Federation of German landscape architects analyzes coalition agreement from view of the Profession

"More progress dare. Alliance for freedom, justice and sustainability" - Since November 24, the coalition agreement 2021 - 2025 between the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD), BÜNDNIS 90 / DIE GRÜNEN and the Free Democrats (FDP) is available. 177 pages of paper form the basis for governing the traffic light coalition over the next 48 months.

The bdla has analyzed the coalition agreement in detail from the perspective of the profession. You can find the wording of the relevant passages of the contract in this compilation.

Till Rehwaldt, president of the bdla, assesses some of the central transformation goals of the traffic light coalition as positive. As expected, the agreements reached are still very vague and sweeping in parts, but expandable points of contact are recognizable in his opinion.

It is right to give urban development policy a contemporary compass and to measure it in future by greenhouse gas reduction and climate adaptation. With the clearly named focus on climate adaptation, landscape architects will move even more clearly into the center of urban planning tasks. The announced support of the municipalities for this generational task must now be implemented quickly.

Till Rehwaldt

bdla president

The construction, housing and urban development policy focuses on building 400,000 new homes per year, including 100,000 publicly subsidized homes. The Building Code is being amended; climate protection and adaptation, community orientation and inner development are to be strengthened and additional building land mobilized. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions and climate adaptation will become central components of urban development policy.

There are ambitious intentions to accelerate planning and approval; for example, the energy turnaround is to be "drastically accelerated" without dismantling ecological protection standards. "External project teams" are to relieve the regulatory authorities in the process.

Implementing timely climate adaptation measures

The German government intends to develop a Natural Climate Protection Action Program and to highlight synergies between nature conservation and climate protection. A new Climate Adaptation Act is to be introduced in cooperation with the federal states to create a national climate adaptation strategy with measurable targets in areas such as heat prevention, health prevention and water infrastructure. Green infrastructure is likely to be a central component of this.

The professional association also appreciates the accentuation in environmental protection and supports the new field of action Natural Climate Protection. With the appropriate action program as well as the announced sufficient financing of these measures a promising perspective opens. At the same time applies: The departure desired by the traffic light coalition will not be able to be realized without spatially concrete open space and landscape planning fast and above all not purposefully. The bdla therefore now also sees the states and municipalities in the duty to tackle the planning for the climate-resilient city and a contemporary nature conservation - with landscape architects.

One success of the architectural community is the clear commitment of the traffic light coalition to the HOAI: "We want to reform the fee schedule for architects and adapt the service profiles," it says in the coalition agreement. For the bdla, the task now is to qualify the updating of the service specifications. The legislator will have to expand the provisions on outdoor planning, for example, to include climatic requirements. The legislator will have to take this increase in services into account in the amendment. Another important aspect of the HOAI amendment is the planned drastic shortening of planning periods for infrastructures. This acceleration will only succeed if the specialized planning offices are also economically enabled to employ the required experts and to pay them adequately. The bdla therefore demands the overdue correction of the fee table of the landscape conservation plan. Adequate planning fees act as an accelerator for the energy transition and green urban redevelopment.

"However, we will only meet the challenges of climate change if society also trains and educates enough experts for these tasks," comments Till Rehwaldt. A national overall strategy, as is intended for other professional fields, is long overdue for the entire sector of the "climate professions".

Federation of German Landscape Architects bdla
Wilhelmine-Gemberg-Weg 6, 10179 Berlin
Tel. 030 27 87 15-0, Fax 030 27 87 15-55
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., www.bdla.de

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