Conversion of former industrial areas

The ANNALINDE gGmbH operates multifunctional urban agriculture and demonstration projects in the Western part of Leipzig: a community garden, a nursery and a fruit garden on a former train station where the emphasis is on community development and mutual learning processes in addition to food production. This is safeguarded by an events portfolio consisting of garden working days, workshops and collaborations with schools, kindergartens and like-minded organizations. In addition to that, open urban labs are operated for a number of initiatives and projects covering subject areas like urban agriculture, recycling, composting, urban bees, urban resilience and sustainable urban development (1).

After being abandoned for more than 10 years following the collapse of a building, a piece of land inside the city's "Le Panier" district was approved by the city in 2017 to become a "neighborhood garden" combining green space and a community vegetable garden (Ref. 1). After many delays the project was completed in early 2020 and the garden opened on February 28, 2020 (Ref. 11). The district "Le Panier" (where this intervention occurs) attracts many tourists every year for the charm of its narrow streets and colorful facades (Ref. 1).

The planned intervention focuses on creating accessible green spaces for meaningful social exchanges. The City Council seeks to achieve this through a ground plan of connecting green spaces and ease of access into buildings. The intervention, proposed as a lineal green area, centers its structural organization around green spaces and public spaces. Accessibility for pedestrians is facilitated through spines of green spaces that cross the planned neighbourhood horizontally and vertically. These green spaces are planned to be watered with collected rain water, consequently the smart use of water is also a focus of the intervention. (ref 1)

The biotope Schladitz is the regenerated remains of a former installation for the dehydration of sewage sludge implemented in 1952 by the communal waterworks company which used to pump its sewage sludge into the municipality of Rackwitz North of Leipzig. Upon its termination (1990), the company conducted large regeneration works of the contaminated sites from 1991 until 2011. The area was renaturalized, a biotope was implemented with plants species to retain the toxic substances. Now the area is also used for nature experience, observation and environmental education for children and adults (4, 7).

The former site of the Krupp cast steel factory was transformed into a 230 hectares green belt stretching from the city
center to the district of Altendorf, while the adjacent industrial wasteland was turned into an 11 hectares add-on to the Krupp Park (Ref. 1). The landscape vision "Freiraum creates urban space", in which the Krupp Park is a building block, is a comprehensive strategic approach that aims to gradually build up new urban landscape structures and to create diverse qualities of location for different urban uses" (Ref. 9).

The NBS includes the establishment of a new country park, Elba Park, with the goal to create a haven for wildlife and a space for people to enjoy nature. 52 hectares of former coal-mined were transformed under the management of Groundwork NE (Ref 2 & 3).

The community garden is located in the midst of a housing quarter and in the city district of Grünau, a former Plattenbau-area and forms part of a wider area redevelopment project which turns former brownfield (from the DDR era) into generationally mixed housing units with higher living standards. The idea for the garden arose among its residents, who determined its design and elements. It consists of multi-use zones for young and old residents: a central square, a pond with special flora, plant beds for gardening and harvesting, a wild meadow for recreation and picnics (2,3).

On November 5, 2019, the Committee for Urban Development and Technology passed the building decision for the riverside park Austraße - Neckarterrassen. To the north of Münster, the Neckar has cut deeply into the shell limestone and describes a wide arc on the Prallufer. There is little space between the cliff and the river - that is what makes this place so special. This is where the Austraße riverside park is being built with the elements Freienstein water playground (element 1), Neckarterrassen and Tapach-Link (element 2) as well as Austraße, Neckarufer and Neckarstrand (element 3). The first component has already been implemented: children will find their favorite spot on the Freienstein water playground south of the Max-Eyth-Steg. Students from the Elise von König School in Münster contributed their ideas as part of a child participation program. With the second component and its sub-projects “Tapach-Link” and “Neckarterrassen”, there are beautiful prospects for Münster: Those who have overcome the relay to the Neckarterrassen can rest in the shade and let their eyes wander up and down the Neckar. The third component of the Austraße riverside park - in addition to the Freienstein water playground, Neckarterrassen and Tapach-Link - focuses on the banks: podiums and platforms are planned on the river to linger while the freighters transport their goods on the water. Insects, small crabs and small fish find optimal living conditions on the renatured bank zones with stones and diverse flora. (1, 7).

INCREDIBLE EDIBLE (or "Incroyables Comestibles" in French) is an experiment of social innovation: the volunteers of the movement cultivate small vegetable gardens scattered in the cities and the countryside and make their products available free of charge (Ref. 1). This, the first intervention, took place in front of the "Epicerie du Coing" where volunteers planted several vegetables, flowers and plants (Ref. 2).

In 2013, St Davids shopping centre, which has over 200 stores and restaurants (ref 5) completed the installation of a green roof, which included bird boxes and beehives and the centre is looking to expand its green roof further. The city shopping centre has become the home of a 60,000-strong colony of bees. A second green roof was developed in 2015 in the parking garage to expand educational programs (ref 4). School children from Cardiff were involved in the planting of seedlings to create pollinator habitats for bees, butterflies and other local wildlife around the ‘Hayes’ area (ref 3). The customers and local community, with the help of this project, have been taught about the value of adopting an eco-friendly approach to public space. (ref 1)