Monu magazine on urbanism POLITICAL URBANISM The relations of urban form and typology to ideology, power and politics #03 July 2005 Planning and activism “You shall be urban” Flevoland: From State Planning to Planning the Stateless The Pharmacy and more... clear-cut manifestation - socio-economics, politics and planning - expression of new social, cultural and political tensions - piecemeal aesthetic - two poles which neutralize - fear of depletion - links between economic prosperity - different types of bombs . . . U N I K A S S E L V E R S I T Ä T Exploring the relationship between power, politics and cities, urban territories is like looking at the chicken and egg question. What grows out of what? In Hoyerswerda, a middle sized east-German city where we spoke to Mar- gitta Fassl, the Managing Director of the largest housing authority (that man- ages about 60x% of the cities housing units), the situation seems clear. The city over the last 50 years has been a ball on the waves of larger economic and political developments. From a small town of about 7,000 people, Hoy- erswerda was built up into a model city the socialist era with about 70,000 people, now to its status is being a model amongst the shrinking cities in East- ern Germany that wither in the new market economics. Like clockwork is house after house demolished. There remain approximately 40,000 residents and the city is expected to lose at least another 10,0000 in the coming years. Hoyerswerda came to tragic fame in the early 90’s when a racist, xenophobic mob and dozens of neo-nazis repeatedly attacked immigrants and engaged in violent street fights with the police. In her report from Malaysia Maggie Peng describes a very different rela- tionship of urban development and politics. Far from being a passive reaction to political and economic circumstances, urban planning and design are part of a strategy to find and establish an identity for this young nation. And there are many examples where local political decisions – democratic or not – drive development and shape cities. Some mix of popular opinion and political mechanics decide if a city should allow high-rises or not (Munich), or build an Olympic stadium for games it might or might nor get (New York City) etc. And while urban politics and development is a difficult and foggy subject in itself, it becomes even more complex and harder to trace what is the relation between the two when we expand the scope or scale of the analysis of either aspect: the level of what defines politics or the scale of territory we are looking at. ‘’War is the continuation of politics by different means’as the Prus- sian general and war theorist v. Clausewitz (1780 –1831) said. In that sense Lola Meyer extended the scale of the of the political dimension in her analysis of the reconstruction of the city of Kassel after WWII (the city center was destroyed to more than 90%!) and how military considerations significantly shaped the rebuilding efforts. The team ‘bad-architects’ Ursula Faix, Paul Burg- staller, Nanne de Ru on the other hand expanded the territorial aspect of their analysis of politics and urbanism in their research on Austria and Swit- zerland. Their project ‘nEUtral’ speculates how these two Alpine countries in the middle of Europe could develop an own brand of neutral and inclusive politics and symbolism. This new alpine politics would complement alpine tourism and alpine architecture and (re-) brand them as the neutral core of Europe. But sometimes examining a small detail of a city can reveal just as much and be as revolutionary as a new national policy. Joost Meuwissen does just that in his project on the Berlin Schloss , which was probably one of the most intensely debated urban reconstruction projects in Germany in the last years. His very modest and detailed proposal not only is politically very diplomatic, but more importantly reintroduces the beauty of everyday life into a high flying debate about architectural honesty, historicism, democracy, and the whole history of Germany, that has at times occupied even the ‘architecture critics’ in the German Bundestag. Ultimately the discussion about the relation between urban form and urban development, to politics and power, has a large impact on the self-understand- ing of the professions that deal with these topics. Are we as architects, plan- ners, social scientists etc. mere ‘hostages’, as Rem Koolhaas expressed it at one point, of larger economic and political contexts, or can planning, research and building actually be activism, a contribution to a struggle to change things? Malkit Shoshan in her truly extraordinary project in a village in Israel in a way answers this question. Her account of the project in “Planning and Activ- ism” shows how research in urban planning combined with an effort to engage stakeholders and powerbrokers can actually be a powerful political act. Other excellent thought-pieces, essays and research-projects by Fabian Faltin, CASE and Theo Deutinger shine spotlights on other parts of the intricate web of relationships between politics and urban form. We wish to thank all the authors that contributed for their efforts. Special thanks to William Alatriste, Beatriz Ramo and Yvonne Hung for helping out with translations and proofreading. The Editors Thomas Söhl and Bernd Upmeyer New York City and Rotterdam, June 2005 Cover: Ein Hud’s (improvised) city hall - an illegal structure located in the center of Ein Hud. The city hall is hosting the adminis- tration meetings of the Muchtars (Heads of the families) as well as meetings with occasional guests. – see article “Planning Activ- ism” by Malkit Shoshan page 6 - 17 Editors Thomas Söhl and Bernd Upmeyer Contact/ article submission editors@monu.org Internetmag www.monu.org Collaborator of this issue Beatriz Ramo Title Picture Ein Hud’s improvised city hall, Israel Publisher University of Kassel Departement of Architecture, Townplanning, Landscapeplanning Faculty: Entwerfen im städtebaulichen Kontext Urban Architectural Studies UAS Prof. Wolfgang Schulze Gottschalkstrasse 30 34127 Kassel, Germany phone: 0049 561 8042309; fax: 0049 561 8043209 www.uni-kassel.de/ fb6/ Entwerfen im städtebaulichen Kontext/ UAS Printing Bräuning + Rudert oHG Druckwerkstatt Weimarer Weg 50 34314 Espenau, Germany phone: 0049 5673 913157 fax: 0049 5673 911751 bs@druckwerkstatt-br.de Order address mail: info-isp@uni-kassel.de www.isp.uni-kassel.de analog: Universität Kassel, Fb 6 Infosystem Planung Henschelstrasse 2 34127 Kassel, Germany phone: 0049 561 8042016 fax: 0049 561 8042232 ISSN 1860-3211 ISBN 3-89117-147-1 Call for submissions for Monu 04 Denied urbanism – forgotten, excluded and repressed forms of urban life Whenever a city’s elite dreams up an image or a vision for the city, alarm bells should ring. All too commonly those images – the supposed character of urban life are so nar rowly conceived by that they don’t have any relation to reality. The consequences of this myopia are fatal. Instead of strengthening and developing the urban life that daily surrounds them they chase mirages – the culture capital, a baroque city, the European city, the growing city, the high-tech region… the stock of urban brand clichés seems unlimited. The urban development strategies spawned by these mirages tend to enhance an image and a set of values that a city represents for a small but powerful minority. Grotesquely the majority of urban life is defined as the fringe – excluded as the other – the diversity and richness of a city is denied in order to create an easily understandable representational image. Similar dynamics play out around the globe in different forms and shapes; perpetuated by different elites within different political contexts; in cities big, small, grand and pathetic. With always-similar results: a very narrow definition of city is embraced while the rest of urban life – the other – is dismissed, neglected or actively discriminated against. For the next issue of Monu we invite observations, thoughts, speculations, manifestoes, projects and essays to issues around this topic. The fourth issue will be published by the end of 2005. Contributions should be sent to editors@monu.org by late November. Editors Thomas Söhl and Bernd Upmeyer Contact/ article submission editors@monu.org Internetmag www.monu.org Collaborator of this issue Beatriz Ramo Title Picture Ein Hud’s improvised city hall, Israel Publisher University of Kassel Departement of Architecture, Townplanning, Landscapeplanning Faculty: Entwerfen im städtebaulichen Kontext Urban Architectural Studies UAS Prof. Wolfgang Schulze Gottschalkstrasse 30 34127 Kassel, Germany phone: 0049 561 8042309; fax: 0049 561 8043209 www.uni-kassel.de/ fb6/ Entwerfen im städtebaulichen Kontext/ UAS Printing Bräuning + Rudert oHG Druckwerkstatt Weimarer Weg 50 34314 Espenau, Germany phone: 0049 5673 913157 fax: 0049 5673 911751 bs@druckwerkstatt-br.de Order address mail: info-isp@uni-kassel.de www.isp.uni-kassel.de analog: Universität Kassel, Fb 6 Infosystem Planung Henschelstrasse 2 34127 Kassel, Germany phone: 0049 561 8042016 fax: 0049 561 8042232 ISSN 1860-3211 ISBN 3-89117-147-1 Contents Planning and activism by Malkit Shoshan Page 6 – 17 nEUtral by bad-architects Page 18 – 21 Rojak by Maggie Peng Page 22 – 27 Between aerial defense and modernism by Lola Meyer Page 28 – 31 Model City: Interview with Margitta Faßl Page 32 – 37 “You shall be urban” by Theo Deutinger Page 38 – 39 Flevoland: From State Planning to Planning the Stateless by CASE Page 40 – 49 The Pharmacy by Joost Meuwissen Page 50 - 54 Turning the corner by Fabian Faltin Page 55 – 58 Supersuburbia by UAS Page 59 – 61 Planning and Activismby Malkit Shoshan Some of the major issues facing the world, and therefore planning and architecture, are expressed in the conflicting territorial claims in Israel today. Israel poses an extreme version of the problems of segre- gation and stratification, globalisation and tribalism, environmental and economic needs, which are found in more moderate forms everywhere. This clear-cut manifestation of the links between socio-economics, politics and plan- ning makes the situation in Israel of far more than local interest. Analysing, researching and achieving solutions in Israel will therefore provide lessons for many other countries. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is characterised by a territorial stranglehold that carves the country into a tortured web of settlements, strips, banks, unrecognised villages, demarcation lines, fences and no man’s lands. All of these constitute a chaotic chain reaction based on the meltdown of territorial segregation. FAST, the Foundation for Achieving Seamless Territory, takes architecture and planning as the basis for a strat- egy to overcome the conflict of causality, finding meth- ods to expose the abuses of planning and to implement the legal and the practical, localising an agenda beyond feeble, fancy and formless architecture research, mapping and design. By elucidating the situation in Israel through a single case study, and involving national and international multidisciplinary networks in finding an alternative solution, we hope to create a pilot project format that can be used in other places, both in Israel and around the world. Israel Israel is one country, with two systems. One system is being built(1)based on Zionist(2)ideology: it seeks to increase its territorial agenda and mandate. The other system meanwhile is being destroyed, erased from the map. These systems exist, manifest and operate through bor- ders, checkpoints, demolition, and through the machinery of recognition and unrecognition. The conflict has had, and continues to have, an extreme 6 Israeli bill depicting zionist ideals and direct effect on the shape of the territory. In the early years of the state’s existence, more than 500 Pal- estinian villages and cities were destroyed, and over 800 new Jewish cities, villages and other types of settlement were founded. By the 1960s, the state had confiscated or otherwise acquired 93% of the country.(3) While more then five mil- lion Jewish people from all over the world found a new home in Israel, over 600,000 Palestinians became refu- gees. Effectively, the State of Israel had simply been established on top of another one, leading to a territo- rial and cultural cover-up, and an inevitable territo- rial battle, not only in Gaza and the West Bank, but also within the formal 1967 borders of Israel.(4) For the Palestinians who remained in Israel, Israeli land policy now often denied their right to a home, by confis- cating their land, refusing building permits, and refus- ing to acknowledge existing settlements. The so-called ‘unrecognised villages’ come into existence through a top-down strategy of dislocation, derooting, institution- alised temporality, non-existence, denial and repression, and the bottom-up strategy of closeness, proximity, com- munity and promise. This forced interplay has a strong impact on human behav- iour and fundamentally affects the basic elements of life - shelter, access, culture and recognition – on both per- sonal and community levels. A forced departure, under the guise of security and temporality, becomes highly prob- lematic when we realise that it is actually a strategy (or a solution) for separating people from their land, rights and sense of community. Separations, walls, and fortifications can have differ- ent shapes, colours, textures, and dimensions. They can create situations, events, programmes and conditions. As architects and planners, we understand the way our pro- fessional tools are being used as weapons, borrowed for 7 11.11.1918 15.05.1948 - 05.06.1967 2000 villages destroyed in 1948 settlements-growth the development of seams that tear apart our country and install isolated islands of seamless identity. Agricul- tural fields, national parks, cities, gardens, military areas, cultural programmes, farms, roads, infrastructure and services, trees, acoustic walls, industrial parks – any aspect of the landscape can be turned into an ele- ment of fortification (serving as protection, defence, or weapon), or can become a separating wall between the two different systems and population groups: Palestinians and Israelis. Confronted with a scattered territory, we cannot undo what is done, turn back the clock, and restore a (fic- tive) borderless condition. We can’t and don’t pretend that nothing has happened – or is still happening, or will happen. What we can ask is to undo the separation, and to uphold equality as a condition and consequence of respect. Analysing the contemporary condition, we can’t deny that we are confronted with a territory that has multiple faces, the official and the unofficial, the rec- ognised and the unrecognised, the myth and the reality, the causes and the effects. To bring the pieces together, one can use many strate- gies: welding, symbiosis, parasitism, bonding, connect 8 overlay of all borders ing, linking, adhering, fixing, or solidifying. Actu- ally, the means are not important, only the end, which is seamlessness. Separation turns seamless when we erase disruptive borders, whether these are architectures, cities, walls, fences, ditches, checkpoints, mentalities, politics or strategies. Not that these aren’t necessary, but their current implementation intends to occupy and intimidate, not to cultivate and liberate. It leads to a state in which continuity is the paradoxical key-concept: continuity in place, access, location, culture, memory, time and evolution. Out of that continuity, discontinuity is politically and mentally carved, stripped, eliminated and erased, paving the way to embody the same discontinu- ity both territorially and physically. As architects and planners making plans, masterplans, spaces, and buildings, and giving shape to people’s (living) environments, we find ourselves as major play- ers, or master puppets of political planning, in this territorial conflict. We find ourselves in situations in which governmental bodies abuse plans and masterp- lans to promote ideological agendas, through which human rights are violated. We find ourselves fighting to pro- 9 ����������� ��������������������������� ��������������������� �������������� ������� ������ ����� ����������� ������������ ������� �������� ����������� ������ ������� ������� ���������� ����������� ������� �������� ������������� �������� ����� ���������� ������������� ������ ������������� ������ ������ ����������� ������������� ������������� ������������� ��������� ��������� �� �������� ������ ������������������ ���������� �������� ����� unrecognized arab settlements in the north vide better living conditions for the inhabitants of our country, better services, homes, infrastructures, and economical development; fighting to provide present and future sustainability to the different population groups and communities. We don’t want to take part in political arguments, we don’t propose a global solution for the Israeli-Palestin- ian conflict, and we don’t plan to start peace treaties; but we do aim to expose injustice and to fight for equal planning solutions, equal services, and equal rights for all. We call for worldwide professional communities to participate in the creation of better plans, better mas 10 terplans and better solutions for places that have been neglected or harassed by governmental bodies. To facilitate an extended environment for addressing these political and ideological conflicts, we must bring various disciplines into play: law, geography, journal- ism and the media, activism, and many others. We need to mobilise national and international public opinion and to create a public debate about the issue of human rights violations through planning. If there’s a future for architecture and urbanism in this and similar apartheid-like situations, it will be one in which research, design and activism strive through jurisdiction for seamless territories and universal human rights. Media and activism aren’t just tools for placing this line on the agenda, but can actually be used to localise the agenda within architecture and planning: an agenda that reads reality, and not its twisted interpretation. Making the building process the epicenter of thought and action is not an attempt to introduce an arbitrary ele- ment of interpretation into a causal cultural relation- ship, but a method to explode and deepen this causality and explain its underlying agenda. Building is a tool used to obtain power, to suppress, deny, refuse, control, violate and destroy basic human rights - on both sides. Here, building is a weapon of mass destruction. We aim at creating a pilot that can cope with the situ- ation, and others like it, thereby reclaiming the tool, once intended to create culture and now used to erase it: the tool we call architecture and planning. The pilot project The story of Ein Hud, one of many unrecognised villages across the country (see map), is actually the story of two villages. Ein Hod and Ein Hud each represent a different reality and completely oppo- site living conditions. Together, they represent the history of the State of Israel as an embodiment of two parallel societies, or two parallel planning systems: one village in the process of being built, the other one in the process of being wiped off the map. The Ein Hud story Ein Hod is the biggest artists’ village in Israel. It was established at the beginning of the 1950s by a group of artists led by Marcel Janko. He had ‘found’ a Palestinian village with hundreds of years of history, a village that had been confiscated in 1948 by the Israeli military, its 900-odd villagers made refugees in a single stroke. The village was constructed in the ‘Islamic style’, composed of arched stone build- ings. The Israelis renamed the place Ein Hod, the ‘place of beauty’. The new name, sounding almost exactly like its original name of Ein Hud, has a different meaning. So 11 Israeli settlers changed the village’s identity, project- ing onto it a reconnection to their ancient Mediterranean roots. It became their new home, and a symbol of a new ‘arts and crafts’ society. The Israeli government listed the village under the status of ‘community settlement’ (5), a new term for a government-sponsored gated commu- nity. Such communities are established in strategic loca- tions in order to promote Jewish presence in an area and prevent Palestinian ‘encroachment’ over public land. Ein Hud, the working Palestinian village, became Ein Hod, an exclusive gated community for artists. While the new village was taking shape right on top of a confiscated one, the extended family of Palestinian Muhammad Mahmud Abu al Hayja fled from their homes in Ein Hud to their own land in the mountains, only 1.5 km away from their village. The family eventually lost all hope of returning to their old homes, so built new ones in their hiding place. They called the new village Ein Hud, after the old one. The new Ein Hud was an ‘unrec- ognised village’ (until February 2004), and its people classed as internal refugees. This meant that, for over 50 years, they lived without services, water, electric- ity, schools or medical care, struggling with the author- ities day by day for their right to a home, for their right to exist. Finally, in February 2004, after years of continuous struggle, the government recognised the vil- lage – or rather 80 dunams (80,000 square metres) of it, a very insufficient area for its present existence and its future development. With this act of recognition, the Israeli government imposed a masterplan on Ein Hud for the development of the village. The plan gives the village a total amount of land of 80 dunams or 80,000 square metres (1 dunam = 1,000 square metres), an area it has already outgrown. Of this, 13 dunams (13,000 square metres) in the vil- lage centre is considered a ‘military area’, so cannot be developed at all. Today, Ein Hud has 207 inhabitants and is part of the Hof Hakarmel jurisdiction area. This jurisdiction area enjoys an average area per person of 6 dunams (6,000 square metres), while Ein Hud was awarded 0.36 dunams (360 square metres) per person in the plan – about one- twentieth of the average allocation. The designated area for the development of public spaces, open spaces and commerce is already occupied by homes that automatically become illegal with the approval of the masterplan and may be demolished; if they are not demolished, the vil- lage has no space for the aforementioned activities. The masterplan doesn’t take into consideration large parts of the village; it leaves no space for future expan- sion, demographic growth, economic development, or future sustainability. Through the switch from unrecognised to recognised, the imposed masterplan pushes the village further into a straitjacket of political planning. 