient building," "Avoiding Waste While Building," "Introduction to Building with Wood," and "Invitation to the Passive House" gave popular-science introductions to ecological building. The district newsletter Vauban Actuel, published six times a year, gave building owners information on a variety of issues concerning sustainable building and living.
Several press publications and articles in scientific journals as well as a number of radio and TV reports helped to make Vauban known outside of Freiburg. (...)
Laurenz Herrmann
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