Leipzig, Germany
City population: 502920
Duration: 2017 – ongoing
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level, Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Industrial, Previous derelict area, Cultural Heritage Area
Last updated: October 2021

When the national German railway company shut down parts of the former East station of Leipzig and its tracks in 2012, citizens developed an idea for its secondary use and came up with the concept of the "Parkbogen Ost" which represents a 5-kilometre long circle of bicycle lanes, footpaths and outdoor space surrounding the East of Leipzig. The city of Leipzig recognized its potential to connect the Eastern Leipzig with the city centre and developed the strategy further by issuing a "Masterplan Parkbogen Ost" as the base for a step-wise implementation of the project in 2013 (Ref. 5).

Parkbogen Ost
Source: https://www.leipzig.de/news/news/parkbogen-ost-wird-vom-bund-gefoerdert/

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • Railroad bank and track greens
  • Green playgrounds and school grounds
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Large urban parks or forests
  • Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
  • Green corridors and green belts
  • Community gardens and allotments
  • Community gardens

Key challenges

  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Social justice and equity
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Transformation of previously derelict areas

Project objectives

1. The gentrification of the Eastern city district, its green spaces and housing areas with new open spaces and play areas (3, 5); 2. Relief street traffic by offering alternative transition opportunities for bicycle traffic (5); 3. Integrate the bicycle lane network into the regional network of paths and thereby foster sustainable mobility in Leipzig (3, 5); 4. Enhance connectivity of the Eastern districts (Volksmarsdorf, Schönefeld, Sellerhausen, Anger-Crottendorf, Stötteritz and Reudnitz) with the city centre (3, 5); 5. Connect several attractive green areas, unexplored sites and monuments of the industry and railway era (2); 6. Catalyze cautious upgrade, which is primarily based on the commitment of local actors (5).

Implementation activities

Following an intensive citizens engagement process (workshops, fora etc.) the Master Plan was approved in 2016 and presents the major project ideas for the further step-wise development of the belt. - Preparation of preparatory studies on how to deal with the existing bridge structures, reports on nature and environmental issues and on suitable areas for accessibility for the disabled (5) - Transformation of the old railway tracks into greened bicycle lanes and pedestrian paths (1,2) - Transformation or renovation of monuments like the Grassi museum (connection to the inner city), an old cemetery, a former administrative facility of the railway company into cultural spaces and restaurants (1,2) - Transformation of the old train station, a former fire station into recreational areas, such as the Lene-Voigt-Park which used to be a former train station, and to urban nature areas such as urban forests and community gardens (1,2) - Preparation of a preliminary a 250 stretch of an old viaduct which will serve as an elevated outlook point and a greened canopy trail passing the conserved brownfield of the former post train station. Construction works should start in 2017 (1, 2).

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
  • Restore ecological connectivity
  • Other

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Private sector/Corporate/Company
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Co-governance with government and non-government actors

Type of initiating organisation

  • Local government/municipality
  • Non-government organisation/civil society
  • Citizens or community group

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Co-planning (e.g. stakeholder workshops, focus groups, participatory mapping)
  • Taskforce groups
  • Dissemination of information and education
  • Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)
  • Joint implementation (e.g. tree planting)

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The project was initiated by engaged citizens who came up with the idea for re-purposing the former rail tracks. It was then taken up by the Office for Urban Renewal and Housing subsidy (ASW) of the city of Leipzig which saw the potential for gentrification of the Eastern city districts of Leipzig and therefore initiated the development of a Master Plan with intense citizen involvement into this process. Vacant space along the belt offers opportunities for residents and interested citizens to co-create urban spaces based on their own creative project ideas (1, 5, 8)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? No
... a national policy or strategy? No
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (The project Parkbogen Ost is a measure anchored in the Integrated District Development Concept for Leipzig's East ("Integriertes Stadtteilentwicklungskonzept Leipziger Osten") and follows the guidelines of the "Leipzig Charta" of 2007 which promotes the use of integrated urban development strategies as well as the development and conservation of high quality public space and active innovation and education politics (2, 10).)

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • EU funds
  • Public national budget
  • Public local authority budget

Type of funding

  • Earmarked public budget
  • Direct funding (grants, subsidies, or self-financed projects by private entities)

Non-financial contribution

Unknown

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Lowered local temperature
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Safety
  • Increased perception of safety
  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved social cohesion
  • Improved liveability
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Increased visibility and opportunity for marginalised groups or indigenous peoples
  • Increased involvement of locals in the management of green spaces
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Cultural heritage and sense of place
  • Promotion of cultural diversity
  • Increased appreciation for natural spaces

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, No impacts reported

Presence of formal monitoring system

Unknown

Presence of indicators used in reporting

No evidence in public records

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

No evidence in public records

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No evidence in public records

References

1. Stadt Leipzig Dezernat Stadtentwicklung and Bau. (2015). ‘Parkbogen Ost. Aus ehemaligen Bahnanlagen wird ein grünes Aktivband’. Leipzig. Accessed on October 13, 2020, Source link (Accessed: 20 July 2017).
2. Stadt Leipzig (2017a) Masterplan Parkbogen Ost. Leipzig. Accessed on October 13, 2020, Source link (Accessed: 20 July 2017).
3. Rometsch, J. (2016). ‘Masterplan für Parkbogen Ost fertig - Höhenradweg auf Viadukt kommt zuerst’, Leipziger Volkszeitung, 24 November. Accessed on October 13, 2020, Source link
4. leipziggrün.de. (2017). Hier stellen wir Ihnen die acht wichtigsten Stationen des geplanten Parkbogen Ost vor. Accessed on October 13, 2020, Source link
5. Stadt Leipzig (2017b) Parkbogen Ost - von Bahnflächen zum grünen Aktivband. Accessed on October 13, 2020, Source link
6. Stadt Leipzig (2017c) ‘Parkbogen Ost’ wird vom Bund gefördert. Accessed on October 13, 2020, Source link
7. culturtraeger GmbH (no date) LeipzigGrün. Über uns. Accessed on October 13, 2020, Source link
8. Salpius, D. (2017). Parkbogen Ost. Was sich hinter dem Großprojekt in Leipzig verbirgt., Mitteldeutsche Zeitung. Accessed on October 13, 2020, Source link
9. Stadt Leipzig and Leipziger Osten. (2003). ‘Stadtumbau Freiraum und neues Grün’. Leipzig: Grünflächenamt; Stadtteilmanagement ‘Leipziger Osten’. Website not available
10. Stadt Leipzig. (2013). Integriertes Stadtteilentwicklungskonzept Leipziger Osten. Leipzig. Accessed on October 13, 2020, Source link
11. Julke, R. (2020). Bund fördert den ersten Bauabschnitt des Bahnbogens Ost mit 5,2 Millionen Euro. Leipziger Internet Zeitung. Accessed on October 13, 2020, Source link
Parkbogen Ost
Source: https://www.mz-web.de/leipzig/parkbogen-ost-was-sich-hinter-dem-grossprojekt-in-leipzig-verbirgt-25625662