12 Ein Hod, the artist colony in the 50´s 13 Ein Hud - the unrecognized palestinian settlement today housing area phone booth improvised city hall 14 public debate exhibition jury deliberation publication The Palestinian unrecognised landscape isn’t inhabited by phantoms, but by 100,000 people living in over 40 differ- ent localities. These minority communities are currently denied the political, civil, economic and cultural rights that they should have according to international human rights principles. To raise this issue within the field of planning and architecture (for some villages the tools to keep the state of unrecognition pending, for others the sole recognition of their existence), work needs to be done to link community, national and international levels, insisting on equality, seamlessness and non-dis- crimination. Domestically, we need the implementation of international minority rights protection. At the same time, discussion is needed, to provide insight into the reality as found. The competition In order to show the Israeli Supreme Court that there are alternatives to Israeli State plan- ning, which seems designed to deny the Palestinian popu- lation basic development opportunities, FAST organised an international architecture and planning competition for an alternative masterplan for the village of Ein Hud, burdened with its restrictive 80-dunam official plan. The competition is the first stage of the ‘One Land Two Systems’ project, which aims to develop a model for use in other situations in Israel and elsewhere. There were 300 submissions from 30 different countries, each one outlining a sustainable and livable alternative for the Ein Hud, capable of being presented to the Supreme Court, in contrast to the Israeli government’s unworkable plan. On 6th February 2005, the results were presented in Amsterdam, with jury member Aaron Betsky (Director of NAI. the Netherlands Architecture Institute) announcing the three winners in the project category. These were: An Existence of Exile, by Dalia Nachman-Farchi and Hezi Nachman-Farchi (Israel), Spatial Justice by Sabine Horl- itz and Oliver Clemens (Germany), and Confluence by The AAA Team (France). The jury was impressed with the pro- posals, and considered that the three winning projects deserved to be further developed. To this end, FAST is organising a workshop in Ein Hud with the three winners, local experts and the community. “The competition results offer very good ideas for the future of our village and should be elaborated,” commented Muhammad Abu al Hayja, the grandson of the Abu al Hayja who founded the unrecog- nised village, and today the mayor of Ein Hud. In addition to the project category, jury member Petra Blaisse (Director of Inside/Outside, Amsterdam) announced the results in the ideas category. Four honourable men- tions were given: Ein Hud Underground by Clemens Huber (Austria), Connective Art, a study in seamless de-ter- ritorialisation by Shefali H. Sanghvi (USA), Realis- ing Connexion by Marcel Perez Pirio, Team Supreme (USA), 15 and Red-Blooded carpet by Christopher Perktold and Donat Aurel Gruecd (Austria). The significance of the competition is far wider than the struggle for recognition and rights of the people of Ein Hud. The competition challenged professional plan- ners, architects, geographers, artists, film makers, photographers, journalists, writers and others, as well as students, to use design and related tools in order to resolve conflicting territorial claims and (planning) cultures. Its aim is to develop a plan for a sustainable community, with new architectural solutions. We hope that the results of this project can be the model for other populations around the world facing neglect or harassment by state policy and planning institutions. While work will continue to develop the project and, in particular, flesh out the winning plans, we have already achieved considerable success in connecting the different disciplines of planning, politics, the media, and activ- ism. In addition, we have succeeded in raising awareness of the issue internationally: for example, the engagement of the media and Dutch NGOs resulted in a parliamentary discussion in the Netherlands’ parliament about the situ- ation of Ein Hud and Israel’s unrecognised villages. Further information on the competition can be found at www.seamless-israel.org The conclusion We are dealing with a situation in which the top-down planning regime is totally at odds with the grass-roots reality of unrecognised villages – and, in fact, with basic human rights. When we examine the effect of these planning ideologies, procedures and politics on the daily existence of those who are forced to submit to them, it is clear that the current situation is not sustainable, and that to change it we need to ini- tiate a debate, wake up an apparently sleeping national conscience, and reclaim a misused profession. We can only reclaim it with an awareness created from reality, not from myth, and with positive action based on tools, methods, design, strategies and societies – as illustrated in the example of the One Land Two Systems competition. In other words, the commitment to change must lead to action. Shouldn’t the discussion happen as reality unfolds, claiming concepts, designs and the right both to speak and to be taken seriously? Shouldn’t we trace the methods that lead to unrecognition and question their motives and effect? It might be possible to find freedom in innocence, but definitely not in ignorance, or self- imagined ignorance. Defeating, undermining, criticising this status quo happens if one moves the critique from a cultural, academic debate into a pragmatic, legal debate. The praxis of architecture and planning is the one that can inscribe reality, even if that reality incorporates 16 the concept of unrecognition. Discussing the impact of architecture on human rights starts on a practical level, with moving clearly and decisively. An alternative mas- terplan for the unrecognised village of Ein Hud is an essential first step in this process. Malkit Shoshan is an Israeli architect and the director of FAST, the Foundation of Achieving Seamless Territory, which aims at exposing the hidden dimensions of planning and offering alterna- tive solutions. Currently she is working on the ‘One Land Two Systems’ project, an architecture competition, exhibition and a publication on an alternative masterplan for Ein Hud, an unrecognized village in Israel. For F.A.S.T. she also works, together with Alwine van Heemstra, on the development of a radio station and on a televi- sion documentary t of the unrecognized villages in the Negev, in the south of Israel. Before F.A.S.T, she participated in the Israeli pavilion at the Biennale at 2002, and in the ‘A Civilian Occupation’ project with Eyal Weizman and Rafi Segal. Shoshan recently held a workshop with Carel Weeber at Bezalel, the Jerusalem Architecture Academy, dealing with the UN regula- tions of refugee camps. (1) manifesting “We have come to the land to build and to be built” a slogan deriving from the Zionist movement. (2) Zionism is a political movement, which maintains that the Jewish people constitute a nation and are entitled to a national homeland. For- mally founded in 1897, Zionism embraced a variety of opinions in its early years on where that homeland might be established. From 1917 it focused on the establishment of a Jewish national homeland or state in Palestine, the location of the ancient Kingdom of Israel. Since 1948, Zionism has been a movement to support the development and defence of the State of Israel, and to encourage Jews to settle there (3) In Israel, 93% of the land is in the public domain; that is, it is either the property of the state, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) or the Development Authority. The legal basis of Israel’s land policy is based on four laws: the Basic Law, establishing the Israel Lands Administra- tion (1960); the Israel Lands Law (1960); the Israel Lands Administration (1960); and the Covenant between the State of Israel and the World Zion- ists. These Israeli laws were adopted by the ILA, the Israel Land Admin- istration, the government agency responsible for managing the land, which holds the 93%. Ownership of real estate in Israel usually means a lease from the ILA for 49 or 98 years. (4) Green Line or 1949 Armistice Line: After the cessation of hostilities between the Arab countries and Israel in 1948, an Armistice agreement was signed in 1949. The agreement delineated the borders of each party and designated the no man’s land between them according to the location of their respective armies. This line demarcated the borders between Israel and the West Bank and Gaza Strip as recognised by the international commu- nity. It is worth mentioning here that Israel does not specify the bounda- ries of its state. Although the line became known later as the ‘Green Line’, its proper name is the 1949 Armistice Line. (5) During the late 1970s, Israel developed a new settlement type, the community settlement. As part of a sophisticated system designed to exclude Palestinians, Jews received public land in desigated areas by a complex land allocation system. Initially, the settlement land is assigned through a system known as “the three-party lease”. According to this arrangement, three parties sign the initial land allocation contract: A) the ILA as the public landowners agent; B) the Jewish Agency and C) the Jewish settlement as a collective (its legal entity is a cooperative). In order to lease (normally at a subsidised price and sometimes free of charge) an individual plot of land in such a settlements, a person must be accepted as a member of cooperative that incorporates all residents of the community. The cooperative (often with participation of the Jewish Agency) has the power of ‘selection’ and practical veto power over acceptance. This delegation of state power, the major rationale of which is to block Palestinians from access to land, serves simultaneously to preserve the mainly middle-class character of these settlements (definition from ‘The Israeli Land Regime’ by Alexander (Sandy) Kedar). 17 image I image II site and position of mountain ranges (former) colonial powers in europe focusing on switzerland-austria: plus ( ) for switzerland, minus ( ) for austria. plus and minus compensate each other: neutral. 0 400 800 1200 1600 Germ any Finland United Kingdom Sweden The Netherlands Italy Portr t rugal France Belgium Denm ark Spain Greece Ireland Sw itzerland Austria Belgium Denm ark The Netherlands G erm any Luxem burg Sw eden Finland United Kingdom France Portr t rugal Italy Sw itzerland Ireland G reece Spain A ustria 0 2 4 6 8 10 + 800m a.s.l. + 3000m a.s.l. utilized surface 13% non utilized surface 87% 52% projected surface100% projected surface 1927 0.0 0.2 0.4 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6 2000 in grad Celsius 18 14 10 1927 2000 6 22 2tourism identity neutrality european population density europe by night the low settlement density becomes visible share alps A: 66% share alps CH: 60% folded surface only 13% are utilized potential of folding unfolded surface temperature changes in the alpine region from1927 - 2002, celsius rainfall per day from 1927 - 2002 unfolded surface folded surface sources: k.w.haltinger sicherheit 2000 IIASA ERD IDA www.nationmaster.com IMF, WIFO APA STATISTIK AUSTRIA some unknown (www) europe density alps austriaN� �� �� �� �� �� � �� � �� � �� � �� �� �� �� �� � �� � �� � �� � �������� ��� ���� ���� ���� �� �� �� �� �� �� � �� � �� � �� ��� � �� �� �� �� �� � �� � � �� �� � �������� ��� �������� ��� defense „tourism-junkies“ austria and switzerland overnight stays per inhabitant / revenues tourism (€ per inhabitant ) 2002 neutral countries in europe beside austria, also fi nland, sweden and irland are part of the minority of neutral countries in the EU. relations unfolding of the alps neutrality function solidarity positive image (according to surveys) neutrality function identity positive image (according to surveys) projected surface economical cultural political historical neutral = money, neutral = noform, neutral = politics, neutral = economy, neutral nEUtralBy Paul Burgstaller, Ursula Faix , Nanne de Ru The concept that economic and political dynamics influ- ence architecture is widely accepted. However if we assume that there is a specific Alpine architecture, would it then also be possible to think a specific Alpine economy and Alpine politics? Neutralization The playful approach and ironic interpretation of the flags - sym- bols, “plus” for Switzerland and “minus” for Austria, as two poles which neutralize, could be a way of defining the special position of Austria and Switzerland within Europe: since the expansion of the EU in 2004, Austria and Switzerland became the neutral core of Europe; Switzerland, a consistent non-member of the European Union, Austria, a fairly happy EU-member since 18 image I image II site and position of mountain ranges (former) colonial powers in europe focusing on switzerland-austria: plus ( ) for switzerland, minus ( ) for austria. plus and minus compensate each other: neutral. 0 400 800 1200 1600 G erm any Finland United Kingdom Sweden The Netherlands Italy Portr tr ugal France Belgium Denm ark Spain G reece Ireland Sw itzerland A ustria Belgium Denm ark The Netherlands G erm any Luxem burg Sw eden Finland United Kingdom France Portr tr ugal Italy Sw itzerland Ireland G reece Spain A ustria 0 2 4 6 8 10 + 800m a.s.l. + 3000m a.s.l. utilized surface 13% non utilized surface 87% 52% projected surface100% projected surface 1927 0.0 0.2 0.4 -0.2 -0.4 -0.6 2000 in grad Celsius 18 14 10 1927 2000 6 22 2tourism identity neutrality european population density europe by night the low settlement density becomes visible share alps A: 66% share alps CH: 60% folded surface only 13% are utilized potential of folding unfolded surface temperature changes in the alpine region from1927 - 2002, celsius rainfall per day from 1927 - 2002 unfolded surface folded surface sources: k.w.haltinger sicherheit 2000 IIASA ERD IDA www.nationmaster.com IMF, WIFO APA STATISTIK AUSTRIA some unknown (www) europe density alps austriaN� �� �� �� �� �� � �� � �� � �� � �� �� �� �� �� � �� � �� � �� � �������� ��� ���� ���� ���� �� �� �� �� �� �� � �� � �� � �� ��� � �� �� �� �� �� � �� � � �� �� � �������� ��� �������� ��� defense „tourism-junkies“ austria and switzerland overnight stays per inhabitant / revenues tourism (€ per inhabitant ) 2002 neutral countries in europe beside austria, also fi nland, sweden and irland are part of the minority of neutral countries in the EU. relations unfolding of the alps neutrality function solidarity positive image (according to surveys) neutrality function identity positive image (according to surveys) projected surface economical cultural political historical neutral = money, neutral = noform, neutral = politics, neutral = economy, neutral 1995, belonging next to Sweden, Finland and Ireland to the minority of neutral countries in the EU. Although united by their strong identity as neutral countries, Austria and Switzerland are quite different in regards to their respective historic background. Austria, humbled as a former super-power during the Habsburg rule, Switzerland a small country since it gained independence from the Holy Roman Empire, started early to expand its power- position by making smart economic decisions (1). NEWtrality The acquisition of several military planes “Eurofighters” by the Austrian government in the summer of 2003 was widely discussed and seen as a sign that the military expenses of neutral countries are considerable and sometimes even larger than those of NATO-member states. A survey in Switzerland revealed, that the solidarity and identity function of neutrality are looked upon more favourably than the security function of neutrality: Only a minority of the Swiss believe, that militarily justified neutrality would be a guarantee peace. A new definition of neutrality or the realization of the potentials of neutrality is needed. 19 nativeshe tourists working migrants 2003 natives tourists working migrants trend austriaN� ������� ��������� ��������� N� nEUtral neutral summits gasp1<-->dasp2 (1) common foreign- and security policies acc. to the Treaty of Nice (2) differentiated foreign- and security policies dasp = nEUtrality: differentiated foreign-policies positions of the single EU-member countries as a redefi nition of neutrality. different foreign policy positions of the single EU- member countries avoid a block-building of the EU. po te nt ia ls austria social structure the social structure in tourism communities is on the move = summit meeting, neutral = europe, neutral = tourism, neutral = eurofi ghter, neutral = alphorn, neutral = immigration, neutral = solidarity, neutral = facade, neutral = identity, neutral = security, neutral = culture, neutral = subculture, neutral = hotel, neutral = dasp, neutral = diversity, neutral = sport, neutral = alps, neutral = mtv, neutral = extremes, neutral = austria, neutral = market, neutral = brand! dasp ���������� ��������� ������� ������� ������ ���� � ���� ������������������� ��� ��� ��� ���� ���������� ��������� ������� ������� ������ ��� ��� ���� ���� ���� ������ ������������������� EX IN + = + + = + �� �� �� �� �� � �� � �� � �� � �� �� �� �� �� � �� � �� � �� � �������� ��� ���� ���� ���� �� �� �� �� �� ���������� ������ �� ���������� ��������� ���������� ��������� ��� ��� ��� ��� ���������� �������������� social true surface import und exports of arms in neutral countries in the EU expansion of neutrality europe 2004 Due to the east-expansion of the EU in 2004, Aus- tria moves, as far as geography is concerned, in the mainland of the EU. Together with Switzerland Autria forms the neutral core of the EU large difference of the demographic structures in tourism communities during the high and low- season. a vacuum of missing nationalities and population stratum evolves. restrictive alpine immigration policies winter summer neutrality function security politics negative image (according to surveys). The usefulness of the security policy function of neutrality is doubted strongly by the population types of neutrality the different types of neutrality level off to a percentage of 30%. neutrality traditionalists: considerable decrease neutrality opponents: slight increase to ta l i nh ab ita nt s w or ki ng m ig ra nt s to ur is ts na tiv es to ta l i nh ab ita nt s w or ki ng m ig ra nt s to ur is ts na tiv es restrictive liberal europe 2003 mix of village inhabitants fl achau Touristy Neutrality Both countries, Austria and Switzerland are Europe’s tourism junkies – their economies are highly dependent on revenues from the tourism industry. This dependency has its expression for example in the “touristy neutrality”, embracing the phe- nomenon, that hotel managers always adopt a neutral position towards their guests: any guests from any country are welcome and hotel managers are very precautious in their statements on foreign affairs. Moreover hotel managers are always trying to achieve the balancing act between Alpine tradition and latest technology: Luxury hotels in the Alps usually provide a matched façade around a high-tech core. Neutral Summit The Treaty of Nice, ratified in 2003, regulates for example the Common Foreign and Security Policy (Gemein- same Aussen- und Sicherheitspolitk GASP) of all EU-members, including the neutral country of Austria. We see a potential in breaking up the block-building GASP in formulating a Differenti- ated Foreign and Security Policy (Differenzierte Aussen- und Sicherheitspolitk DASP) defining neutrality as opposing opin 20 nativeshe tourists working migrants 2003 natives tourists working migrants trend austriaN� ������� ��������� ��������� N� nEUtral neutral summits gasp1<-->dasp2 (1) common foreign- and security policies acc. to the Treaty of Nice (2) differentiated foreign- and security policies dasp = nEUtrality: differentiated foreign-policies positions of the single EU-member countries as a redefi nition of neutrality. different foreign policy positions of the single EU- member countries avoid a block-building of the EU. po te nt ia ls austria social structure the social structure in tourism communities is on the move = summit meeting, neutral = europe, neutral = tourism, neutral = eurofi ghter, neutral = alphorn, neutral = immigration, neutral = solidarity, neutral = facade, neutral = identity, neutral = security, neutral = culture, neutral = subculture, neutral = hotel, neutral = dasp, neutral = diversity, neutral = sport, neutral = alps, neutral = mtv, neutral = extremes, neutral = austria, neutral = market, neutral = brand! dasp ���������� ��������� ������� ������� ������ ���� � ���� ������������������� ��� ��� ��� ���� ���������� ��������� ������� ������� ������ ��� ��� ���� ���� ���� ������ ������������������� EX IN + = + + = + �� �� �� �� �� � �� � �� � �� � �� �� �� �� �� � �� � �� � �� � �������� ��� ���� ���� � ���� � �� �� �� �� ���������� ������ �� ���������� ��������� ���������� ��������� ��� ��� ��� ��� ���������� �������������� social true surface import und exports of arms in neutral countries in the EU expansion of neutrality europe 2004 Due to the east-expansion of the EU in 2004, Aus- tria moves, as far as geography is concerned, in the mainland of the EU. Together with Switzerland Autria forms the neutral core of the EU large difference of the demographic structures in tourism communities during the high and low- season. a vacuum of missing nationalities and population stratum evolves. restrictive alpine immigration policies winter summer neutrality function security politics negative image (according to surveys). The usefulness of the security policy function of neutrality is doubted strongly by the population types of neutrality the different types of neutrality level off to a percentage of 30%. neutrality traditionalists: considerable decrease neutrality opponents: slight increase to ta l i nh ab ita nt s w or ki ng m ig ra nt s to ur is ts na tiv es to ta l i nh ab ita nt s w or ki ng m ig ra nt s to ur is ts na tiv es restrictive liberal europe 2003 mix of village inhabitants fl achau ions which neutralize. The mono-religious sign, to be found on each peak in the Alps, could move in the same direction, as a differentiated pluralistic sign embracing all five world religions – neutral summits. Paul Burgstaller is a student of architecture, co-founder of bad-architects.network, and runs together with Ursula Faix, an architect, university lecturer at the Institute for Urbanism at the University of Innsbruck and co-founder of bad-architects.network, the architectural office bad-architects.innsbruck. www.bad-architects.net; www.innsbruck.bad-architects.net Nanne de Ru co-founder of the Powerhouse Company, an architecture and research company based in Rotterdam and Copenhagen. www.powerhouse-company.com (1) According to the latest survey by the Financial Times on the 500 top global companies in 2005, Switzerland is listed eleven times, while Austria is only listed once 21 ROJAK Kuala Lumpur By Maggie Peng A salad consisting of mixed tropical fruits and root vegetables topped with prawn paste, Rojak characterizes the milieu of cultural identity in Malaysia. A country with at least three distinct ethnic groups, the landscape of Malaysia reveals the piecemeal aesthetic that is gen- erated by overlapping histories, cultures, and territories. The laissez-faire urban landscape of Kuala Lumpur (KL) is collaged from picture per- fect suburban developments, fiberglass-domed mosques, labyrinthine shopping malls with everything from roller-coasters to cell phone repair shops to stores selling the latest bootlegged DVD’s of banned Western movies. Within this context, Rojak characterizes the current postmodern condition of Malaysia. As this young nation (independence from the UK in 1957, nation of Malaysia in 1963) continues to build at an ever-rapid pace, the ambi- tious scale of current development describes the illusive process of the search for national identity and quality of lifestyle through architectural Ingredients 25 diced chilies - soaked and ground (less if you prefer mild) 21/2 cm square dried shrimp paste (belachan) - toasted and ground 4 tbsp. tamarind paste 1/2 cup water 1 tsp. dark soy sauce 6 tbsp. brown sugar 1 medium size cucumber 2 small green mango (choose ripe mango if you prefer sweet) 1/2 medium pineapple (or can) 1 starfruit (optional) 1 jackfruit (optional) 200 gm bangkwang or turnip 100 gm sweet potato 2 tbsp. black shrimp paste (heiko) 150 gm peanut candy or roasted peanuts, ground coarsely 1 tbsp. sesame seeds - roasted Method: 1. Put ground ingredients and tamarind juice in a small saucepan and cook over low heat 2. Stir in sugar and dark soy sauce and cook until sugar dissolves and sauce is thick 3. Let it cool 4. Mix cut vegetables with cooled sauce and black shrimp paste in large mixing bowl 5. Add ground peanut candy or roasted peanuts and roasted sesame seeds 6. Serve immediately Makes about 4 to 6 serving. 