Halle-Silberhöhe „Forest Town“
In the course of urban restructuring, the urban district Halle-Silberhöhe is turned into a forest town. Due to a strong population decline, various vacant apartments will be demolished. Up-to-date amenities and forest areas are created on the fallow areas.
Context
Source: Stadt Halle
On the southern town fringe of Halle (236,000 inhabitants) the urban district Silberhöhe was built between 1979 and 1989. The 15,000 industrial slab apartments were mainly intended for the families of the employees of the chemical combines Buna and Leuna. Following the German reunification, Hallo-Silberhöhe was more than other urban districts affected by migration. In 1989, the urban district had around 40,000 inhabitants. According to current forecasts, there will only be about 10,000 people in 2012. Yet before the urban development programme “Urban restructuring in Eastern Germany”, funded by the German Federation and the German Laender, was launched, the pressure to act resulted in the demolition of large parts of residential buildings. In total, 7,000 dwelling units are planned to be demolished. In order to reduce the concomitant problems, Silberhöhe was included in the Federation-Laender programme “Social City” in 1999. Silberhöhe is the centre of the urban restructuring activities in Halle.
Project description
Source: Stadt Halle
Urban restructuring in Halle is aimed at creating a city that will be attractive, worth living in and future-oriented in the long term. To this end, the guiding principle of a forest town was elaborated for the urban district of Silberhöhe as part of the urban restructuring process.
The replanning concept for Halle-Silberhöhe decided in 2001 is a unique subsequent use model for transforming the urban district into a “forest town”. It provides for a graduated renaturation going from a park-like town forest within a central green corridor to semi-natural succession and afforestation areas on the settlement edge. The town forest adjoins the landscape area of the rivers Saale and Weiße Elster.
Compared with other urban restructuring areas, subsequent uses had been fixed for Halle-Silberhöhe from the beginning. In the context of the radical re-orientation, the urban district officially received the programme-related name “Silberhöhe Forest Town”. This process was efficiently supported by intentionally combining demolition, arts, forest.
The new forest is composed of different types of forest and vegetation. The central green corridor is maintained as a backbone of the urban planning structure. However, it has gained an entirely new dimension by the demolition of the 11-storey residential buildings. The green corridor is framed by refurbished 5-storey residential buildings, by “blooming groves” and groups of trees on former ground plots of buildings. In between, a high-contrast town forest can be found with a structure of alternating tree roofs and tree-free clearings. The interplay created by the various blossoming times, the colour play of the autumnal foliage and the contrast between the white birch stems and pines set atmopheric courses. Whereas the central corridor is planted with strong trees, reforesting in the areas towards the Saale river relies on young trees and cions.
The city of Halle supports the restructuring process into a forest town by pursuing an active land policy gradually adapted to the changed conditions. At the beginning of the restructuring process, it traded demolition areas with the housing companies against urban areas in consolidated inner-city housing estates. With the change from the use category “residential land” to “forest”, the land values dropped. As a consequence, the original win-win situation turned into financial disadvantages for the city (forest land value: 10 cents/sqm). In order to prevent losses to the city, planting measures have in the meantime been settled by the city acquiring land at reduced prices or by licensing agreements.
In the case of licensing agreements, the city assumes the responsibility for planting and maintaining the areas. In return, the housing companies are relieved from operating and maintenance costs, from the real estate tax as well as from the legal duty to maintain safety. After five years, these duties return to the housing companies. At the beginning, the city assumes the costs for the care and maintenance of the renaturation areas, also for those areas assigned by licensing agreement. The areas acquired by the city are transferred to the local forestry office for care and maintenance.
An essential step within the restructuring process was to involve the residents and other actors at an early stage. The establishment of a central urban district office plays an important role for communication and coordination. It represents an important element in linking different projects and initiatives. It housed temporary exhibitions and campaigns such as the arts project “Traces of stones”. In the meantime, Silberhöhe has become popular on the supraregional level by intentionally combining arts and demolition. The development of a mascot and of a new urban district logo have supported the branding of the forest town.
For financing the restructuring process of the district into Silberhöhe forest town, the city combines own resources with funds from the Federation-Laender urban development programmes „Städtebauliche Weiterentwicklung großer Wohngebiete“ (Enhancement of large residential areas by urban development measures), “Social City” and “Stadtumbau Ost” (Urban restructuring in Eastern Germany) as well as with compensation funds according to the nature conservation law.
Project chronology
Year | Event |
---|---|
2002/03 | Demolition of 549 apartments, of a day-care centre, a school with gymnasium in housing complex 8, in-depth removal of rubble, road demolition, change of land into a forest area, application of topsoil, reforestation, fencing in of the site, completion maintenance 5 years |
2003/04/05 | Demolition of 600 residential units at Anhalter Platz square, planting of 264 grown trees as a sparsely-wooded grove |
2004/05/06 | Demolition of 1065 residential units in the Hanoier Strasse area, planting of grown trees, construction of a boat moorage and a rest and grilling area by the Saale river |
2007-2010 | Further demolition activities, continuation of reforestation measures |
Aims
Source: planerzirkel, Halle
- Qualitatively upgrading the district and improving the district image
- Strengthening the central green corridor and integrating forest in the district
- Interlinking free spaces in the residential area with the landscape area “Saale-Elster-Aue”
- Helping to stabilise the housing market in the long term
- Improving the entire city’s local recreation conditions
Types of measures
Source: Stadt Halle
- Demolition of apartments
- Reduction of the technical infrastructure
- Demolition of social infrastructural facilities
- Shaping of the central green corridor
- Reforestation of the former residential area
- Planting of 8000 deciduous trees
- Construction of a boat moorage, a rest and a grilling area
Innovations
Source: Stadt Halle
The project „Forest Town Silberhöhe“ has contributed to newly formulating a sustainable future perspective for an industrially built, large housing estate. This has marked the beginning for a profound structural change in the district on the basis of which concrete qualitative improvement measures in terms of urban development are taken. In essence they include to gain more natural land by expanding the forest stock, to expand green spaces provided near the dwellings and to create a new recreation area. The active land policy of the city has produced win-win effects for all parties involved.
Sources
- Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Bau und Stadtentwicklung (BMVBS) / Bundesinstitut für Bau-, Stadt- und Raumforschung (BBSR) / Herausgeber: „Renaturierung - als Strategie nachhaltiger Stadtentwicklung“, Dokumentation von Fallstudien in der Reihe Werkstatt:Praxis, Heft 62, Bonn 2009, >> more information
- Bundesministerium für Verkehr, Bau- und Wohnungswesen (Federal Ministry for Transport, Building and Urban Affairs) (client), Bundesamt für Bauwesen und Raumordnung (Federal Office for Construction and Spatial Planning) (ed.); the landscape architects „StadtBüro Hunger; Becker, Giseke, Mohren, Richard Landschaftsarchitekten“; the development association „DSK Deutsche Stadt- und Grundstücksentwicklungsgesellschaft mbH“ (contractor): Zwischennutzung und neue Freiflächen. Städtische Lebensräume der Zukunft (Interim Use and New Open Spaces. Urban Habitats of the Future.). Berlin, 2004
- Stadt Halle (Halle Council), FB Stadtentwicklung und –planung (Urban Development and Planning Department)
Further information
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 06132 - town: Halle - street: Anhalter Platz 1.
Poject site on Google-Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/WjBYcbBrv6v
Last update: 07.03.2018