 | | |
MARCO BONTJE u. JOACHIM BURDACK
Economic poles in the European metropolitan periphery and sustainable development
Leipzig 2005. 110 S.
(forum ifl; 1)
ISBN 3-86082-052-4
The European Spatial Development Perspective (E.S.D.P.) identifies 'urban sprawl' as one of the major problems working against the concept of a sustainable city. The spreading of people and activities across ever wider areas would lead to increasing travel distances, increasing car-dependence, loss of green space, and loss of social cohesion in metropolitan society. While this is true for 'urban sprawl', it is not necessarily true for a more clustered form of deconcentration: the polycentric urban region. In such polycentric structures, new multifunctional centres might emerge that enhance regional sustainability instead of diminishing it.
Five case study locations in three metropolitan regions (Berlin, Budapest, Randstad) were selected for the SWOT analysis. The areas compared are business locations. These locations vary in size and type of business, but their three main similarities are: they are located either in the outskirts or on the edge of a central city in a European metropolitan region; their distance to the centre of the nearest large central city is between 10 and 25 km; their development started in the 1990s or after 2000. They are or were planned, designed and marketed as one comprehensive project. While Beukenhorst, Brandenburg Park, Terrapark and BITEP exist of one continuous area, the case study 'work locations Almere Poort' exists of a number of smaller, geographically separate areas, integrated in an overall design for a new city.
The results show that a relatively sustainable design, planning and use of 'post-suburban' work locations are indeed possible. Largely the same design and use principles for inner-city 'brown field' sites can also be realised in 'green field' sites outside the cities. However, it has also become clear that the case study locations are rare exceptions to the general design practice of work locations outside the central cities. Moreover, even these 'state of the art' locations still have a long way ahead if they want to become truly sustainable places.
|