22 means. The optimism of Malaysia is revealed through its design culture. While Malaysia builds the new administrative capital city of Putrajaya and the new technological capital of Cyberjaya, the sprawling capital of KL faces the on-going challenge of maintaining its status and identity as the cultural capital. Already a city of many centers, new projects continue to tug and pull the extents of KL. A walk through the city is an experience of polarization, contradiction, and disjunction, moving through patchworks of iconic triumphs, bizarre urban conditions, and unfinished projects, all revealing the complex history and cultural mix that is intrinsically Malaysian. The purpose of this article is to illustrate the different typologies, or ingredients, employed to represent power, security, status, and progress for this young nation. I will present case studies, both finished and unfinished or under construction, that exemplify the current search for national identity, however successful. At the same time, the article will discuss contradictions inherent within the process of attaining such ideals within the cultural complexity of Malaysia. The reference to Rojak is that of collage, in terms of meaning and metaphor. Analogous to the dish, the unlikely mix of ingredients creates surprising urban landscapes and cultural conditions, almost by accident. Symbolism, iconography, and forms are re-appropriated, given new purpose in the process of creating Malaysia’s national identity. Civic Putrajaya is the new administrative capital of Malaysia that began as a vision of the former prime-minister Mahathir Mohamad twenty years ago. Putrajaya is located 30 minutes from Kuala Lumpur and 25 minutes from Kuala Lumpur International Airport to create a triangle of centers within the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC), a zone about 9 by 30 miles dedicated to high tech government and commer- cial enterprises. Putrajaya was created with the guidance of three simple ideologies: Man and his Creator Man and man Man and nature The concept is simple. Putrajaya is a city within a luscious garden, hinging on a balance of ideal qualities of living, working environment. Architecturally, Putra- jaya will be an indigenous city with a modern look. Planned to the most minute detail, this intelligent garden city will enhance the goal of the nation in nurtur- ing a caring and progressive society. (Excerpt from http://www.i-putra.com. my/aboutputrajaya.htm) In 1995, the construction of the Masterplanned city of Putrajaya began. A grand vision with allusions to utopian ideals of society and western formal motifs of axial boulevards and gardens, the infrastructure of Putrajaya reflects the goal of Malaysia in becoming a first-world nation by the year 2020. Putrajaya is poised to be a fully integrated and self-contained city. Adapting the latest in telecommunication, transportation and infrastructure technologies, Putrajaya is to provide for a level of efficiency in Government machinery that would be geared towards excellence in the new millennium and towards ‘Vision 2020’. (Excerpt from http://www.i-putra.com.my/aboutputrajaya.htm) 23 The core of Putrajaya is divided into five precincts, connected by boulevards, bridges, lakes, gardens, and wetland parks. The first phase of projects were concerned with the initial move of primary govern- ment offices. The first buildings to be completed anchor one end of the axially aligned mall, the Perdana Putra Building (Mahathir’s office), the Prime Minister’s Department (Pic.1), the Putra Mosque (Pic.2) and the Dataran Putra, an open plaza and food court connecting these three buildings and overlooking a man-made lake. The Perdana Putra incorporates “a mixture of European influences overlaid with Malay and Islamic elements”. The Putra Mosque reflects Islamic architectural influences from Turkestan, Kazakhstan, Iraq and Morocco. The Dataran Putra is the centerpiece for the staging of major events along the promenade, a plaza that connects the buildings anchoring the gov- ernmental end of the boulevard. The pattern on the ground is symbolic of the national conception of Malaysia. The Dataran is divided into 11 segments, in the pattern of an 11-pointed star. The outer 11-pointed star represents the 11 states of Malaya when the country gained independence in August 1957, the inner 13-pointed star the 13 states that formed Malaysia in 1963 and the 14-pointed star includes the new addition of the Federal Territory. The progressive arrangements of the different pointed stars finally culminate in a circle in the center of the Dataran. The circle symbol- izes the ultimate goal of unity. (Excerpt from http://www.i-putra.com.my/about- putrajaya.htm) The next phase of buildings was important in the procession and func- tion for hosting the Organization of Islamic Countries (OIC) conference in October of 2003. To anchor the other end of the boulevard, a grand convention center and sports complex was built on a large island. (Pic.3) While the first cluster of governmental buildings looked towards traditional Islamic and/or Malay stylistic references, the architecture of the Convention Center, designed by Hijas Kasturi Architects, is monu- mental in scale and abstract in form. Traditional Malay references are made with interior textile patterns and finish rather than gestured in form. The most exciting addition to the procession of buildings along Putra- jaya Boulevard is the new Putrajaya Civic Center, designed by a young Malaysian architectural firm headed by Zaini Zainul. It is an impressive building sited across the Boulevard from the Hall of Justice, a multi- domed Islamic style building. The Civic Center mirrors the symmetry and scale of the Hall of Justice with two separate buildings bridged by a monumental arch clad in a delicate latticework of stainless steel that Prime Minister’s Office (Pic.1) Putra Mosque (Pic.2) View of Putrajaya Boul- evard from Convention Center. Looking towards Prime Minister’s Office (Pic.3) 24 serves as a pair of elevators to a bridge on the top floor. (Pic.4) It is the most ambitious deviation from the archetype of buildings along the Boulevard. When we visited the construction site in 2004, the building was about 60% complete. It was apparent that the building was not just ambitious aesthetically but was also experimental with technologi- cally sophisticated architectural details. The modern aesthetic and high tech functions of the building facade serves to protect the interior from the harsh climate of Malaysia. The Putrajaya Civic Center and the Convention Center exemplify the new direction in civic architectural expression that describes the con- temporary ascend of a generation of new talent, many of whom were educated and trained abroad at prestigious institutions. The architec- tural representation is a mixture of western ideals and comforts while abstracting traditional cultural symbolism as surfaces or textures. Security Desa Park City is an ambitious multi-phased suburban community being developed right outside of Kuala Lumpur. The project began in 1990 as a master-planned community on 473 acres of free- hold land. Complete with residential, commercial, community and recreational spaces, Desa Park City strives to provide all amenities of urban living while accommodating the desires of country living. “Urban living redefined.” There are eight different residential developments within the master-planned suburb: apartments, condos, park-homes, courtyard terraces, semi-detached homes, and lots for custom bunga- lows. The developments make up 23 “neighborhoods” that consists of a mixture of housing types. Only 2 out of the 23 neighborhoods are not gated communities. Safa, the first development of 175 double-storied semi-detached units, opened in the fall of 2004. The second development, Nadia, with 165 similar type of units will open this month. Throughout the promotional literature, ideas of serenity, security, and exclusivity are repeated and emphasized. All of the developments are guarded if not gated. Many of the developments currently under construction have already sold out. The boundaries of Kuala Lumpur continue to expand at a rapid rate as developments continue to sprawl outside of the city limits. To provide a “town center” internally, the newest project at Desa Park City, the Quaritz, offer a main street providing community, commercial, and entertainment spaces. Desa Park City, February 2004. Looking towards Nadia Parkfront Condos, under construction (Pic.5) Abandoned construction site of residential towers in Kuala Lumpur (Pic.6) Putrajaya Civic Center (Pic.4) 25 We got a tour of the site with the construction supervisor last February. It’s hard to imagine the places represented by the billboard renderings of the various developments when most of the site consists of graded dirt and foundations. The harsh intensity of the sun reveals the fertile red clay soil, which served the palm oil plantation that existed before. (Pic.5) Crews of men from Thailand, Myanmar, Laos, Indonesia, and Nepal live in shack communities on site. There are distinct communities amongst the labor force at Desa Park City. Much of the construction labor force in Malaysia comes from other Southeast Asian countries. They are migrant workers who stay on job sites for various periods of time. These nomadic communities are seen at every major develop- ment in Malaysia. The image of “city” in these developments hark back to western utopian ideals of the garden city, with an abundance of open space, meandering streets, low density of housing. The image of “home” in Malaysia is marketed as a modern place, with large bedrooms, living rooms, dining rooms, showcase kitchens, and lush landscaping. The marketing strategies present an image of western creature comforts paired with Malaysian amenities, like the wet kitchen, generally outside or partially enclosed. Images of lush, park like settings inhabited by a cross section of Malaysian population young and old reveal a desire to create communities. The idealism and optimism for social progress is seen everywhere, on billboards advertising the latest housing develop- ment promising a better city, a better home. However, behind every billboard for such developments, there’s a chance that the project will never complete. Incidents of disappearing developers, who take large deposits from new homeowners and vanish, are common. (Pic.6) Vestige Plaza Rakyat would have been crowned the 7th tallest building in the world at he time of its conception. Located in the heart of Kuala Lumpur, next to the Pudu Raya Bus Station, Plaza Rakyat was designed as a 6.6 million square feet mixed-use development that would expand and improve the transport terminal, provide retail mall at the base with an office tower on top. The project began in the mid- 1990’s, at the height of the building boom and stalled during the Asian economic crisis. Designed by SOM, the project would have anchored the older business neighborhood around the transport terminal while on the other side of the city, a shiny new business district develops around the Petronas Towers, completed in 1998. (Pic.7) SOM model of Plaza Rakyat (Pic.7) Plaza Rakyat, February 2004 (Pic.8) Plaza Rakyat, February 2004 (Pic.9) 26 When we visited Plaza Rakyat in February of 2004, the project was still on hold, the concrete base structure stood right behind the existing transport terminal, overgrown with weed, moss, and debris. (Pic.8/ 9) When we asked local residents about the site, many speak with disdain about the eyesore that’s there but also optimism that the project will be completed. Berjaya Times Square was recently completed after years of abandonment due to financial troubles. Visitors not knowing its history would not have guessed the project was on hold for almost 4 years. The 12 stories of retail, amusement park, dining, with two towers of hotel and convention center was packed with people when we visited. The luminous atrium, flanked with escalators was adorned with festive lights while a fashion show was in progress on the ground level. The mall, however, had many empty stalls suggesting the imbalance between supply and demand of commercial retail space. Major mixed-use developments, providing some public amenity, enter- tainment, commercial, and in some cases, residential spaces is cur- rently the standard model of urban development. These projects are megastructures even by global standards, providing enough program space to be considered a city within a city. Just a few weeks ago, Plaza Rakyat re-started the construction, after almost 5 years of aban- donment. Questions are being raised about the traffic patterns and congestion issues once the shopping mall is complete. The city of Kuala Lumpur is far behind in dealing with the impacts of such large develop- ments in the city. Traffic is a major problem as more cars are added to the system every year. The city has been resolving problems of street names and map making since the streets were renamed from colonial names to Malay names, which caused more confusion to the exquisite corpse that describes the way streets in KL are laid out. Future After 22 years in power, Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad stepped down from office in October 2003. The new leader, hand- picked by Mahathir and served as Deputy Prime Minister for 4 years, is Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi. The new leader has been described as a political “Mr. Nice Guy”. However, that image has shifted to “Mr. Clean”. Less outspoken and less extravagant, Badawi is cleaning up political corruption and halting major infrastructure projects in favor of a more careful and slower-paced course of development. In this shifting political climate, development projects are being scrutinized in terms of long term goals, not speculative and spectacular gains. Malaysia is in a reflective period, tying up loose ends, scaling back, editing its political image, and redirecting its resources. At the end of an era, Malaysia has accomplished much towards becoming a “first- world” nation. It will be interesting to return in 2020 and see how that vision shifts to accommodate the citizens and the cultural, economic, and political climates. Maggie Peng is a designer and photographer living in Brooklyn, New York City 27 Between aerial defense and modernism why Kassel looks the way it looks By Lola Meyer Kassel is a city of about 200.000 inhabitants located in the middle of Germany. The cityscape is char- acterized by generously wide streets, three- to four story buildings, and low-density housing. The question I want to answer in this essay is: How did this come about? Why does this city look the way it looks? Like many other German cities, Kassel was destroyed in WW2 and “rebuilt” afterwards. The term rebuilding-reconstruction is misleading though, because it implies that the city was built according to the princi- ples of the city that was there before, or even literally reconstructed as a carbon copy. However unlike in the cities Freiburg or Münster where reconstruction was oriented on the historic layout, Kassel was newly constructed from the ground up (Lüken- Isberner 1992a). New-construction ‘Neuaufbau’ implies a new beginning - in the sense of new ideas; like a zero hour. But just like in other fields of new beginning in Germany, the zero hour term is a myth – the urban planning commissioner from the Nazi era remained in his position (from 1941 to 1949 when he retired) and the head of the department of urban planning after 1945 had been involved in the planning of Kassel years before 1945. However the continuities were not only in staff, but also on a conceptual level. The ideas that informed the rebuilding of Kassel were old – they dated back to the time during and before WW2. That the ideas came from the modern movement is well known, but they also - and this is what I plan to demonstrate in this paper - came from urban design guidelines for aerial defense. Both are topics that have been discussed since the beginning of the last century. The theses of the urban modernist movement were put in writing at the IV CIAM (1) in 1933 and published by Le Corbusier several years later. The manifest criticizes the existing, grown cities with their high population density and the cramped buildings, which were a result of the real estate speculations in the end of the 19th Century. These “old” cities, so the argument, created inhuman living conditions. Besides, these cities were not compatible with the new ‘modern’ lifestyle; they were specifi- cally unsuited for motorized mobility. Replacing those existing old cities, the CIAM demanded new cities: functionally separated, with low-density urban patterns, with low-density populations and wide streets (Hilpert 1988, p.9). Back to Kassel: the cityscape with its generous wide streets and its (albeit imper- fectly) separated functions is not only a product of the ideas of the modern movement. But there is something else that shaped the city, something grounded in the experience Kassel ist eine Stadt mit 200.000 Einwohnern in der Mitte Deutschlands. Großzügige Straßenprofile, drei- bis viergeschossige Gebäude und eine aufgelockerte Bebauung prägen das Stadtbild. Hier soll der Frage nachgegangen werden, warum diese Stadt so aussieht, wie sie aussieht. Wie andere deutsche Städte auch wurde Kassel im Zweiten Weltkrieg stark zerstört und in den Nachkriegsjahren wieder aufgebaut. Wobei der Begriff „Wiederaufbau“ irreführend ist, impliziert er doch, das Neugebaute habe sich am Alten orientiert, oder gar, das Alte sei wieder rekonstruiert worden. Anders aber als bei Städten wie Freiburg oder Münster muss bei Kassel von einem Neuaufbau der Stadt gesprochen werden. Neuaufbau wiederum klingt nach Neuanfang, nach „Stunde Null“, nach gänzlich neuen Ideen. Doch, wie auch in anderen gesellschaftlichen Bereichen, erwies sich in der Kassler Planungskultur die „Stunde Null“ als Mythos: der Stadtbaurat blieb Stadtbaurat (von 1941 bis 1949) und auch der Stadtplanungsamtsleiter nach 1945 war bereits vor 1945 mit Planungen für die Stadt Kassel beschäftigt (Lüken-Isberner 1992 a). Nicht nur personell, auch konzeptionell gab es Konti- nuitäten. Die Ideen, die dem Wiederaufbau zugrunde gelegt wurden, gehen auf die Zeit vor und während des Nationalsozialismus zurück. So wurde Kassel zum einen nach den Leitbildern des modernen Städtebaus aufgebaut und zum anderen – was hier gezeigt werden soll – nach den Ideen des städtebaulichen Luftschutzes. Beides waren Themen, die in Planerkreisen schon seit Anfang des letzten Jahrhunderts diskutiert wurden. Niedergeschrieben wurden die Thesen der städte- baulichen Moderne in der „Charta von Athen“, dem Abschlussbericht des IV. internationalen CIAM- Kon- gresses (1). Die CIAM-Vertreter kritisierten darin die bestehende, historisch gewachsene Stadt: Die hohe Bevölkerungsdichte und die enge Bebauung, entstanden insbesondere durch die Bodenspekulation zum Ende des 19. Jh., verursache unmenschliche Wohnverhält- nisse. Außerdem werde die „alte Stadt“ mit ihren schmalen Straßen und Gassen den neuen motorisierten Fortbewegungsmitteln nicht mehr gerecht. Stattdessen forderte man die neue, die „Funktionelle Stadt“ (Hilpert 1988, S.9): Eine Stadt, nach Funktionen getrennt, mit aufgelockerten Stadtstrukturen, mit geringerer Bev- ölkerungsdichte und breiten Straßen. Zurück nach Kassel: doch die üppigen Straßenprofile, die aufgelockerte Bebauung, die (nicht konsequent umgesetzte) Trennung der Funktionen resultierten nicht allein aus den Ideen der städtebaulichen Moderne. Linear housing: „Aerial Defense in Urban Design“ Note from 1952 in „Aerial defense, Now also in urban design!” Baumeister, Heft 3, 1953, S. 187, digitally enhanced by the author. 