Rosenheim „urban oases“
Young people identified new free spaces with temporary actions in the old town of Rosenheim. Public squares, unused areas and public green spaces were turned into “urban oases” with self-developed furniture. A guideline was produced helping to create “urban oases” in the future.
Context
Source: www.stadtoasen-rosenheim.de
There are too few free spaces for adolescents in the eastern old town of Rosenheim. Available spaces are not able to cover the need of young persons for places to stay. The public and politicians are not sufficiently aware of these deficits. Against the background of the redevelopment activities in the eastern old town and the preparations for the Bavarian gardening show in 2010, the aim of the model project “Stadtoasen” (urban oases) was to increase the number of free spaces in the compactly built-up old town. In order to set visible examples on the urban territory and to make an innovative contribution towards the development of free spaces, temporary areas of activity should be created on unused areas by and for young people.
A long-term goal of the model project was to realise a new way of managing and using free spaces. By young persons temporarily playing in the oases and through visible results, other adolescents should be stimulated to deal with the subject and motivated to participate in the project.
Project description
Source: Urbanes Wohnen e.G.
In order to set visible examples on the urban territory and to make an innovative contribution towards the development of free spaces, the first urban oasis was created in summer 2009 involving various children and adolescents from different classes of a combined primary/secondary modern school and supported by “Urbanes Wohnen e.G.”, a German association trying to improve housing under ecological, social and architectural aspects. A workshop of ideas was first of all organised to find out how and to which degree children and adolescents use free spaces in the eastern old town of Rosenheim. In a next step, ideas how to use urban oases were developed on the basis of models. During a three-day workshop, the ideas were locally realised with 50 children and adolescents of the school classes involved under the guidance of a specialist. Less expensive and easily available materials such as control panels, roof battens or plastic tarpaulins were used for building the urban oasis. A main desire of children and adolescents was to build pools equipped with awnings, non-flowering plants, seating furniture and sun loungers. The result was a temporary playground and area of activity with self-built furniture.
Very successful, reality-tested furniture in 2010 were developed by the young persons into prototypes for urban oases mainly based on the idea to use it in various contexts and develop it further. In 2010, six urban oases were created in the city centre of Rosenheim as well as in an area of the Social City programme in Rosenheim. Some of the urban oases were part of the practical seminar of the upper grade of a grammar school, which proved to be a suitable format of activation and participation.
The young people, which became committed to the urban oases, always provided them with an “event character”. Several open-air cinema evenings with dance and music and entertaining for young people but also for all the other interested were for example organised. By initiating urban oases, a cooperation with “Verein Kinokultur Rosenheim e.V.”, a cinema club, developed. Together with the club, the team of the urban oases turned an old VW bus into a mobile cinema. Since then, countless open-air film shows have been performed in changing or public places with the so-called “Kinomobil”.
In 2011, further urban oases were realised. An old sales trailer was turned into a café trailer which can be flexibly used. The city council plans to continue the creation of urban oases. They shall remain linked to the related urban neighbourhood management. The city council now has also acknowledged urban oases as an appropriate instrument to involve adults. They shall be used for future urban development projects, for example the development of abandoned railway areas. The city of council of Rosenheim furthermore intends to establish a kind of “department guide” as a central contact for youth and self-help projects.
In 2010, “Urbanes Wohnen e.G.”, the local neighbourhood management office, developed a guideline for the development of urban oases so that the idea can be exported to other cities. Similar projects can already be found in Goeppingen and Regensburg. The urban oasis model can be understood as a strategy of upgrading urban areas for and by young people.
Project chronology
Year | Event |
---|---|
2008 | Workshop of ideas and planning; construction of model furnishing |
2009 | First urban oases realised; workshop for the design of furniture |
2010 | Six urban oases realised; guideline developed |
2011 | Additional six urban oases realised |
2012 | Recognised in the context of the Upper Bavarian government’s integration award 2012 |
2013 | Railway station square opened as a playground on behalf of the city council’s urban planning department |
Aims
Source: www.stadtoasen-rosenheim.de
- To develop a new instrument activating young citizens
- To provide public squares and niches as playgrounds
- To build flexible and less expensive urban furnishing
Types of measures
Source: www.stadtoasen-rosenheim.de
- Developing furniture
- Carrying out workshops of ideas
- Realising urban oases
Innovations
Source: www.stadtoasen-rosenheim.de
The urban oases project may provide important ideas how young persons might take and plan public spaces. The project’s principal approach, to provide adolescents with a comparably simple basic equipment, adequate financial support and, if desired, special know-how, had many stimulating effects on the local level and can be considered as a well transferable method to promote self-help projects for adolescents, but also adults. The project has changed the local planning culture: people are now more open to test ideas temporarily for the time being so that young people but also adult citizens may better participate in the development of their city.
Sources
- Experimental Housing and Urban Development field of research “Adolescents in Urban Neighbourhoods”, for further information on the model project (in German) see BBSR website http://www.bbsr.bund.de/BBSR/DE/FP/ExWoSt/Forschungsfelder/2009/JugendlicheImStadtquartier/Modellvorhaben/RosenheimStadtoasen.html
Further information
- http://www.stadtoasen-rosenheim.de/
- http://www.urbanes-wohnen.com/stadtoasen.0.html
- http://www.altstadt-ost.de/stadtoasen.html
Poject site on Google-Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/3YVeN7PWi3L2
The projekt site ist to be found at postal code: 83022 - town: Rosenheim - street: Am Salzstadel .
Last update: 20.09.2016