Düsseldorf is a city of stunning architecture. And a rapidly growing place on a relatively small area. An urban planning vision aims to provide answers to how people can continue to live and work well under these conditions in the future.

The first time I experienced Düsseldorf live, I immediately fell in love with the huge river. It provides a natural inner-city landscape and a stony river bank at the same time - other cities don’t have that. This interplay is a never-ending wonder for me. And then I had my wow moment when I first saw the Schauspielhaus in conjunction with the Dreischeibenhaus. What an elegant, courageous, timeless beauty - that a city can afford something like this is also a testament to a certain awareness,” says Cornelia Zuschke. The graduate architect has been head of planning since 2016 and is responsible for planning, construction, mobility and real estate in the state capital. Her heart and those of many other architecture enthusiasts beats faster at the numerous architectural icons (see also page 11), spread over just a few square kilometres - because Düsseldorf is also a city of short distances, polycentric and characterised by lively neighbourhood structures.

From unique beauty to hard facts. Because Düsseldorf is also a rapidly growing city with a relatively small area: from 2014 to 2019 alone, it grew by around 26,000 inhabitants to over 645,000, and by 2040 around 700,000 people could have their main residence here. Added to this are a huge number of commuters. This poses enormous challenges for the city: Affordable housing must be created, there must be enough day-care, school and nursing places, but also sufficient commercial locations, cultural offerings and green spaces. What are the answers to these challenges and how can such a compact, mixed city be intelligently developed along with its transport infrastructure? A mammoth task that requires very close cooperation between the real estate indus-try, politics, administration and citizens. And thanks to a common vision, it is obviously well managed.

This urban planning vision is called Raumwerk D. The five-stage process has been underway since 2018, with broad participation from citizens, politicians and the professional public. Four interdisciplinary planning teams from all over Germany were commissioned to develop bold ideas for the future Düsseldorf – the result is four different “spatial concepts” over several time horizons (see info box). Last year, the spatial concepts triggered an online-based participation among Düsseldorfers - due to Covid - which in turn produced many exciting approaches and theses: from the further uncovering of the Düssel as a place to experience to the covering of major traffic routes with green spaces.

„That a city can afford something like this is also a testament to a certain awareness.“

“We are currently working on these key projects, which could one day be realised in built examples. For this we also need the input of the real estate industry and institutions. For example, does covering traffic lines make sense under real estate conditions? There are important questions that still need answers,” explains Ruth Orzessek-Kruppa, who heads the Office of Urban Development. The coronavirus pandemic has obviously not harmed this process - on the contrary: “Through online participation we were able to reach more people and get broad feedback. In addition, Covid-19 has pointed like a magnifying glass to pressing issues, some of which should have been dealt with long ago: the real estate industry has a mandate to think about its portfolios in a more multifunctional way. Urban development funding should not have such narrow funding corridors. And we in planning must learn that open space does not mean residual space, but that a healthy city is defined much more by urban spaces than by built-up areas,” says Cornelia Zuschke. The final product, an urban development concept, is to be completed before the end of 2021 and will be taken into account in future urban development.

„There are important questions that still need answers“

Not only since the pandemic has the stationary retail sector been undergoing a transformation process. Of course, this also affects urban development, as the current example of Kaufhof am Wehrhahn nicely shows: In one of Düsseldorf's best locations, a new world of working and strolling is to be created. How this place will look in the future is currently being discussed with the active participation of citizens. Another exciting question is what impact the pandemic will have on the future world of work and offices (see also page 14).

„How can developers make good use of building-
related and surrounding greenery?“

"The fact that places for living and working can also be brought closer together in terms of construction was already made possible by the legislature in 2017 with the so-called "urban areas"," explains Ulrike Lappeßen, head of the Düsseldorf Building Inspection Office. An intelligent transport infrastructure and good accessibility obviously also play a major part in the live-work balance (see info box). Ulrike Lappeßen points to another trend that is increasing regardless of the type of use of a building: Sustainability (see also page 14). "How can developers make good use of building-related and surrounding greenery? How can former office space also be converted for housing? Or how do new buildings obtain the appropriate sustainability certificates? These are typical questions we advise on. There are also the first cradle-to-cradle projects in our city. We have already tried a lot, but we are far from having reached the end of the road." Düsseldorf is and remains a dynamic and open city. A place where tried and tested ideas as well as new visions can coexist in the same space. •

The Düssel is already visible and can be experienced in some places in the city; in the future it should be uncovered in more places. Public space can thus be enhanced and neighbourhoods can be connected.

SPATIAL CONCEPTS FOR DÜSSELDORF

As part of the “Raumwerk D process”, four interdis-ciplinary planning teams from all over Germany developed their comprehensive urban visions for the future Düsseldorf - so-called spatial concepts. Among the selected approaches that are being discussed in more concrete terms on the basis of the participation to date are these three here.
www.duesseldorf.de/stadtplanungsamt/stadtentwicklung/raumwerkd.html
www.raumwerkduesseldorf.de

Mobility as a driver of the real estate industry

“As real estate consultants in Düsseldorf, we have noticed a significant correlation between the vacancy rate in certain submarkets and insufficient public transport connections. If you want to rethink the city, good accessibility by public transport throughout the city is a basic requirement. In addition, we need to organise car traffic within the city even better, for example through sensible guidance systems and mobility hubs where car sharing and switching to e-scooters and bicycles is possible. The municipal company Connected Mobility Düsseldorf was founded precisely to realise such a mobility concept. And we also need intelligent digital parking management. We cannot have underground garages in office buildings standing empty while at the same time parking spaces are desperately sought on the streets. There are already intelligent systems for this that are ready to use.”

Dirk Schäfer, one of the managing partners of Anteon, one of Düsseldorf‘s largest real estate consultancies in office leasing, logistics and investment

Words Tom Corrinth
Pictures PR
Weitere Credits
Reicher Haase Assoziierte, LAND, MIC, Stadtbox, IAT
MUST, DTP, TELLWERK, ARUP /
berchtoldkrass, bauchplan, ARGUS, HS Luzern

Building the future