28 of the war that more or less officially influenced post-war planning. A factor that is less known than the modern movement and which is underestimated: urban design guidelines for aerial defense. Urban design guidelines for aerial defense have been discussed internationally since the early 1920s (Lüken-Isberner 1988, S.379), because technical progress had produced a new type of war. Already in WWI airplanes were first used for military actions. Aerial warfare shifted armed combat from the frontlines far back into the middle of the countries, including cities. To protect residents (and industry) from the different types of bombs, architects and urban planners tried to invent a new city, an ideal air raid protected city with war-efficient building typologies and new urban forms. The planners agreed that the old cities with their medieval cores where unfit from a military point of view. The German Air Force published in 1938 and again in 1942 the guidelines for the aerial defense optimized city (Lüken-Isberner 1988, S.468). The guidelines name three main characteristics of the ideal city: First, the city should be spaciously designed, so that the probability of buildings being hit by a bomb would be lower. Second, the city should separate its different functions, so that attacks on the industry would not disrupt housing areas. Third, the city should have wide streets and open areas in order to prevent the spreading of fires. So far there is no scientific investigation into the extent in which aerial defense by urban design was a determining factor in the rebuilding of German cities. Several circumstances make it hard to prove its influence. In the post-war-period the Allies outlawed urban aerial defense, since it was considered a war measure (Hampe 1953). So even if planners had aerial defense by urban design on their mind, there was no talk about it on record. R. Hillebrecht, an influential planner in Nazi-Germany who was urban planning commissioner in Hannover after the war, confirmed this in an interview in 1981. He said that aerial defense by urban design was for him and others a very important topic personally, but it was also “top secret” and so nobody would talk about it (Durth 1981). The analogies and overlaps between modern urban design and urban aerial protection listed in the following table add to the difficulty. Both come to the same conclusions and to the same new ideal city, even though they started from different points: one Ebenfalls mitverantwortlich war ein Faktor aus dem Bezugssystem des Krieges: Der sog. städtebauliche oder bauliche Luftschutz. Dieser floss in die Nachkrieg- planungen, in Kassel wie vermutlich auch andernorts, mehr oder weniger offiziell mit ein. Der städtebauliche Luftschutz ist ein Faktor, der wenig bekannt ist und der heute gemeinhin unterschätzt wird. Bereits seit den frühen 1920er Jahren wurde der städtebauliche Luftschutz international diskutiert (Lüken-Isberner 1988, S.379). Der technologische Fort- schritt hatte es möglich gemacht, im Ersten Weltkrieg Flugzeuge für die Kriegsführung einzusetzen. Der „Luftkrieg“, der dann im Zweiten Weltkrieg maßge- blich wurde, verlagerte die Kampfhandlungen von den Frontlinien hinein in das Hinterland und bezog die Bevölkerung in den Städten in nicht gekanntem Aus- maße in den Krieg mit ein. Um dem neuen Krieg aus der Luft mit seinen Spreng-, Brand-, und Gasbomben entgegenzutreten, suchten Planer nach der idealen, luftschutzgerechten Stadt und erforschten in Studien luftschutzgünstige Bebauungstypologien. Einig war man sich darin, dass die vorgefundenen Städte mit ihren gründerzeitlichen- oder mittelalterlichen Stadtstrukturen nicht luftschutz-tauglich seien. Wie eine luftschut- zgerechte Stadt auszusehen hätte, wurde in Deutschland 1938 von der deutschen Reichsanstalt der Luftwaffe in den „Richtlinien für den baulichen Luftschutz im Städtebau“ veröffentlicht (Lüken-Isberner 1988, S.468). Drei räumliche Eigenschaften wurden hier der Idealstadt zugeschrieben. Erstens, sie sollte aufgelockert sein, denn: dadurch würde die Trefferwahrscheinlichkeit der Bomben sinken. Zweitens, sie sollte nach Funktionen getrennt sein, damit bei Angriffen auf Industrien nicht auch noch Wohngebiete in Mitleidenschaft gezogen würden. Und, drittens, sie sollte breite Straßen und weite Freiflächen haben, damit diese als Brandsch- neisen fungierten. Inwieweit aber der städtebauliche Luftschutz in den Nachkriegsjahren beim Wiederaufbau deutscher Städte zum Zuge kam, ist bislang wissenschaftlich wenig erforscht und lässt sich heute schwer eindeu- tig verifizieren. Verschiedene Umstände erschweren den Nachweis: So war in den Nachkriegsjahren der städtebauliche Luftschutz (als kriegsvorbereitende Maßnahme) durch das Viermächte-Kontrollratsgesetz der Alliierten verboten (Hampe 1953). Selbst wenn also der städtebauliche Luftschutz damals eine Einflussgröße war, sprach man nicht öffentlich darüber. Dies bestätigte R. Hillebrecht, einflussreicher NS-Planer und nach dem Krieg Stadtbaurat in Hannover in einem Interview. Er sagte, dass der Luftschutz auch nach dem Krieg für die Planer „... persönlich ein höchst wichtiges Thema war,...[wenngleich es auch ]...top secret war, keiner hat darüber geredet...“ (Durth 1981). Auch die Analogien zwischen den Forderungen der städtebaulichen Moderne und dem städtebaulichen Luftschutz, die in nachfolgender Tabelle noch einmal aufgelistet sind, erschweren den Nachweis, denn: während die Einen von der Frage ausgingen, wie die Stadt des modernen Menschen mit seinen modernen Verkehrsmitteln auszusehen habe, suchten die Anderen nach der Stadt, die den modernen Kriegstechniken gerecht würde. Gleichwohl kamen beide zu so ähnlichen Ergebnissen, dass man als Planer wahlweise mal die eine, mal die andere Begründung für die funktionelle Stadt heranziehen konnte. Vermutlich war es vor dem Sketch by Le Corbusier illustrating the advantages of modern high-rise housing in his Ville Radieuse: Lower probablitiy of a house being hit by a bomb and an accelerated diffusion of toxic gas (picture from Kunstform, Volume 165, page. 169) 29 ��� ����������� ����� ������������������������� ��������� ����������������������� �������������������� ��� ����������������������������� ������������������������������ ������������������������ ������������������������� ������������������������������ ������������ �������������������������� ��������������������������������� ������������������������ ���������������������� �������������� ������������������������������� �������������������������������� ���������������� ������������������������������� � ������������� �������������������������������������������� ������ ����������������������������������� ������������������������������ ����������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������ ��������������������������������������� ����������� ��������������������������������������� �������������������������������� ����������������������������������������� ��������������������� ����� ���������������������������������������� ������������������������������������ ������������������������������������������� ����������������� ������������������������������������������������ ������������������������������������������ ������������������������������������������� �������������������������� ��������� ������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������� ������������ ������������������������������������ ����������������������������������������������� ������ ����� ����������������������������� ������ ����������������������� ������������������������������������������ ����������� ������������������������������ ������������������������ ����������������������������������� ����������������������� � �������� �������������������������������������� ��������������������� ������������ ����������������������������������������� �������������������������������������� ���������������������������������� ������������ ������������������������������������������ �������������������������� � �������������������������������������������� ���������������� ����������� ������������������������������������������� ������������������������� ������������������������������������� �������������������������� ������������ ��������������������� ����������������� ��������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������� ������������������������������� ��������������������������������������� �������������� ���������������������� � ������������������������������������ ����������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������� ������������������������ ������������� ������������������������������������������ ��������������������������������������� ������������������������������������� ����������������������������� � � 1 Hilpert: Le Corbusiers „Charta von Athen“ – Texte und Dokumente, Braunschweig 1988 2 Neue Richtlinien für den baulichen Luftschutz im Städtebau, in: Raumordnung und Raumforschung, Heft 8/9, 1942, S. 287ff 30 ������ ����� � ������� ����� � from the question how a modern city for modern man and modern transportation had to look like, and the other from the question how a city that is prepared for the new urban warfare techniques should look like. Their answers were so identical, that plan- ners could have chosen either argument for their building suggestions. While it might have been opportune before the war to praise the effectiveness in aerial protection of buildings and planning (like le Corbusier did in his drawing for the “Ville Radieuse” in 1930 that shows the positive characteristics of a high rise in the event of a gas- bomb attack – the lower probability of getting hit and a quick dispersion of the Gas), arguments like this were not acceptable after the war – certainly not in Germany. Nev- ertheless (and this is my proposition) urban design guidelines for aerial defense were used in the reconstruction and at least in the case of Kassel there is evidence for this. Compared to other heavily damaged German cities, Kassel was rebuilt very late – in the early 1950`s. Meanwhile the cold war had started and aerial defense by urban design was acceptable again. Even though it was still officially illegal to build based on aerial protection criteria, in 1952 the rewritten guidelines from 1942 were republished (Lüken-Isberner 1988, S.380). In Kassel the district president halted construction work to adjust the zoning plan to fit the new guidelines. The results were three-story buildings in the inner city (instead of four-stories as originally planned) to reduce the population density. Also the corners of the traditionally closed building blocks were opened in order to provide better ventilation in the event of a gas-bomb attack and to minimize the destruction of the bomb-blasts (Lüken-Isberner 1992b, S. 263). Buildings with comb-like layouts, which exist in Kassel in many places, also belong to the repertoire of aerial defense urban design instruments. This building-typology was developed from E. Neufert 1941 in a research project for aerial defense urban design typologies. The structures showed a good performance and were not only built in Kassel, but throughout Germany and in many other European countries. Thus: Kassel is a city not only constructed according to the ideas of modern archi- tecture and urban planning, but also a product of military strategy. This dark-side of urban modernism (Lüken-Isberner 2005) is barely known in the planning community and even less so in public. Today, 60 years after the end of WWII would be an opportune time to explore the connections between our cities and the war. There is enough distance between the past and us in order to develop an open dialogue, at the same time some of the contem- porary witnesses are still alive. It is also time to research the connection between the modern movement in architecture and planning, and the architectural and urban strategies of aerial defense. As urban planners and architects we should today, two generations after the war, have enough distance to review that aspect of the past of our discipline. Lola Meyer studies Landscape Planning at Kassel University (Translated from german by Thomas Soehl) (1) Congrès Internationaux d`Architecture Moderne, 1933, mit Kommentaren veröffentlicht von Le Corbusier 1943 references: Durth, 1981: „Leitbilder zwischen Tradition und Aufbruch“, Stadtbauwelt, Heft 72 Hampe, 1953: „Luftschutz, nun auch Städtebaulich!“, Baumeister, Heft 3, 1953, S. 187 Hilpert, 1988: „Le Corbusiers ‚Charta von Athen’“, Braunschweig, S. 9 Lüken-Isberner, 1988: „Stadterneuerung unter Gesichtspunkten des städtebaulichen Luftschutzes“, in Lasch, Schlier, Lüken-Isberner ...: „Stadterneuerung als Teil großstädtischer Entwicklungspolitik in der Weimarer Republik und im Nationalsozialismus“, unveröff. Manuskript, Kassel, S. 379 Lüken-Isberner, 1992 (a): „Planungsvorgeschichte des ‚Wiederaufbaus’ von Kassel“, in Stadtmuseum Kassel: “Kassel 1955: Die Stadt im Jahr der ersten Documenta“, Kassel , S. 52 Lüken-Isberner, 1992 (b): „Neue Stadt auf altem Grund“, in: Beyme, Durth, Gutschow et al (Hg): „Neue Städte aus Ruinen – Deutscher Städtebau der Nachkriegszeit“, München, S. 263 Lüken-Isberner, 2005: „Ein Exkurs ins vorige Jahrhundert zu Luft-Schutz-Architektur und Stadt“, Vortrag am 01.04.2005 bei der Gedenkveranstaltung „unter_bunkern“, Kassel Krieg opportun, den Luftschutz zu preisen – wie es beispielsweise Le Corbusier in seiner Skizze zur „Ville Radieuse“ von 1930 tat, in der er die positiven Eigen- schaften eines Hochhauses bei einem Gasbombenangriff aufzeigte, nämlich den schnellen Abzug des Gases und die geringe Treffwahrscheinlichkeit. Nach dem Krieg – zumindest in Deutschland – war dies nicht mehr angebracht. Dennoch, so die Vermutung, wurden beim Wiederaufbau die Richtlinien des städtebaulichen Luftschutzes umgesetzt. Und zumindest in Kassel lässt sich diese Vermutung belegen. Kassel wurde, im Vergleich zu anderen deutschen Städten, sehr spät, Anfang der 50er Jahre wieder aufge- baut. Mittlerweile war der städtebauliche Luftschutz vor dem Hintergrund des Kalten Krieges wieder hoffähig geworden. 1952 war das oben genannte Gesetz, das den städtebaulichen Luftschutz verbot, zwar noch in Kraft, trotzdem wurden in diesem Jahr die überarbeiteten Richtlinien für den baulichen Luftschutz herausgege- ben (Lüken-Isberner 1988, S.380). Tatsächlich kam es in Kassel 1952, nach bereits erfolgtem Baubeginn, zur Intervention des Regierungspräsidenten, der eine Änderung des Bebauungsplanes von 1950 bewirkte. Mit Berufung auf die neuen Richtlinien setzte er durch, dass die in der ehemaligen Altstadt vorgesehene viergeschossige Bebauung auf drei Geschosse reduziert wurde – zur Auflockerung der Stadt und Senkung der Bebauungsdichte. Außerdem wurden die als Blockrand- bebauung vorgesehenen Blöcke an den Enden aufgelöst (bzw. eingeschossige Gebäude eingefügt) – zwecks besserer Durchlüftung bei Gasbombenangriffen und der Austrittsmöglichkeit der Druckwelle bei Sprengbomben (Lüken-Isberner 1992b, S. 263) Ebenfalls zum Instrumentarium des städtebaulichen Luftschutzes zu zählen ist die sog. Kammbebauung, die in Kassel an verschiedenen Stellen errichtet wurde. Dieser Bautypus wurde 1941 von E. Neufert in der Studie „luftschutzgerechte Stadtstrukturen“ eigens entwickelt. Die Kammbebauung zeigte besondere Eigenschaften bezüglich ihrer Belüftungs- und Verdäm- mungswirkung bei Gas- oder Sprengbombenangriffen. Nicht nur in Kassel, auch bundesweit und in anderen europäischen Ländern findet sich dieser Bautypus des städtebaulichen Luftschutzes. Demnach ist Kassel nicht allein Wiederaufbaustadt der Moderne, sondern auch ein Produkt einer auf den Krieg ausgerichteten räumlichen Planung. Diese „Schatten- seite der städtischen Moderne“ (Lüken-Isberner 2005) ist ein bislang kaum erwähntes Thema in der fachlichen, geschweige denn in der breiten Öffentlichkeit. Dabei wäre heute der richtige Zeitpunkt um genauer zu untersuchen, inwieweit unsere Städte nach den Prämis- sen des städtebaulichen Luftschutzes, und damit nach kriegstechnischen Gesichtspunkten, errichtet wurden. Denn nun ist der nötige Abstand zum Zweiten Weltkrieg groß genug und gleichzeitig leben jene Architekten und Planer noch, die Auskunft geben können, wie es damals gewesen ist. Ebenso ist es an der Zeit, die personellen und konzeptionellen Schnittpunkte und Überlagerungen zwischen der architektonischen- und städtebaulichen Moderne und dem baulichen- und städtebaulichen Luftschutz wissenschaftlich zu untersuchen. Wir sollten heute mit offenem Blick in die Vergangenheit unserer Disziplin sehen. 31 Model City Interview with Margitta Faßl, the managing director of the ‘Wohnungsgesellschaft Hoyerswerda’. The reunifi- cation of Germany and the transformation of the former GDR from a socialist plan-economy into a market economy almost over night radically changed the economic and political reali- ties of all cities and villages in what is now called the new states of Germany. While some select cities have adapted rela- tively well to the new structures, others seem to have drifted into a downward spiral of job-loss and population decline. This is particularly obvious in cities that had been chosen as model cities by the GDR regime and had been especially promoted, that are now, after the collapse of socialism, exist- ing in the shadows and suffering dramatic population losses, unemployment, political disorientation and a lack of economic perspectives. Today they are model-cities of decline. Hoyerswerda is one of these cities. Hoyerswerda developed in only 25 years from a small town with 7,000 inhabitants to a socialist model city with 70,000 people. It was planned to accommodate 100,000 at some point. Hoyerswerda was built up into the largest brown-coal refineries of Europe. For the thou- sands of new employees, housing was created in the periphery of Hoyerswerda. In the new part, Hoyerswerda-Neustadt, a total of ten new housing complexes with several thousand units and a new city center were created until the 80’s in what was the first use of industrial large prefab housing construc- tion. After the fall of the iron curtain and the reunification, the brown-coal industry collapsed. The ensuing economic demise caused the city to lose almost half of its population. Every year about 1,800 people leave the city – five every day. In spite of all the privatization efforts Hoyerswerda-Neustadt, the new part of Hoyerswerda has a very peculiar ownership structure. There are basically only two property owners for the whole housing stock: a housing coop and the Wohnungsges- ellschaft [housing management company] Hoyerswerda. Today about 40% of the all apartments belong to the Wohnungsges- ellschaft Hoyerswerda. One could say that the transformation of the company, its buildings and tenant population is repre- sentative for the transformation of the city. Monu: The ‚Wohnungsgesellschaft Hoyerswerda’ (1) was founded in 1991. You are the managing director since 1993. What was the situation on your first day of work? Margitta Faßl: At that time the first thing to do was to adjust the rents from the GDR-level to one that actually takes into account the cost of maintenance and renovation. These adjustments dragged out until 1996. Naturally the economic situation was very difficult because of that. On top of that we had the fact that the properties were not yet completely allocated to the Woh- nungsgesellschaft. The property, which used to belong to the city, had to be re-allocated, so that you had mortgage-able real estate, which you need to go to a bank and get a loan. Those were the main tasks at hand. We also had an obligation to privatize, which proved to be difficult to realize since we mostly had multi-family homes with 18 units or more, and to transfer those into pri- vate property was a venture in uncharted territory. This process depends to a large degree on the economic circumstance of the individual and not every Die Wiedervereinigung Deutschlands und die Trans- formation der ehemaligen DDR von einer sozial- istischen Planwirtschaft in eine Marktwirtschaft haben sozusagen über Nacht die wirtschaftlichen und politischen Realitäten aller Städte und Dörfer in den neuen Bundesländern geändert. Während einige wenige Städte sich verhältnismäßig gut an die neuen Strukturen gewöhnt haben scheinen andere in eine Abwärtsspirale aus Arbeitsplatzverlust und Bevölkerungsrückgang abgedriftet zu sein. Gerade Städte, die vom DDR Regime zu Modellstädten auserwählt und besonders gefördert wurden, führen heute nach dem Zusammenbruch des Sozialismus ein Schattendasein und leiden unter dramatischen Bevölkerungsverlusten, Arbeitslosigkeit, politischer Orientierungslosigkeit und Mangel and wirtschaftli- chen Perspektiven. Sie sind heute Modellstädte des Niedergangs. Hoyerswerda ist eine dieser Städte. Hoyerswerda entwickelte sich während der DDR Zeit und in nur 25 Jahren von einer Kleinstadt mit rund 7.000 Ein- wohner zu einer sozialistischen Modellstadt von rund 70.000 Bewohner. 