Berlin/Brandenburg

The Association of German Landscape Architects bdla Berlin/Brandenburg calls on citizens to stand up for the Fraenkelufer in Berlin-Kreuzberg and the planning process so far. The upgrading of the Fraenkelufer that has begun must be continued!

Berlin, 24 November 2016 - The bdla is following with great concern the current discussion on the referendum to be held on Sunday, 27.11.16 on the redesign of the Fraenkelufer: The bdla expressly welcomes greater participation of citizens in the planning processes that specifically affect them. However, the planning on the Fraenkelufer goes back to a long voting process. If a few who were not able to assert themselves in this process now seek the path of a referendum in the hope that the citizens who did not participate and are not well informed will take their side, this is not objective-constructive citizen participation.

Between March 2013 and March 2015, a total of nine public information and discussion events, planning workshops, exhibitions and other participation formats took place. Embedded in these activities, which in the view of the bdla are exemplary, was a landscape planning design process with five offices, the results of which were widely discussed and have already been implemented in a first construction phase at Urbanhafen.

In the first construction phase, the commissioned landscape architecture firm Hanke Partner succeeded in integrating various, in part divergent, demands: integration in keeping with the requirements of a listed building, defusing conflicts of use between cyclists and pedestrians, dismantling barriers along the waterfront promenade and upgrading the quality of stay. Why this planning, which was coordinated in a very careful process, is not to be implemented in the 2nd construction phase, which is now to follow, and in a later 3rd construction phase, is beyond the bdla's comprehension.

Eike judge, chairman of the regional group of the bdla, explains in addition: The planning involved ones, who worked for years with high technical commitment on the improvement of the public area, in addition, the citizens of Berlin and their guests have a right to the fact that this measure, which enormously upgrades the bicycle and pedestrian traffic at the Landwehrkanal, is also actually converted." It is true that the promenade along the Landwehr Canal has been insufficiently maintained for years due to cost-cutting measures. But it is all the more important to carry out a redesign and improvement so that puddle formation and conflicts of use are not permanently entrenched. In addition, bicycle traffic in Berlin has increased steadily in recent decades. The planning of Hinrich Baller from the 1980's was not designed for this.

The bdla calls for the principles of public participation formulated by the new red-red-green coalition in the coalition agreement to be combined with tried and tested instruments of process and planning culture. It is right to start planning processes with "open-ended" participation processes, as was done at the Town Hall Forum, for example. However, if the direction of planning solidifies, participation formats should be combined with tried and tested planning instruments, such as an urban planning or landscape planning competition. Only in this way can limited resources be used sensibly, concrete design alternatives be identified and a consensus be reached that both takes into account different interests and moves our city forward in terms of good building culture.

With this in mind, the bdla calls on the citizens of Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg entitled to vote to exercise their democratic right to vote on 27.11.2016 and to vote NO to the initiative's proposal, thereby enabling the further upgrading of the Fraenkelufer!

Latitude: 0

Longitude: 0