100.000 sollten es einmal werden. Hoyerswerda wurde gezielt zum Aufbau des größten Braunkohlenveredlungsbetriebes Europas aufgebaut. Für die Tausenden neuen Beschäftigten wurde Wohn- raum am Stadtrand von Hoyerswerda geschaffen. Im neuen Stadtteil Hoyerswerda-Neustadt entstanden im erstmals praktizierten industriellen Wohnungsbau in Großplattenbauweise bis Ende der 80er Jahre ins- gesamt zehn Wohnkomplexe und ein neues Stadtzen- trum mit mehreren tausend Wohnungen. Nach dem Fall der Mauer und der Wiedervereinigung brach die Braunkohlewirtschaft zusammen. Der folgende wirtschaftlicher Niedergang führte dazu, dass die Stadt bis heute beinah die Hälfte ihrer Einwohner verloren hat. Jedes Jahr verlassen im Schnitt 1.800 Menschen die Stadt, rund 5 am Tag. Hoyerswerda-Neustadt hat trotz der Privatis- ierungsbemühungen seit 1990 eine sehr eigenartige Eigentumsstruktur. Es gibt im wesentlichen nur zwei Eigentümer für den gesamten Wohnungsbestand: eine Wohnungsgenossenschaft und eine Wohnungsgesells- chaft. Im Moment sind rund 40% aller Wohnungen im Besitz der Wohnungsgesellschaft Hoyerswerda. Die Transformationen der Wohnungsgesellschaft ihrer Häuser und Bewohner sind gewissermaßen repräsenta- tiv für die Wandlung der Stadt. Monu: 1991 wurde die Wohnungsgesellschaft Hoyer- swerda gegründet. Seit 1993 sind sie dort Geschäfts- führerin. Welche Situation fanden Sie an Ihrem ersten Arbeitstag an? Margitta Faßl: Zu diesem Zeitpunkt galt es ja erst einmal die Mieten aus dem DDR Niveau anzu- passen an Mieten, bei denen auch die Kosten für Instandhaltung und Renovierung mit berücksichtigt wurden. Diese mietrechtlichen Anpassungen zogen sich bis ins Jahr 1996. Von daher war die wirtschaftli- che Situation sehr schwierig. Hinzu kam, dass die Grundstücke der Wohnungsgesellschaft noch nicht vollständig zugeordnet waren. Das Eigentum, was im Besitz der Stadt war, musste erst neu zugeordnet werden, sodass man beleihungsfähige Grundstücke zur Verfügung hatte, um überhaupt zu einer Bank gehen zu können und einen Kredit zu bekommen. Das waren so die Hauptbetätigungsfelder. Damit im Zusammenhang stand auch eine Privatis- ierungsverpflichtung für die Unternehmen, die sehr schwer zu realisieren war, weil wir ja überwiegend Mehrfamilienhäuser im Bestand haben von 18 Parteien aufwärts und diese in Privateigentum zu überführen war komplettes Neuland. Das hängt ja vor allem auch von den wirtschaftlichen Verhältnis- sen des Einzelnen ab und auch nicht jeder war an Eigentum interessiert. Es zeichnete sich zudem eine hohe Arbeitslosigkeit ab, die die Leute vorsichtig machte. Darüber hinaus gab es eine Tendenz sich eher andere Wohnwünsche zu erfüllen. Es wurde Anfang der 90er eine starke Bautätigkeit von Einfamilienhäusern im Umfeld verzeichnet, was zu Lasten unserer Wohnbestände ging. 32 body is interested in buying private property. You also had the first signs of high unemployment, which made people even more careful. There also was a tendency to fulfill other housing ideals - in the early 90’s we saw a strong increase in the development of single family homes in the periphery, which happened at the expense of our housing units. Monu: Your organization mainly owns ‘Plattenbauten’? (2) MF: Yes. Today we own about 11,000 apartments thereof are 9.000 so-called ‚Plattenbauten’ in the new part of Hoyerswerda and about 2,000 in the old city. Monu: You mentioned that a large part of those apartments belonged to the city – were publicly owned by the GDR so to say. MF: In 1990 the federal municipalization law was passed stipulating that municipalities would from that point on own the housing units that were within their jurisdiction. Before, our housing management company was called the VEB (3) Gebaeudewirtschaft Hoyerswerda, which also owned units outside of the municipality. However those were then all of a sudden no longer belonged to us since they were not within the jurisdiction of Hoyer- swerda. On the other hand the city of Hoyerswerda brought other housing units, which were within its jurisdiction into the Wohnungsgesellschaft. Monu: Earlier you talked about how many people realized their housing desires in the form of single-family homes. What were the housing-desires before 1989? Were the real desires suppressed or did they find their expression in the form of prefab housing combined with a small garden parcel in the periphery? MF: I think that there are more layers to this issue. In the times of the GDR there was a high degree of contentedness with having a new apartment in a ‘Plattenbau’. It meant you had warm water, kindergartens, schools and shop- ping centers in your vicinity and a bus-stop in front of the door. There was an infrastructure, which made life easier for families. Back then it was a disad- vantage to have an old house because you couldn’t get building materials to keep it in good shape or to build something new. Monu: What does the typical tenant of one of your prefab housing units look like? Do people from all strata of society live there? MF: The social structure definitely got less diverse. Also due to the fact that the buildings are being rehabilitated and after that you have new occupancy because many buildings that are being completely rehabbed are emptied before. But in places where you have stronger house-communities, then you have a degree of diversity. In that sense you cannot say that there is a typical tenant of a prefab housing unit. But you do have tensions especially if some tenants cause trouble. Then situ- ations arise where some try to move out and look for other housing and they are able to find that since the choice is there. Monu: How high is he vacancy rate in your inventory? MF: At the moment out of our 11,000 apartments 2,400 are still empty. How- ever we already tore down 2,800 units. Monu: How is the demolition organized? Are the tenants relocated during this time-consuming process? MF: By now our concept is so sophisticated that we know how many build- ings we have to tear down every year. And about 1.5 years before the demoli- tion of the buildings, which are usually only occupied to 40%, we inform the inhabitants about our plans. In the next step we exclusively conduct individ- ual meetings with the tenants in order to find out what they want, what Monu: In Ihrem Besitz sind vornehmlich Platten- bauten? MF: Ja, wir sind heute im Besitz von rund 11.000 Wohnungen davon 9.000 in den sogenannten Platten- bauten in der Neustadt von Hoyerswerda und rund 2.000 Wohnungen in der Altstadt. Monu: Sie sagten, dass der Großteil der Wohnungen im Besitz der Stadt waren, also im Besitz der DDR. MF: 1990 ist das Kommunalisierungsgesetz verab- schiedet worden und damit war geregelt, dass die Wohnungen den jeweiligen Gemeinden gehören, in deren Gebiet sie sich befinden. Die Wohnungsges- ellschaft war früher VEB Gebäudewirtschaft Hoyer- swerda und hatte auch noch Bestände außerhalb der Stadt. Diese waren aber mit einem Male nicht mehr zugehörig, da sie sich nicht auf dem Gemeindegebiet von Hoyerswerda befanden. Die Stadt Hoyerswerda hat aber wiederum Bestände auf ihrem Gemeindege- biet in die Wohnungsgesellschaft eingebracht. Monu: Sie haben vorher angesprochen, dass sich viele Menschen nach 1989 Wohnwünsche in Form von Einfamilienhäuser erfüllt haben. Wie sahen denn die Wohnwünsche vor 1989 aus? Wurden die unterdrückt oder fanden sie ihre Entsprechung in Form von Plattenbauwohnung kombiniert mit einem Kleingarten am Stadtrand? MF: Ich denke, dass das doch eher vielschichtiger ist. Zu DDR Zeiten war schon erst einmal ein hoher Zufriedenheitsgrad da, eine Neubauwohnung in einer Platte zu haben. Man war Fernwärme- und Warmwasserversorgt, hatte im Umfeld Kindergärten, Schulen und Kaufhallen und die Bushaltestelle vor der Tür. Da war eine Infrastruktur da, die das Leben der Familien leichtgemacht hat. Nachteile hatte zu DDR Zeiten eigentlich der, der ein altes Haus hatte, weil man kein Material bekommen konnte, um es in Stand zu halten oder gar was Neues zu bauen. Monu: Wie sieht heute der typische Bewohner der Platte aus? Wohnen dort Menschen aus allen Bev- ölkerungsschichten? MF: Die Durchmischung wurde sicherlich etwas aufgehoben. Auch dadurch, dass die Häuser saniert werden und anschließend ein Neuzuzug stattfindet. Wenn aber einzelne alteingesessene Wohngemein- schaften existieren dann gibt es durchaus auch Durchmischungen. Also, man kann nicht grundsät- zlich sagen, dass es den typischen Bewohner einer Plattenbauwohnung gibt. Aber es treten auch Span- nungsfelder auf, wenn sich einzelne Mieter auffällig verhalten. Dann kommt es schon dazu, dass einige versuchen auszuziehen, sich einen anderen Wohn- standort aussuchen und sie den auch finden. Die Auswahl ist jetzt auch eher gegeben. Monu: Wie hoch sind eigentlich die Leerstände in ihren Beständen? MF: Zur Zeit stehen von unseren rund 12.000 Woh- nungen, noch 2.400 leer. Wir haben aber bereits 2.800 Wohnungen abgerissen. Monu: Wie werden Abrisse organisiert? Werden die Bewohner in langjährigen Prozessen umgesiedelt? MF: Mittlerweile ist unser Konzept schon so verfeinert, dass wir genau wissen, wie viele Häuser in jedem Jahr abgerissen werden müssen. So rund 1.5 Jahre vor Abriss der Häuser, die in der Regel höchstens nur noch bis zu 40% belegt sind, informieren wir die Bewohner über unser Vorhaben. Anschließend führen wir mit den Mietern ausschließlich noch individuelle Gespräche, um herauszufinden was sie möchten, was sie sich leisten und was wir ihnen anbieten können. Monu: Was wollen die Mieter in der Regel? MF: Die älteren Menschen, so ab 55 aufwärts und 33 34 everybody can afford and what we can offer them. Monu: What do the tenants usually want? MF: The older people, those 55 and above and especially the financially better off, prefer completely renovated apartments up to the second floor. The even older ones only want to move into ground floor apartments anyways. Many also base their decision on the location within the city. Quite some then look at what the surroundings look like, to see whether they would like it. Wishes for smaller or bigger places we have depending on the family-situation. Monu: The city by now makes a very low-density impression with a striking amount of green-spaces due to all the torn-down buildings. Will Hoyerswerda become a garden city? MF: We deal very differently with these issues. The biggest problem is cer- tainly the free-spaces in the city center. On that subject, tensions with the city [government] developed because the city wants to remodel everything into parks. Of course economically we can’t afford to build and maintain all those parks. Since 1995 we have been pursuing the goal to shrink from the outside towards the center. This is the only chance we see for developing green- spaces. Monu: Concepts like this are being thought about in many cities, however they always fail. How should that work in your case? MF: We here in Hoyerswerda have a big advantage compared to other cities especially those in West-Germany. We only have two real estate owners, the ‘Genossenschaft’ [Coop] and we. Obviously this makes it much easier to get things done than if you have ten or twenty times as many owners where each has his own private and economic interests. Monu: This condition seems to have a great potential. The planning regime of the GDR clearly seems to have left its legacy here and now facilitates the realization of large scale planning. Could this be the ultimate chance for Hoyerswerda? MF: Absolutely. It allows us to realize our planning goals. We will have to get rid of more high-rises. Today we have 40,000 inhabitants, around 2020 that number will be between 28,000 and 30,000. By then the new quarter of the city will have about 15,000 and you have to ask the question how many high-rises do you need? Monu: How many high-rises does a city with 15,000 inhabitants need? MF: Three at the most. The city as a whole is not there yet but also there the demographic development will show its effects. Monu: Could you imagine that the demographic development could be reversed at some point? MF: This is hard to imagine at the moment, since we don’t have anything here that could attract young people. Just the opposite: For me it’s not even entirely clear what the consequences are of the demographic development that is awaiting us. Since we already have an ageing population and the young people that eventually would have children are not there. Monu: Could immigration compensate that? MF: I can only imagine immigration if there were jobs. On the other hand this would also require developing the tolerance of the population. However the riots of 1991 were certainly widely exaggerated in the media. (4) We cannot complain about right wing extremism more than in any other city. In that sense we do not have a special role. However, I do think that we belong to the provincial regions where immigration is not yet as prominent a topic as in larger cities. Nevertheless Germany will not get around the topic of immigra- speziell die finanziell besser situierten, möchten gerne vollsanierte Wohnungen maximal bis zum 2. Geschoss. Hochbetagte möchten fast ausschließlich ins Erdgeschoss. Ganz viele orientieren sich auch an der Lage in der Stadt. Viele schauen dann schon auf das Umfeld, ob das gefällt. Verkleinerungs- und Vergrößerungswünsche gibt es, je nachdem wie sich die familiäre Situation darstellt. Monu: Die Stadt macht ja schon mittlerweile durch die große Zahl an abgerissenen Bauten einen sehr undichten Eindruck mit auffällig vielen Grün- flächen. Entwickelt sich Hoyerswerda zu einer Gartenstadt? MF: Wir gehen sehr unterschiedlich damit um. Die größten Probleme bereiten uns sicherlich die freien Flächen innerhalb des Stadtzentrums. Bei der Frei- raumproblematik haben sich Spannungen zwischen der Stadt und uns aufgetan, weil die Stadt die Vorstellung hat, alles in einen Park umzugestalten. Das ist natürlich wirtschaftlich von uns nicht leist- bar, Parkanlagen zu unterhalten und zu pflegen. Seit 1995 verfolgen wir das Ziel von außen nach innen zu schrumpfen. Derart sehen wir unsere einzige Chance Freiraumplanung zu betreiben. Monu: Derartige Konzepte werden ja von vielen Städten angedacht, scheitern aber an der Realität. Wie konnte das Ihnen gelingen? MF: Wir haben hier in Hoyerswerda einen großen Vorteil gegenüber anderen und speziell gegenüber westdeutschen Städten. Es gibt hier nur 2 Grundei- gentümer, die Genossenschaft und uns. Da lassen sich Dinge natürlich wesentlich leichter umsetzen als mit einer zehn- oder zwanzigfachen Anzahl von Eigentümern, wo jeder seine sehr eigenen privaten und wirtschaftlichen Interessen hat. Monu: In dieser Konstitution scheint ja ein großes Potential zu stecken. Das planungswirtschaftliche DDR Regime hat hier eindeutig seine Spuren hin- terlassen und erleichtert so heute großmaßstäbliche Planungsumsetzungen. Steckt hier vielleicht die ultimative Chance für Hoyerswerda? MF: Auf jeden Fall. So wird es uns möglich unsere Planungsziele durchzusetzen. Man wird sich hier noch von weiteren Hochhäusern trennen müssen. Heute haben wir rund 40.000 Einwohner, um 2020 werden es voraussichtlich nur noch 28.000 bis 30.000 sein. Dann werden auf die Neustadt nur noch rund 15.000 Einwohner kommen und dann stellt sich die Frage wie viele Hochhäuser man da braucht. Monu: Wie viele Hochhäuser braucht eine Stadt mit 15.000 Einwohnern? MF: Drei höchstens. Die Stadt ist mit ihren Über- legungen noch nicht soweit, aber an ihr wird die demographische Entwicklung auch nicht vorbeig- ehen. Monu: Können Sie sich vorstellen, dass sich die demographische Entwicklung irgendwann noch einmal umkehren könnte? MF: Das ist im Moment schwer vorstellbar. Weil wir hier keine Einrichtungen haben, die junge Menschen anziehen. Im Gegenteil, für mich ist eigentlich noch nicht einmal das Szenario ganz klar, das bei der demographischen Entwicklung entsteht, die noch vor uns liegt, weil wir ja jetzt schon eine alternde Bevölkerung haben und zudem die jungen Men- schen, die mal selbst Kinder haben werden, fehlen. Monu: Könnte man das mit Immigrationen kompen- sieren? MF: Immigrationen kann ich mir nur vorstellen, wenn auch Arbeitsplätze da wären. Auf der anderen Seite bedarf es auch noch einer Entwicklung der Toleranz der Menschen. Mit Sicherheit sind aber auch die Ausschreitungen von 1991 in den Medien 35 tion. Monu: Does the lack of resources push people to the fringes? MF: Massive unemployment, lack of perspectives, lack of jobs for young people are crucial factors. One has to keep in mind that the workers here before the reunification, because of their work in the energy sector, were very highly regarded in society. And so it is understandable that people still have very high expectations when it comes to the standard of their apartments. Of course this does not stand in any relation to the financial situation of these people today. In Hoyerswerda the energy for the whole country was pro- duced, this position vanished with the emergence of unemployment. People were not longer needed and felt not recognized by the new political system. Monu: Just as your housing organization stands for organizational reorientation, so do the youth, who are born after 1989, then represent social change. They are conflicted between the convictions of their parents that were shaped by the GDR regime on the one side and a globalized and commercialized environment on the other side. Problems seem inevitable in that sense, since they can no longer believe in the one reality but at the same time can’t afford the other one. They are the hope for the future but they don’t seem to know where they belong. MF: This is a very difficult situation. I am not sure if the politicians have noticed that but at least this situation does not seem to be reflected on com- pletely. See, if you have 20% unemployment that means you have about 5,000 families in which children grow up whose parents do not have a job. The children of course are aware of the stress that arises out of this situation and they at some point discuss that in school – if it makes sense at all to learn and to work hard. They are afraid they will not get a traineeship or a job anyways. And in addition to that they have a living example at home showing that in order to survive you don’t really need to do anything. You might not be able to afford everything but you can manage without having to get up every day at 6 in the morning and go to a job. The impact of these processes is underes- timated. In the end it is this generation that should shape the future, they are supposed to take responsibility at some point and that is extremely difficult for children who grow up like that. This is where I see a challenge for family policy. Monu: But they [the youth] want to leave the city sooner or later anyway and move to the West. MF: I am not so sure about that. If there were reasonable opportunities I think many of the kids would like to start their education and traineeships here or take a job. But the lack of perspectives leads to people leaving on the one side and on the other side to a sort of GDR nostalgia since the reunification for many people here brought unemployment, economic and personal hardships and insecurities. I do think that in some cases the situation is framed like that. And that within the homes where the parents lived during the time of the GDR, the conviction is that had the GDR continued to exist, things would not be as bad. It is certain however that people were very important then. Unem- ployment did not exist as such and everybody personally felt more of a sense of security. And thus it is not absurd for many to say that perhaps everything would not be as bad as it is now [if the GDR had not been dissolved]. Monu: Do young people think like that too? MF: Yes, I have the impression that these opinions are passed from the older to the younger generations and that certain political currents develop like that. Monu: You can see that in the popularity gain of the PDS, the successor of the SED. MF: I see a large political responsibility in de-bureaucratizing processes and weit überspitzt dargestellt worden. Wir können auch jetzt nicht über mehr Rechtsextremismus in der Stadt klagen, als er in anderen Städten wahrscheinlich auch da ist. In sofern spielen wir überhaupt keine Ausnahmerolle. Aber ich denke schon, dass wir hier eher zum provinziellen Bereich gehören, dem Immi- gration noch nicht so thematisiert ist, wie in großen Städten. Aber an dem Thema Einwanderung wird Deutschland wohl nicht vorbei kommen. Monu: Die fehlenden Perspektiven treiben die Leute in Extreme? MF: Massenhafte Arbeitslosigkeit, mangelnde Perspektiven, fehlende Ausbildungsplätze sind die entscheidenden Faktoren. Man darf ja nicht verges- sen, dass Arbeiter hier vor der Wende, aufgrund der Tätigkeit in der Energiewirtschaft ein extrem hohes Ansehen in der Gesellschaft genossen haben. So ist es auch zu verstehen, warum die Leute hier heute immer noch einen sehr hohen Anspruch an den Standart der Wohnungen stellen. Das steht natürlich heute in keinem Verhältnis mehr zu der finanziellen Situation der Menschen. In Hoyerswerda wurde die Energie produziert, die das ganze Land versorgt hat. Und dieser Stellenwert brach mit der Arbeitslosig- keit weg. Die Leute wurden nicht mehr gebraucht und fühlten sich vom neuen politischen System nicht mehr anerkannt. Monu: So wie die Wohnungsgesellschaft in gewisser Weise für die organisatorische Neuordnung steht, repräsentieren die Jugendlichen, die nach 1989 geboren sind, den sozialen Umbruch. Sie stehen im Konflikt zwischen den Überzeugungen ihrer vom DDR Regime geprägten Eltern auf der einen und der globalisierten und kommerziellen Umwelt auf der anderen Seite. Probleme scheinen unabwendbar, da sie der einen Seite nicht mehr glauben und sich die andere Seite finanziell nicht leisten können. Auf ihnen aber ruht die Hoffnung auf eine Zukunft. Sie scheinen aber nicht so recht zu wissen, wo sie hingehören? MF: Das ist eine ganz schwierige Situation. Ich weiß nicht, ob die Politik das noch nicht registri- ert hat, aber auf jeden Fall hat sie diese Situation noch nicht richtig reflektiert. Also, wenn wir hier 20% Arbeitslosigkeit haben, dann gibt es hier rund 5000 Haushalte, in denen Kinder aufwachsen, deren Eltern keine Arbeit haben. Den Stress, der aus wirtschaftlichen Erwägungen heraus entsteht, bekommen die Kinder natürlich mit. Die stellen sich irgendwann die Frage und diskutieren das in der Schule, ob es überhaupt Zweck hat, zu lernen und gute Leistungen zu bringen. Sie befürchten, dass sie ohnehin keinen Ausbildungsplatz bekommen. Zudem bekommen sie auch vorgelebt, dass man um zu überleben eigentlich nichts tun muss. Man kann sich dann zwar nicht alles leisten, aber man kommt durch, ohne jeden Tag um 6 Uhr früh aufstehen zu müssen und in aller Regelmäßigkeit einem Job nachgehen zu müssen. Das Geld kommt vom Staat und zwar in Form von Arbeitslosengeld. Diese Prozesse werden unterschätzt, weil diese Genera- tion ja mal die Zukunft gestalten soll. Sie soll ja mal Verantwortung übernehmen und das ist, glaube ich, für Kinder, die so aufwachsen unheimlich schwierig. Und da sehe ich einen wichtigen Ansatz für die Familienpolitik. Monu: Aber die wollen ja wahrscheinlich die Stadt ohnehin früher oder später verlassen und sich in Richtung Westen aufmachen. MF: Da wäre ich mir nicht ganz sicher. Bei entsprechenden Chancen würden viele der Kinder bestimmt gern hier eine Ausbildung aufnehmen bzw. einem Job nachgehen. Die Ausweglosigkeit führt jedoch zu Wegzug aber auch einer gewissen DDR-Nostalgie, da die Wiedervereinigung den Menschen hier Arbeitslosigkeit, wirtschaftlichen und familiären Notstand und Unsicherheit gebracht hat. Ich denke schon, dass das in einzelnen Fällen so empfunden wird und dass da Überzeugungen in 36 in developing individual responsibility. There is a disheartened sentiment in the population combined with high expectations towards the state. The state is supposed to take care of everything. That doesn’t even have anything to do with the GDR legacy. In the Federal Republic [of Germany] people are also very much taken care of by the state. Only if we manage to develop a stronger sense of individual responsibility than we have now, will the individual be capable of staying here and also do something with the staying here – [or make the decision] to go away because it is not worth to stay here and remain unemployed. To give up this attitude of expectation towards the state and to wait until the politicians change things and create jobs. Only in emergencies should the state be the one that helps out so that people don’t completely fall. Monu: What plans did GDR politicians have planned for the long run in Hoyer- swerda? MF: The city was supposed to grow to more than 100,000 people. There was the idea to expand the physical space of the city for that to happen. In GDR era, the development of the city of Hoyerswerda was not finished. Only the economic situation already had deteriorated before the end of the GDR era. Insofar I can’t tell what could have happened. But the economy was only kept alive under great stress and with a lot of improvisation. Monu: In some sense Hoyerswerda became a city bounced around by political systems - from being the socialist model city to being the anti-model city of capi- talism. Is maybe this extreme change the true identity of Hoyerswerda? MF: That is one way of looking at it. I cannot say yet if we will be experienc- ing such a rapid change – however it is clear that the developments taking place now have a model-character and are even formally recognized by the state of Saxony as such – Hoyerswerda is a model city for shrinking proc- esses. Hoyerswerda grew from 7,000 during the GDR era in a very short time to about 70,000 in the early 80’s. Now, in Saxony and in the whole of Eastern Germany, this [Hoyerswerda] is the city that has lost the largest share of its population in the last 15 years (today about 40,000). It certainly is a very special challenge to deal with that. Elected officials will have to accept that challenge and create an environment that stimulates the economy and creates investments. Margitta Faßl, the managing director of the ‘Wohnungsgesellschaft mbH’ spoke with Bernd Upmeyer. He is co-editor of monu-magazine. (Translated from german by Thomas Soehl) (1) Housing management company (2) Plattenbau, is the colloquial name for housing built out of precast concrete slabs (slab = Platte). The Plattenbau was widely used from to 70’s on especially in socialist countries as tool to construct up to date housing at a low cost. A popular housing option before 1990 because of the relative high comfort and modern equipment of the units, after the German reunification „Platten“ the short term for those buildings became (for right or wrong reasons) synonymous with anonymous and failed mass housing production and low quality urban design. In the shrinking cities of East Germany those Plattenbau-quarters have usually been hit hardest by population losses. (3) VolksEigeberBetrieb = State Owned Company (4) In 1991 neo-nazi skin heads and a right wing xenophobic mob repeatedly attacked immigrant and foreigners and engaged in street fights with the police. Elternhäusern, die die DDR Zeit miterlebt haben, vertreten sind, die sagen, dass das alles vielleicht gar nicht so schlimm gekommen wäre, wenn es die DDR weitergegeben hätte. Sicher ist, dass die Menschen in der DDR einen ganz hohen Stellenwert hatten. Arbeitslosigkeit gab es ja im Grunde gar nicht und jeder hat persönlich viel mehr Sicherheit emp- funden. So ist das gar nicht so abwegig für viele zu sagen, dass das eventuell gar nicht alles so schlimm gekommen wäre wie es jetzt ist. Monu: Denken die jungen Menschen auch so? MF: Ja, den Eindruck habe ich schon, dass derartige Meinungen von den Eltern an die Kinder weit- ergegeben werden und das daraus auch bestimmte politische Strömungen entstehen können. Monu: Das sieht man ja auch in dem starken Zulauf zur PDS, der Nachfolgepartei der SED. MF: Ich sehe eine ganz große politische Verant- wortung darin, Prozesse zu entbürokratisieren und Eigenverantwortung bei den Menschen zu entwick- eln. Es ist schon eine ziemliche Verdrossenheit in der Bevölkerung vorhanden, kombiniert mit einer Erwartungshaltung gegenüber dem Staat, der alles für sie regeln soll. Das hat nicht mal unbedingt was mit der DDR Vergangenheit zu tun. Auch die Bun- desrepublik nimmt die Menschen sehr stark an die Hand. Nur wenn ich es schaffe eine stärkere Eigen- verantwortung zu entwickeln als sie jetzt ausgeprägt ist, wird der Einzelne in der Lage sein für sich die Entscheidung zu treffen hier zu bleiben und auch etwas aus dem Hierbleiben zu machen. Oder aber wegzugehen, weil es eben für ihn nicht lebenswert ist hier zu sein und in Arbeitslosigkeit zu verharren. Und nicht diese Erwartungshaltung anzunehmen und abzuwarten bis die Politik was verändert und Arbeitsplätze schafft. Nur im Notfall sollte der Staat derjenige sein, der jemandem dann unter die Arme greift, damit er nicht ganz zu Boden geht. Monu: Was hatte eigentlich die DDR Politik auf lange Sicht mit Hoyerswerda vor? MF: Die Stadt sollte mal auf über 100.000 Ein- wohner anwachsen. Es gab mal die Idee die Stadt dafür baulich zu erweitern. Die Entwicklung der Stadt Hoyerswerda zu DDR Zeiten war noch nicht abgeschlossen. Die wirtschaftliche Situation hatte sich aber auch schon vor dem Ende der DDR Zeit verschlechtert. Insofern vermag ich es auch nicht zu sagen was noch hätte entstehen können. Aber die Wirtschaft wurde mit großen Mühen und viel Improvisation aufrecht erhalten. Monu: In gewisser Weise wurde Hoyerswerda im Laufe der letzten 50 Jahren zum urbanen Spielball politischer Systeme. Von der Modellstadt des Sozial- ismus zur Antimodellstadt des Kapitalismus. Liegt eventuell im extremen Wandel Hoyerswerdas wahre Identität? MF: Das ist eine mögliche Beschreibung.. Ich vermag zwar nicht zu sagen, ob wir noch einmal einen so extremen Wandel durchmachen werden, aber deut- lich ist, dass diese Entwicklung, die jetzt stattfindet auch modellhaften Charakter hat und formal sogar vom Land Sachsen als Modellstadt, bezüglich des Schrumpfungsprozesses behandelt wird. Hoyer- swerda wuchs zu DDR Zeiten in kürzester Zeit von 7.000 Einwohnern auf etwas über 70.000 Anfang der 80er. Jetzt ist sie in Sachsen und auch in ganz Ost- deutschland die Stadt, die in den letzten 15 Jahren den höchsten Anteil der Bevölkerung verloren hat. (heute: rund 40.000 Einwohner). Das ist sicherlich eine ganz besondere Herausforderung damit fertig zu werden. Sicher ist, dass die Politik hier die Herausforderung ebenfalls annehmen muss und eine Basis schaffen muss, die der Wirtschaft Anreize bietet für Investitionen. Bernd Upmeyer sprach für Monu mit Margitta Faßl, der Geschäftsführerin der Wohnungsgesellschaft Hoyerswerda. 37 10.000 inhabitants thresholds for beeing urban: 5.000 inhabitants 1.500-3.000 inhabitants 200-400 inhabitants 0 20 40 60 80 100% P er ce nt ag e of p op ul at io n re si di ng in u rb an a re as Ic el an d Lu xe m bo ur g M al ta N et he rla nd s U ni te d K in gd om G er m an y D en m ar k S w ed en S pa in Fr an ce N or w ay C ze ch R ep ub lic P or tu ga l A us tri a Ita ly S w itz er la nd G re ec e Ire la nd S lo va ki a S lo ve ni a A lb an ia Hungary Budapest and all legally designated towns sources: Denmark: netleksikon.dk UK: statistics.gov.uk Slovenia: www.stat.si all others: UN World Urbanization Prospects 1999 UN Demographic Yearbook 2000; Definition of Urban Finland Urban communes Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, Rep. of Moldova, Russian Federation, Ukraine Cities and urban-type localities, officially designated as such, usually according to the criteria of number of inhabitants and predominance of agricultural, or number of non-agricultural workers and their families Poland Towns and settlements of urban type, e.g. workers' settlements, fishermen’s settlements, health resorts Turkey Population of the localities within the municipality limits of administrative centres of provinces and districts Bulgaria Towns and localities legally established as urban Romania Cities, municipalities and other towns Tunisia Population living in communes Morocco Towns proclaimed by royal dahil Algeria All the settlements connected to a town Cities, urban agglomerations and urban communes Belgium = 200 inhabitants Iceland Localities of 200 or more inhabitants Ireland Cities and towns including suburbs of 1.500 or more inhabitants United Kingdom Usually city status in the United Kingdom was granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. Since 2001 urban areas are defined as settlements with a population of 10.000 or more France Communes containing an agglomeration of more than 2.000 inhabitants living in contiguous houses or with not more than 200 metres between houses Greece Population of municipalities and communes in which the largest population centre has 10.000 or more inhabitants Netherlands Municipalities with a population of 2.000 and more inhabitants Luxembourg Communes having more than 2.000 inhabitants in the administrative centre Sweden Built-up areas with at least 200 inhabitants and where houses are at most 200 meters from each other Norway Localities of 200 or more inhabitants Denmark Localities of 200 or more inhabitants Germany Localities with 5.000 inhabitants or more Switzerland Communes of 10.000 or more inhabitants, including suburbs Spain Localities of 2.000 or more inhabitants Malta Towns with 1.500 inhabitants or more Italy Communes with 10.000 inhabitants or more Austria Communes of more than 5.000 inhabitants Czech Republik Localities with 2.000 or more inhabitants Slovakia 138 cities with 5.000 inhabitants or more Slovenia Settlements with 3.000 inhabitants or more Albania Towns and other industrial centres of more than 400 inhabitants Portugal Communes of 10.000 or more inhabitants, including suburbs “You shall be urban” By Theo Deutinger The definition of an urban population varies widely from country to country. Of the 228 countries for which the United Nations compiles data, roughly half use administrative considerations, 51 distinguish urban populations based on the size or density, 39 rely on functional characteristics, 22 have no definition of “urban” at all and 8 countries define all (e.g. Singapore) or none (several countries in Polynesia) of their populations as living in urban areas. Within Europe the differences are as extreme. While for example in Norway urban substance is defined by 200 and more inhabit- ants, in Italy a locality needs at least 10.000 people to be recognized as urban area. If Italy would apply Norwegian standards it would be suddenly inhabited by millions of new urban dwellers. These statistical figures provide an extremely powerful tool for national politicians. A slight tuning of the parameters that define urbanity, leads to the creation or concealment of urban population from one moment to the other - cities appear or vanish. Theo Deutinger, director of TD*, office for strategies and architecture, Rotterdam www.tdstar.nl TD© www.tdstar.nl 38 10.000 inhabitants thresholds for beeing urban: 5.000 inhabitants 1.500-3.000 inhabitants 200-400 inhabitants 0 20 40 60 80 100% P er ce nt ag e of p op ul at io n re si di ng in u rb an a re as Ic el an d Lu xe m bo ur g M al ta N et he rla nd s U ni te d K in gd om G er m an y D en m ar k S w ed en S pa in Fr an ce N or w ay C ze ch R ep ub lic P or tu ga l A us tri a Ita ly S w itz er la nd G re ec e Ire la nd S lo va ki a S lo ve ni a A lb an ia Hungary Budapest and all legally designated towns sources: Denmark: netleksikon.dk UK: statistics.gov.uk Slovenia: www.stat.si all others: UN World Urbanization Prospects 1999 UN Demographic Yearbook 2000; Definition of Urban Finland Urban communes Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Belarus, Rep. of Moldova, Russian Federation, Ukraine Cities and urban-type localities, officially designated as such, usually according to the criteria of number of inhabitants and predominance of agricultural, or number of non-agricultural workers and their families Poland Towns and settlements of urban type, e.g. workers' settlements, fishermen’s settlements, health resorts Turkey Population of the localities within the municipality limits of administrative centres of provinces and districts Bulgaria Towns and localities legally established as urban Romania Cities, municipalities and other towns Tunisia Population living in communes Morocco Towns proclaimed by royal dahil Algeria All the settlements connected to a town Cities, urban agglomerations and urban communes Belgium = 200 inhabitants Iceland Localities of 200 or more inhabitants Ireland Cities and towns including suburbs of 1.500 or more inhabitants United Kingdom Usually city status in the United Kingdom was granted by the British monarch to a select group of communities. Since 2001 urban areas are defined as settlements with a population of 10.000 or more France Communes containing an agglomeration of more than 2.000 inhabitants living in contiguous houses or with not more than 200 metres between houses Greece Population of municipalities and communes in which the largest population centre has 10.000 or more inhabitants Netherlands Municipalities with a population of 2.000 and more inhabitants Luxembourg Communes having more than 2.000 inhabitants in the administrative centre Sweden Built-up areas with at least 200 inhabitants and where houses are at most 200 meters from each other Norway Localities of 200 or more inhabitants Denmark Localities of 200 or more inhabitants Germany Localities with 5.000 inhabitants or more Switzerland Communes of 10.000 or more inhabitants, including suburbs Spain Localities of 2.000 or more inhabitants Malta Towns with 1.500 inhabitants or more Italy Communes with 10.000 inhabitants or more Austria Communes of more than 5.000 inhabitants Czech Republik Localities with 2.000 or more inhabitants Slovakia 138 cities with 5.000 inhabitants or more Slovenia Settlements with 3.000 inhabitants or more Albania Towns and other industrial centres of more than 400 inhabitants Portugal Communes of 10.000 or more inhabitants, including suburbs “You shall be urban” By Theo Deutinger The definition of an urban population varies widely from country to country. Of the 228 countries for which the United Nations compiles data, roughly half use administrative considerations, 51 distinguish urban populations based on the size or density, 39 rely on functional characteristics, 22 have no definition of “urban” at all and 8 countries define all (e.g. Singapore) or none (several countries in Polynesia) of their populations as living in urban areas. Within Europe the differences are as extreme. While for example in Norway urban substance is defined by 200 and more inhabit- ants, in Italy a locality needs at least 10.000 people to be recognized as urban area. If Italy would apply Norwegian standards it would be suddenly inhabited by millions of new urban dwellers. These statistical figures provide an extremely powerful tool for national politicians. A slight tuning of the parameters that define urbanity, leads to the creation or concealment of urban population from one moment to the other - cities appear or vanish. Theo Deutinger, director of TD*, office for strategies and architecture, Rotterdam www.tdstar.nl TD© www.tdstar.nl 39 plotland canvey island 1920 In Great Britain, the agricultural depression of the 1870’s made avail- able thousands of acres of defunct farmland for individuals to purchase and build their own homes. The Plot- lands developed over a seventy-year period, spreading slowly until a peak of activity in the mid 1920s. Because of the absence of a strict planning framework and the lack of money for homoginizing earth-moving or land- scaping, the existing topography was barely altered by the primitive roads and lightweight timber houses. The diversity of the various owners was expressed in the individual gardens as well a the form of the houses themselves. Interspersed with areas of ground in a semi wild state, the whole development formed a diverse ecological mix. The Plotlands emerged because of several interrelated factors: the decline of agricultural prices, the overcrowding and pollution of the major cities and the development of mass transportation. The growth of the Plotlands was brought to an abrupt halt by the Second World War. plotland canvey island 1920 Flevoland: From State Planning to Planning the StatelessBy CASE Towards a Second Utopian Era In the Netherlands, centralized spatial planning determines virtually every aspect of land use up until the present day. Five historical planning nota’s, dating from 1960 and continuing through the recently released Nota Ruimte, illustrate the combined efforts of various government statistical and land-use departments to determine with extreme precision the limits and boundaries of new development. Viewed in their entirety this series of documents can be considered a utopian project at the scale of one nation, the most totalizing attempt (outside of the former communist block countries) to harness and 40 kibbutz deganya alef 1934 The Kibbutz (Hebrew word for ‘com- munal settlement’) is a unique rural community; a society dedicated to mutual aid and social justice; a socio- economic system based on the prin- ciple of joint ownership of property. The first Kibbutizm were founded some 40 years before the establishment of the State of Israel (1948). Their founders were young Jewish Pioneers, mainly from Eastern Europe, who came not only to reclaim the soil of their ancient homeland, but also to forge a new way of life. Most Kibbutzim are laid out according to a similar plan. The residential area encompasses carefullytended member’s homes and gardens, children’s houses and play- grounds for every age group, and communal facilities such as a dining hall, auditorium, library, swimming pool, tennis court, medical clinic, laundry, grocery and the like. Adjacent to the living quarters are sheds for dairy cattle and modern chicken coops, as well as one or more industrial plants. Agricultural fields, or chards and fish ponds are located around the perim- eter, a short tractor ride from the center. To get from place to place within the Kibbutz, people either walk or ride bicycles, while electric carts are provided for the disabled and elderly. kibbutz deganya alef 1934 control the forces of outward spiraling population expansion by developing instruments to strictly control and regulate the use of ground. During this fifty-year reign of centralized planning, the Dutch Welfare State successfully translated increasing economic expansion into direct payoffs for the society as a whole. Until the real estate boom of the 1990’s, the majority of the population was satisfied to rent relatively modest government provided housing. Rising economic growth provided the means to successfully accommodate within already built areas a rapidly expanding population, confining the majority of individuals to the densest areas of the country, and defining the remaining countryside as off-limits for new development. In the 1970’s British economist Fred Hirsch argued that as societies become richer, “an increasing proportion of the extra goods, services and facilities sought by consumers cannot be acquired or used by all, at least not without spoiling them for each other. . . . . So frustration is heightened by material affluence, which is why affluence does not make a satisfied society.” Nowhere is this more clearly demonstrated than in the Netherlands where restrictive ground- use policies, have crowded an affluent population out of access to the tangible rewards expected from heightened prosperity. In a fully liberalized economy, where one expects wealth to translate into more generous living conditions, policies frustrating this tendency by imposing spatial limits can do little more than fuel perpetual disappointment. (The Dutch 41 usonian community pleasantville NY 1948 Usonia, a blend of the words ‘union’ and ‘United States’, was invented by Frank Lloyd Wright to describe his vision for the American land- scape. Like many contemporary social reformers, Wright believed in the moral and political values exempli- fied by home ownership and believed that well- designed, tasteful dwellings would produce a happier, more harmo- nius and enlightened society. In the 1920s this vision evolved to encompass the explosion in car-ownership, a mode of transportation Wright declared eminently democratic. Wright felt the car, along with other forms of modern communication, would spell the end of the centralized city. As an alternative to America’s urban ills, Wright proposed a balanced syn- thesis of architecture and landscape that would stretch from coast to coast. Inspired by his model, first exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in 1940, a group of idealistic New York profes- sionals made it come true. The outcome of their collaborative effort was Usonia, Pleasantville, New York, one of a handful of residential communities developed and supervised by Wright. Between 1948 and the late 1950s, 47 houses were built over 97 acres of rolling hills in a suburb, 25 miles north of New York City. Newspaper reports at the time hailed it as ‘a residential neighborhood of tomorrow.’ The homes were built and owned by the coopera- tive, while the member received a 99- year renewable lease on the home and site. One Usonian resident explains: ‘Mr. Wright showed us how cities didn’t have to look like cities any more. They would be as green as the countryside but still full of people and schools and offices, factories and farms.’ usonian community pleasantville NY 1948 housing ministry estimates, that in answer to true market demand, new houses in the Netherlands will have to be at least twice the size of those currently in production.) Policies radically restricting territory for new development have escalated land prices so astronomically as to preclude the ambition of a free- standing house surrounded by a modicum of open space except for the very wealthiest of citizens. Ever-expanding population growth, the perceived need to set aside reserve space for greater numbers of future inhabitants, has fueled restrictive ground-use policies. Until now the call for collective sacrifice has been heeded. It has only recently come to light that in spite of our most basic fears, population growth is no longer with us. By the year 2030, the Dutch population will in all likelihood begin a downward trend. By 2050, the European Union as a whole will lose up to 40 million inhabitants. This provides the opportunity to mend a broken social contract: the link between economic prosperity and its rewards can be restored once the burden of growth has been finally shed and abandoned. The following four historical examples of realized yet mostly forgotten, utopian projects from the last century demonstrate that utopian ideals are most successfully realized at a small scale: the scale of the community. Furthermore, they are all the result of self-initiative rather than a plan handed down from “the State”. In the Second Utopian Era, the State will withdraw from housing regulation, development and construction altogether and attend to larger 42 charlotte gardens 1980 In the mid 1960’s suburban flight began to empty the borough of the Bronx in New York City. By the mid- seventies land values had plummeted to such a degree that property owners were routinely setting fire to abandonned buildings in order to col- lect insurance payments. It was a fire near Charlotte Street that caught Howard Cosell’s eye as he broadcast a 1977 World Series game at Yankee Stadium and he told all America ‘Ladies and gentleman, the Bronx is burn- ing,’ Later that same year President Jimmy Carter visited the South Bronx declaring Charlotte Street the ‘worst slum in America’. He promised immediate action at a time when his own admin- istration was drastically reducing funding for new housing construction. In 1980 Reagan appeared at a still blighted Charlotte Street to declare Carter’s urban policies a failure. It was Edward Logue, the former master builder of the Urban Develop- ment Corporation, responsible for the financing and construction of major public housing during the 1960’s and 70’s, who finally re-invented Char- lotte Street’s identity as the new ‘Charlotte Gardens’. He vehemently opposed H.U.D.’s plans to place a public housing project on the site, fear- ing such a project would kill any hope for revitalization. (The U.D.C. had gone bankrupt in 1975 when New York State relinquished its funding for the agency. With the end of the U.D.C., Logue, after building tens of thou- sands of public housing units, seems to have abandonned his passion for and belief in collective housing as a solution against urban poverty). His vision for Charlotte Street was a radical break: ranch houses complete with white picket fences, backyard decks and front lawns at the epi- center of the city’s most infamous urban blight. Private homes hadn’ t been built in the borough for fifty years. Sixteen houses to an acre, a surreal oasis amidst the rubble, he intended the 89 split-level homes more for their shock value than as a viable development model for the borough. The biggest problem he encountered was what to do with the foundations of the old walk-up apartment build- ings which had formerly occupied the site. Removing them proved to costly. The final solution was to drive them futher underground so that the new houses were literally built upon the ruins of the old city. The project was heavily subsidized. Homebuyers were carefully selected from among the five hundred applicants. Only those who seemed stable enough to commit to a thirty year mortgage were selected. Logue took no risks that might jepordize the project’s suc- cess. Almost a decade later one observer comments: Trash and litter disap- pear at the edge of the nine-year- old Charlotte Gardens development. The suburban-style subdivision of 89 split-level single-family homes, clad in aluminum siding, each with a spa- cious yard, manicured lawn and picket fence, have made Charlotte Street an address to aspire to. Plastic pink flamingos and ceramic gray squirrels are optional. charlotte gardens 1980 scale issues: regulations to insure improvements to ecology and the provision of essential infrastructure, areas where its concentration of power can be most effectively put to use. The four examples are also proof that a utopian dream of everyone owning a “slice of heaven”, that is to say lots of open space and a freestanding house within it, is not the exclusive domain of the rich. They are all examples of “poor-man’s utopias”, modest homes within open expanses of landscape. Furthermore, in the Kibbutz, Usonia and Plotlands examples, ownership of the house is separated from ownership of the land. Open landscape is essentially a public domain, which benefits a larger public. When housing is dispersed at such low densities, the land it occupies can withstand multiple claims. Distinctions between programmatic designations such as housing, park, recreation and nature sanctuary become less obligatory, and indeed less obvious. A retreating agricultural sector will, over the coming two decades, free tens of thousands of hectares of land. With no viable alternative economic drivers in sight, housing, the one program until now most excluded from the countryside and, at the same time the one program most at peace with the qualities we attribute to landscape, is the most credible substance to fill the void. Such surpluses, bring the Second Utopian Era clearly within sight, and with it a return to the recently abandoned ideals of Dutch social housing and its promise of vanquishing unfulfilled desire. 43 Flevoland “God created the earth, but the Dutch created the Netherlands.” Although this slogan is still used to advertise the country, the era of great reclamation projects in the Netherlands came to an abrupt end in 1968 with the completion of the largest land claim in history: Flevoland. Up until that point, land transformed from the sea answered the need for new agriculture and, later, to house a projected population of 20 million in the year 2000. The polders were made according lines set out by a planning apparatus with unprecedented and unchallenged power. Based on the functionalists ideas of the avant-garde period at the beginning of the century, areas for agriculture, cities and woods were rationally allocated and drawn up on paper. With confidence (that now comes across as closer to arrogance) plates with the names of cities were stuck in the ground long before anything was built. The trust in utopian planning seemed only to grow according to the ambition of the project, a kind of trust only to be found in socialism of the purest form. By the end of the sixties, the consequences of increasing wealth such as traffic congestion and pollution began to dominate the political agenda. Land reclamation came to a halt and with it the socialist utopian dream of a well-planned new society. The unlimited optimism of utopian thinking was replaced by anticipation of a disastrous future. For politicians and planners, not the progress of mankind, but fear of depletion of natural assets became the driving force behind policy decisions. Rather than the expansion of new development, exclusion became the primary goal. One of the consequences of this exclusion policy is that, since all assets have to be accounted for and protected, the Netherlands is considered full. It is a fullness created by artificial scarcity, a perceived fullness resulting from a deadlock of two opposing forces: individual expression of an expanding economy (in luxury cars, a private house with a big garden, etc.) versus a government policies ‘protecting’ the 44 country against the undesired consequences of that same expression (more and more people acquiring luxury cars create traffic jams, too many houses with a big garden take up reserve space which should be protected for future generations, etc.). The sixties witnessed another turn of events. While the world population exploded, the population growth of Europe began a steady decline. Over the preceding two centuries, accelerated growth generated a series of doom scenarios, from Thomas Malthus in 1798 to the Club of Rome in the 1970’s. Now, 40 years later, population expansion within Europe has come to a standstill and the crises so far predicted have not come to pass. In 50 years there will be 80 million less of us. It will be the first time since the Black Plague (a doom which actually did occur) that the Netherlands will be confronted with a declining number of inhabitants, but this time in the midst of increasing prosperity. Decline demands a radical shift in thinking and policy as can be witnessed with the dismantling of the welfare state. Planners on the other hand maintain the status quo by answering a reduction of demand with an increase of artificial fullness. Fullness has been the firm basis of the Dutch planning apparatus for the past 30 years. Since human progress is perceived as at odds with nature, nature has to be protected against people. Hard lines are drawn between cities and countryside, between urban and rural, nature and development. Planners shift from moving towards a new reality to generating alternatives for reality. Fear of change culminates to a point where everything outside already developed areas is usurped as part of a national nostalgia. The end result is deadlock The new “Nota Ruimte” is a planning document which begins to shift control of undeveloped ground away from an omnipotent centralised authority, but a parallel shift in perception has yet to occur. If fullness is artificial, then it can also be considered empty. If growth is no longer with us, reserves of open space no longer demand our ‘protection”. Not 45 quantity but quality, can be attended. The end of growth opens the floodgates for a return to utopian thinking of the past. But rather than a single vision of the future determined by centralized state authority, new possibilities arise for a multiplicity of utopias generated by the demands and desires of the present. The project, situated in the south of Flevoland, is a study of a holistic and hedonistic character. On a pragmatic level it projects extremely low-density housing in combination with an open almost completely agrarian landscape. Ecology is considered within the 46 new communities 1. usonian community with small scale agriculture 2. low density community with wetlands 3. low density community with water recreation 4. low density community with dunescape 5. bungalow typology 6. bungalow park 7. vacation homes 8. cohousing combined with agriculture 9. golf community Communities Community typologies are literally implanted from highly successful l common interest models such as co-housing, vacation parks, recreation communities and other lifestyle-based communities both from within the Netherlands and from abroad. In many of these examples, leisure is the main pursuit, the most extreme example being golf communities for retirees. Here we find a total integration between recreation and living. Extremely low densi- ties make such combinations possible while still maintaining the qualities we associate with landscape. Further- more, residents have the freedom to come together and form communities based upon lifestyle preferences. In this way the amount and quality of amenities one expects from one’s living environment can be greatly increased. Within co-housing communities one often finds community dining-halls, fitness centers, separate guest accommo- dations and the like. Extremely low-densities also make possible integration of housing with small-scale agricul- ture as in the Usonia and Arverne models. Small, compact communities like co-housing settlements can be situated within the context of large-scale production farms. tradition of the 1960’s, where it first emerged from out of the disciplines of architecture and urbanism. The two disciplines are once again fused together. In the background there is an impetus for a new era of social housing. Housing is considered not as collectivised program, but rather as individual opportunism made possible by a purposeful rift in existing land-use policies. Quantity realised by large governmental programs is replaced by an era of growth of quality realised by a multitude of small private initiatives. The ambitious agenda of such proposals is offset by historical precedent. Small scale settlements with a 47 Plots If idealism combined with long term vision is the driving force behind large-scale utopias, it is pragmatism and small-scale interest, which form the basis of the privatopia. The project uses therefore the existing property lines of the agricultural plots as the boundary for each development. The rectangular plots vary from 50 to a size of approximately 95 hectares (1800m by 550m). With a density of 1 ha/house the largest plot contains a ’community’ of 95 houses (ca. 240 people). They are of a suitable size for collective facilities for drinking water, sewage, energy supply, etc. Even more importantly, they are also claim enough land to create their own sustainable ecology. Landscape elements have the direct purpose of diversifying fauna and flora either by removing soil (more water) or adding soil (dryer land). In this way, new landscapes are implemented in the form of forest, dunes and lakes. Some communities combine housing with small-scale or large-scale agriculture. Together, the inhabited agricul- tural plots offer a variety of landscapes, scale and mix of program. To insure a landscape open enough for clear social or ecological agenda such as the kibbutz or Wrights Usonia could flourish in a system with less federal determination. Most of our attention in this urban scenario is focused on the armature of extremely thin networks, which support low-density settlements. In that sense, is very much in keeping with the study Jean Gottman did in the 1950’s of American suburbanisation entitled, Megalopolis. The often hidden economic structures and communications networks he found within seemingly endless stretches of suburbs, countryside and villages, combined to form what he labelled the Megalopolis. It was in fact the first recognition of a new form of human habitation much larger than the individual suburb itself. In the 48 movement of animals and, at the same time, human inhabitation, land is not privately owned and maintained, but rather collectively. Not only minimizing asphalt is essential. Other forms of infrastructure will have to be reduced. Here scale plays an important role. Electricity, water, data and sewage can be dealt with in smaller scale to prevent costly infra- structure. Recent developments in data transport by satellite, smart water supply systems using rainwater or water from the area and the existing wild growth of windmills as it has been recently called, provides the area with possibility to sustain itself in a much smaller scale without massive government investment. Northeast of America, what started as extensions of cities, now accommodates 70% of the entire population. . It is these relatively unknown places, with names we don’t easily recognise, which house the larger part of the American economy. and with its shopping malls, cinema centres and golf courses, has created an alternative social structure to the classic city. CASE is an Amsterdam based partnership researching on urban topics. The authors are Beth Margulis and John Bosch www.casefiles.org 49 The Pharmacy By Joost Meuwissen Why is it that of all the famous buildings which surrounded one of the most beautiful squares in the world, the Berlin Lustgarten by Karl Friedrich Schinkel from the 1820s, all of those buildings became extremely admired and analysed, except for the Pharmacy? Was not the Pharmacy the most important building for most of the people who lived there at the time, before it was demolished in favour of one of the world’s worst traffic breakthroughs ever made – the Kaiser Wilhelm Street? Why would the Pharmacy be less important than the Schloss, of which there are as many as there are pharmacies in Germany? The same might be said about the marvellous museum, and the voluptuous, quite eloquent cathe- dral – a sort of pre-blob. Maybe only the Arsenal (Zeughaus), just opposite the square was not paid that much attention to either, although just as the Schloss it is a masterpiece by Andreas Schlütter. Maybe the Pharmacy was not such a masterpiece of architecture after all but certainly it was the most important function at the square: it is there where you would buy your opium, and your morphine, and all the other things, called medicines at the time, which were only to be forbidden at that other war: the War on Drugs today, from the 1970s onwards. At the Pharmacy you could buy all the important things which were not for sale in any of the other buildings that surrounded the Lustgarten. The public debate should have been about rebuilding the Pharmacy. Instead it was on whether to rebuild the Schloss or restore the Democratic Republic Asbestos Palace. Ever after the 1996 Berlin Tagesspiegel initiative, the following gremiums’s discussions, and along the Bundestag decision to rebuild the Schloss, and to demolish the Palace even after the asbestos boards and sheets had been almost completely removed already, and the sardonic complaints about the lack of money that would prevent to imple- ment the Bundestag’s democratic decision after it was made, the debate was about a sort of national symbolism which carefully avoided the past’s heroisms (which could be the only fair rationale for such a national symbol- ism though). To restore the Pharmacy would be the better symbolism for the whole of the site, because it would take the symbolism of the real people into account, not the one of the heroes who already had got their place within the Museum and at the Schloss Bridge. I shall try to explain this, and describe my design idea. A Symbolism Like in the Middle Ages, consider a symbolism itself as the process of realization and build the desired Building, called Schloss, over time. Just as in Schinkel’s days, there is a proverbial lack of money now and in the near future. Consider a Gothic cathedral, which was a tremendous collective effort over the generations, and therefore do not hesitate: start laying the bricks right away. Any attempt to rebuild the Schloss would mean to do it in phases. Each generation may add its horizontal layer (storey) on top of the former one. On top of each storey, its roof, would be an Agora each time, which would rise together with the rise of the storeys over time, offering panoramical city views, which would become ever more beautiful over the generations. 50 Since both the Schloss and the Pharmacy are quite well documented, there would be no need for ongoing quarrels about the meaning of the finishing shape such as the ones within the Milan cathedral building committee, which almost prevented its realisation over the centuries. It requires a pro- cedural approach, in which at the same time each phase would look inten- sive and perfect on itself. First, abandon the name Schlossplatz, because it should be a building not a square anymore. Call it Lustgarten. To reinstore the Pharmacy would be the first building phase. The Pharmacy’s function might be a pharmacy. It would close off the ugly west-east traffic artery and make the square into the quiet and joyful place meant by Schinkel. This square as well as the so-called Schloss Freedom (Schlossfreiheit) are the places where you together with your grandchildren, and they in turn with their ones, and their ones with their ones again, may admire the important Building being built again. At each building phase it would be perfect, just like Peggy Guggenheim’s Museum at the Grand Canal in Venice is perfect. The latter one only consists of a basement and ground floor of a palazzo which was never built, and would have been probably less beautiful if the whole of the monstruous palazzo actually had been built. In the case of the Schloss I would emphasize the undeterminacy of its historical height from the urban point of view. Urbanistically, it could have had almost any height. That is the reason its height can be built up in phases now. Negative Urbanism Length and width of the Schloss may have been determined by some geographical and topographical conditions at the Spree Island (Spreeinsel) but the height was only determined by a set of programmatical and aesthetical considerations which must have changed over time. Although the width of the Schloss still might have varied along the length of the island, this possibility became shattered in the 1820s after the erection of the Museum and the extension of a civilian space both inwards into the museum (the whole succession of screenlike spatial vertical layers Schinkel designed behind its front façade) and outwards in front of the Museum towards the Schloss (the Lustgarten with its always quantifiable rows of trees, fountains and busts from the Museum towards the Schloss). Politically, there was no mixture possible between the civilian Lustgarten and the military Schloss at the time. In Schinkel’s successive Lustgarten designs, up to the brilliant one of summer 1828, the distance between Museum and Schloss, who were condemned to gaze at each other, was always conceived of and measured from the civilian Museum, not from the Schloss. In a way, the Schloss, being there, remained expelled from the square at the same time. That way, the Schloss was left with only a vertical extendability, a fact which was somehow helplessly pointed out by the point shape of its dome. Its political inability to extend into public space was solved by Schinkel by simply denying this inability in two ways: the frontal distance from the Museum towards the Schloss, and a lateral distance resulting from the conical perspectivist space in front of the School of Architecture (Bauakademie), which somehow looked at something else beside the Schloss. There was no connection whatsoever from the Schloss towards a public space, the only exception being the iconographical one of the military statues on Schinkel’s Schloss Bridge (Schlossbrücke), which were mocked at by the people after their erection. Politically, culturally and urbanistically the Schloss was a closed box. In general, the actual importance of such a historical symbolism today mostly lies in what is left out in the past. In our case it is both the unheroic Pharmacy and the undeterminacy of the Schloss’s height which were left out in various ways by Schinkel’s designs for the site. In his many designs but especially in his most beautiful Lustgarten design from summer 1828 51 52 53 an aesthetic connection was neither made between his square and the Schloss, nor between the square and the Pharmacy, in the first case through an almost complete denial or what you may call negative urbanism, in the second case through simply hiding the pharmacy behind a row of lindens, which became chestnuts in the design process later on. This row itself, with a row of busts on top of rather high socles of famous civilian Germans in front of it, effectively measured and thus defined the whole of the distance between Museum and Schloss, and should be restored in order to under- stand the to-be-rebuilt Schloss as the distance evoking historical building it was. Therefore my design idea is to not only re-erect the Schloss but to also literally implement Schinkel’s Lustgarten design from the summer of 1828, the result being that the traffic artery should be removed from the site. Practical Problems and Solutions Schinkel’s Schloss Bridge design was meant to mark the end of a street as long as the Champs Elysees axis in Paris, which also ended against a royal palace. The Schloss Bridge was never meant to be just a minor link of an even longer, elongated street. For vehicles, routes could be altered. In my opinion, regarding car traffic in Berlin, a certain acquiescence at this spot would be desirable, and hardly cause any problems elsewhere. Between the blob of the cathedral and the adjacent Pharmacy there would be of course pedestrian and bicycle pas- sage ways. As for the public Agora the officials ask for within the Schloss I explained that historically an extendability on the same level of public space inside and outside the Schloss would make no sense, and would even make the rebuilt Schloss incomprehensible in its environment. Therefore, it is very good that the Agora is on the roof, being solely part of the building, not of the square, not at the same level of the Lustgarten as a sort of inner court extension of that same Lustgarten. The division of the old Schloss into six or seven of its horizontal layers (sto- reys), each of which would be realised by a next generation, that is accord- ing to a rhythm of thirty years between each of them, means that to build the whole of the old Schloss would approximately take two centuries to go. This makes the enterprise into a rare and therefore very attractive event. It is an example of extreme ritenuto which evokes long-term expectations, and offers open possibilities for the generations to come. It might attract a lot of visitors not only on its roof. The same division makes the realisa- tion financially and functionally much more flexible and easier. It means that the official wish to reserve the building for mainly cultural functions (with the adjacent commercial ones such as cafes, restaurants, bookshops, videoshops, cinemas, which nowadays form an intrinsic part of them) might be rather easily realised. Since building materials do not cost as much as labour anymore, basement, ground, and other floors may have quite heavy constructions, in order to bear the future floors on top of them. Or, on the other hand, empty or nega- tive spots for future load bearing columns may be left out at lower floor levels in order to initially erect lighter and later to-be-filled-in constructions within the always heavier walls of the old Schloss façade. Joost Meuwissen is professor at the departement of urban design faculty of architec- ture TU Graz, austria Acknowledgements Hermann G. Pundt, Schinkels Berlin (Berlin: Propyläen Verlag, 1981). Peter Springer, Schinkels Schlossbrücke in Berlin. Zweckbau und Monument (Berlin: Propyläen Verlag, 1981). 54 Turning the cornerBy Fabian Faltin Before we rush towards an analy- sis of the relation between urban-architectural form and ideology, politics or power, it may be helpful at first to consider if ideology itself is as an urban form. For not only is it difficult to think of an ideology that didn´t originate in an urban setting; ideology itself, taken in the most basic sense of a ´logic of ideas´, appears to have many, if not all the characteristics of urbanity. An ideology isn´t just one idea but several, densely packed and highly communicative amongst each other, short-circuited even, just as we might find a commune of citizens packed within the circular perimeter of a city wall. The communication between certain ideas creates a community of ideas, just as traffic, municipal pools and bustling market squares are often thought of as the benign creators of urban community. Ideas in an ideol- ogy are connected via arteries and nodes, along which their energy is transmitted and exchanged with vari- ous degrees of efficiency, much like in a city we find networks for transporting bodies, materials, information. Just as we see it happening in the polis, so an ideology will police its idea-citizens, administrate them, punish the free-riders who haven´t paid for public transport or suppress the street gamblers who interrupt the orderly flow of communication. Finally, at the fringe of ide- ologies we often find a suburban belt of retired or secluded ideas, that don´t participate in the democratic communion as vigorously as they could, for which there was no central place in the logos. The comparison is certainly appealing (particularly once we parallel historical evolutions, for example decentrali- sation of urban forms and decentralisation of ideologies), 55 yet should not be overstretched. There are important differences, and these seem far more valuable than the analogies. For instance, except at a very embryonic, medieval or indeed mythological stage, cities are built and modified from within; they are explosive. Ideologies, by contrast, tend to be implosive: they are contained, enclosed, wrapped. They are ideas in a neat package, masterminded from an outside: ´here stand we, there stands our ideology.´ Even in a totalitarian twentieth-century setting, ideology takes the form of a book that can be closed; ideology rest when we rest, and disappears when we concentrate upon other things, such as physical labour, or pursue routine, non-ideological behaviour. It is a thing apart. In this, ideology reveals itself as a child of philosophy, which also rests when we rest. Practised as a conscious processing, as a making non- sense or sense [logos] of ideas, as the making of ideology, philosophy too is experienced as a momentary suspension of ´ordinary language´, ´ordinary thoughts´ and ´common sense´. There exists a repertoire of exis- tential, everyday routines, from which philosophy seeks to deviate and differentiate itself, and into which the philosophical ´state of mind´, once it is exhausted, col- lapses again. You have to want it to get it and that, incidentally, is why philosophy often becomes a test of will-power. Thought doesn´t tend towards a solution, it tends to contract and disappear when the will-power fizzles out. ´We recognise that the problem of life has been solved when it disappears´, writes Wittgenstein in the Tractatus logicus-philosophicus ´ on the last page (§6.521). Can a city ever be ´closed´, stored away, laid ad acta in this manner? When philosophies and their ideological offspring talk about ´appearance versus reality´, ´struc- ture versus super-structure´ or indeed ´the possibil- ity of the impossible´, they are trying to articulate and come to grips with themselves: trying to interpret in a complex way the simple fact that they only work when you happen to be in the right mood for them. But for the city-dweller, the city is a place of many different moods. Our subjective ´relationship´ to the city is one of constant companionship, not of provisional spectacle. Unlike a book, a city is never closed. Over a certain space of time, we will have felt hope and resigna- tion, love and hate, impatience and acceleration etc., all within the city. Sometimes the fact that the city is 56 always there, indifferent to our mood-swings, can in itself be a source of an ´urban mood´, a potent mix of claustrophobia and escapism, of radical confrontation and invisible resignation. Because of this constant com- panionship, the urban form affords a depth of situation that ideologies never do. Cities account for a lot of the most stimulating inquiries humans have undertaken, be they in film, literature, art, architecture or politics. By contrast, all that we have ever gotten from ideologies is propaganda. These cursory indications can help us sense why it might be misleading to ´think about urbanism´ or to construct a ´relation´ between ourselves and architecture. The city is a place of constant approximation and prox- imity: we don´t stand outside it and negotiate freely the terms of a relationship, nor are we inside it, engaged in a perfect, and perfectly circular communication. Such moments do exist, but they are occasional. They punc- tuate the life of a couple, they are the commas and full-stops that provide temporary, ecstatic relief. Relief from long stretches of complex proximity, intimacy and diplomacy: the constant suspense and tension created by collisions, confrontations, contacts, by sensitive touches and vulgar injuries, by caresses that cannot in any way be summarised. All of this gets glossed over every time we talk of ´having a relationship´. In the city, we cannot stand back, little as we can step forward. Strictly speaking, it also isn´t accurate to say that we are ´immersed´ in an urban form. Rather, it seems we are situated or indeed trapped in a constel- lation or matrix of elements, living in proximity to one another, in proximity with ourselves, with architecture, objects, ideas. The urban ´form´ can never be a synthe- sis or a communication, it can just be a sort of con- centration. Similarly, living in a city is hardly about figuring things out systematically and acquiring professional compe- tence; in the city everyone is an amateur, trying to get by, trying to squeeze between or get around the next obstacles by some form of do-it-yourself. We don´t ever really know about each other, we just find ways of get- ting in touch, getting by, finding some points of con- tact or orientation. Even deep love for a city can never be possessive: it is accumulative. Fragments, moments, memories are simply collected, gathered without ideology or system. They become the basis of a repertoire 57 of urban life, a mixture of awareness and forgetting, of skill, routine and ritual, where nothing is decided upon in advance. Because the repertoire is already a form of submersion, it cannot be a subversive concept. There is no way of getting around this approximate state of being, of being ahead of urban life or falling behind it. Which points us to the utopian dimension of our initial question (´how is ideology itself an urban form?´): if in the future the ideologies of philosophy, architecture and urbanism were themselves to be such approximate urban life forms (and we have seen that they are not), what would they be like? It seems they would no longer be spectacle and thea- tre, just theatrics laid bare. They could be neither dis- tinguished from nor con-fused with reality. Instead, such utopian thought would be a way of inserting ourselves in the gap that exists between the life of a city and the life of an idea, in tangential proximity to both. A utopian ideology wouldn´t go all the way as we expect it to, just half the way. It would be a medium-point characterised not by forceful argument and spectacle, the eloquent communiqués architects and philosophers have become accustomed to, but inspired by something akin to the actuality and natural immediacy that can sometimes be felt when turning a street-corner. Fabian Faltin is a writer, ghost-writer, and translator. He is currently completing a philosophy of the repertoire at Sciences Po, Paris, and can be contacted at fabian_faltin@hotmail.com 58 <1941 <1941 <1941 1941 - 1970 1941 - 1970 1970 - 2005 2015? Supersuburbia By UAS We got a new city form. Without anyone noticing a new type of city has developed. While everyone was talking about the future of the sprawling urban fringes those places have been developing into urban typologies that are superior to cities. – Into supersuburbias. Supersuburbias are small towns with around 20,000 inhabitants located on the fringes of larger cities. They are mergers of multiple villages but still disguised as village-counties. In reality however we are dealing with a specifi c form of city that is employing a camoufl age strategy – cities in village’s clothing. Since the 70’s the middle class has continually been Wir haben eine neue Stadtform. Ohne das wir es gemerkt haben, hat sich ein neuer Typus Stadt entwickelt. In Zeiten, in denen noch jedermann über die Zukunft der zersiedelten Stadtränder diskutiert, haben diese sich schon längst weiterentwickelt in Stadtformen, die etablierten Städten überle- gen sind – in Supersuburbias. Supersuburbias sind Kleinstädte, um die 20.000 Einwohner, die an den Rändern größerer Städte aus dem Zusammenschluss jeweils mehrerer Dörfer entstanden sind und sich zur Zeit noch unter dem Begriff „Gemeinde“ tarnen. Tatsächlich haben wir es hier mit einer speziellen Stadtform zu tun, die gezielt eine Camoufl agestrategie einsetzt - Städte in Dorfspelzen. Seit den 70er Jahren strömte kontinuierlich die Mittelklasse aus den Städten in diese stadtnahen Dörfer. Die Dörfer wuchsen und verschmolzen mit Nachbardörfern zu größeren Dörfern mit neuen Namen. Die großen Dörfer wuch- sen weiter und vereinigten sich erneut mit weiteren Ortschaften zu den heute überall sichtbaren Stadtrandgemeinden. Aus kleinen Dörfern werden z.B. Industriestandorte und später wieder Wohnorte. Ortschaften schliessen sich zusammen und teilen sich später wieder, um sich erneut selbst zu erschaffen. Diese Gemeinden haben keine festgeschriebene Identitaet, sondern sind offen für Erweiterungen, Neuinterpreta- tionen, Erneuerungen und Widersprüch- lichkeiten. In gewisser Hinsicht aber können Stadtrand- gemeinden als urbane Zwischenformen ges- ehen werden, größer als Dörfer aber kleiner als Städte. Ihre lage unmittelbar am Rand von großen Städten ermoeglicht es diesen Stadtrandgemeinden sie sich als städtische Parasiten zu Supersuburbias entwickeln. Das Potential zu Supersuburbias bekommen sie, durch ihre strategisch ideale Platzierung an den überregionalen Autobahnen, die an den Stadträndern entlang laufen. In kürzester Zeit gelangt man aus diesen Gemeinden in die großen Städte. Die Bewohner dieser Gemeinden haben alle Optionen einer Since 1941 the Supersuburbia Lohfelden changed its identity every thirty years. In 1941 the agrarian villages Crumbach and Ochsenhausen merged to form the village Lohfelden. In 1970 then Lohfelden merged with Vollmarshausen to become the major county Lohfelden. What until several decades ago used to be a group of villages that were loosely organized in a county is now an amalgamate of multiple villages, industrial areas, a highway exit, single family homes and even the fi rst derelict plots that completely fi lls the formerly loose bound- ary of the county. 59 moving into those villages near the cities. Those villages grew and merged with neighboring villages to larger villages with new names. The larger villages grew more and merged with other larger places into the urban periphery counties you can see in many places today. Small villages grew into industrial places and transformed back to housing suburbs. Localities merge and split just in order to recreate themselves again. These places do not have an identity that is set in stone but are open to expansion, new interpretation, renewal and contradictions. In some sense these peripheral urban counties can be read as urban hybrids, larger than villages but smaller than cities. Their location right on the border of larger cities allows these peripheral counties to develop into supersuburbias. Their potential lies in their ideal location on highways, which run along the periphery of cities. In a very short time you can travel from those counties into the center-cities. The inhabitants of those counties have all the options of a large city in front of their doorstep with- out having to live in the city. Periphery counties don’t need density they consist of single-family homes and industrial halls. There are no medium sized building types, only very large ones and very small ones; surrounded by forests and meadows. Parallel to the growth of the housing areas also the industrial areas on the fringes of the city grew. These industrial areas frequently are within the jurisdiction of those counties, which brings them substantial tax revenues. What was considered to be impossible for so long, coexistence of industrial areas next to housing areas has happened. And both are in harmony. So far the housing areas are separated by noise protecting banks from the industrial developments but soon these barriers will fall too. ihr Leben zu müssen. Diese Gemeinden brauchen keine Dichte, sie bestehen aus Ein- familienhäusern und Industriehallen. Es gibt keine mittelgroßen Bauformen, lediglich sehr große und sehr kleine, umschlossen von Wäldern und Wiesen. Parallel zum Wachsen der Wohngebiete, sind auch die Indus- triegebiete an den Stadträndern gewachsen. Diese Industriegebiete liegen nicht selten innerhalb dieser Gemeinden, was Ihnen erhebliche Steuereinnahmen einbringt. Was nie für möglich gehalten wurde, nämlich, dass Wohnsiedlungen unmittelbar neben Industriegebieten existieren und beide Stadtformen miteinander harmonieren, ist eingetroffen. Noch sind die Industrieareale und Wohngebiete durch Lärmschutzwälle voneinander getrennt, bald aber werden voraussichtlich auch diese Mauern fallen. Im Zentrum dieser Entwicklungen befi nden sich die Oberbürgermeister, die dank der Standortvorteile, der Flexibilität, der Größe und der fi nanziellen Situation, beachtiliche Machtpositionen erlangen koennen. Nutzt die Oberbürgermeisterin einer Supersubur- bia ihreMacht, ist sie heute in der Lage ein Neues Babylon zu schaffen. Es offenbaren sich Entwicklungspotentiale, die den etabli- erten Städten fehlen die schon seit Langem unter ihrer Größe und der damit verbun- denen administrativen Starrheit leiden. Sie haben sich über Jahrhunderte eine Identität und Infrastruktur aufgebaut, in der sie heute gefangen sind. Ihre Parks können nicht mehr konkurrieren mit den Wäldern und Wiesen am Stadtrand. Supersuburbias sind pubertäre Stadtfor- men, die zwar ihre dörfl iche Kindheit schon hinter sich haben, aber deren Erwach- senenstatus noch unsicher ist. Es bleibt abzuwarten wie sie sich entwickeln. Ihr Potential liegt in der Unmündigkeit in der sie im besten Fall für immer bleiben. Noch gedeihen sie unbeschwert, aber schon bald werden auch sie mit den Problemen etabli- erter Städte konfrontiert werden. The Supersuburbia Lohfelden is located in the periphery of Kassel. 60 The mayors of these counties play a central role in these developments. They are able to acquire substantial positions of power thanks to the stra- tegic location, the flexibility, the size and the financial situation of their counties. If the mayor of a supersuburbia uses her power wisely she is in a situation that allows her to create a new Babylon. There are potentials for development that are completely lacking in established cities that have been suffering from their size and their administrative inflexibility. They are trapped in an identity and infrastructure that they have built up over centuries. Their parks can no longer compete with the woods and mead- ows of the periphery. Supersuburbias are pubescent urban typologies that have left their child- hood as villages behind but that are still insecure in their role as grown up cities. It remains to be seen how they develop. Their potential lies in their immaturity, which ideally they would keep forever. Still they are burgeoning without troubles but soon they might be confronted with the very same problems of established cities. UAS - Urban Architectural Studies is a design and research studio at University of Kassel, Departement of Architecture, Townplanning, Landscapeplanning Marc Weber, Alexander Söder, Dominik Ondregka, Alexander Stoffelshaus, Wolfgang Schulze, Bernd Upmeyer (co-edited and translated from german by Thomas Soehl) New Babylon in Supersuburbia 61 Monu magazine on urbanism # 04 For the next issue of Monu we invite observations, thoughts, speculations, manifestoes, projects and essays to issues around this topic. The fourth issue will be published by the end of 2005. Contributions should be sent to editors@monu.org by late November. U N I K A S S E LV E R S I T Ä T DENIED URBANISM forgotten, excluded and repressed forms of urban life 62 Call for submissions for Monu 04 Denied urbanism – forgotten, excluded and repressed forms of urban life For the next issue of Monu we invite observations, thoughts, speculations, manifestoes, projects, and essays to issues around this topic. The fourth issue will be published by the end of 2005. Contributions should be sent to editors@monu.org by late November. Whenever a city’s elite dreams up an image or a vision for the city, alarm bells should ring. All too commonly those images – the supposed character of urban life are so narrowly conceived by that they don’t have any relation to reality. The consequences of this myopia are fatal. Instead of strength- ening and developing the urban life that daily surrounds them they chase mirages – the culture capital, a baroque city, the European city, the growing city, the high-tech region… the stock of urban brand clichés seems unlim- ited. The urban development strategies spawned by these mirages tend to enhance an image and a set of values that a city represents for a small but powerful minority. Grotesquely the majority of urban life is defi ned as the fringe – excluded as the other – the diversity and richness of a city is denied in order to create an easily understandable representational image. Similar dynamics play out around the globe in different forms and shapes; perpetuated by different elites within different political contexts; in cities big, small, grand and pathetic. With always-similar results: a very narrow defi nition of city is embraced while the rest of urban life – the other – is dis- missed, neglected or actively discriminated against. 63 64