Stuttgart, Esslingen, Ludwigsburg, et al., Germany
City population: 581386
Duration: 2005 – ongoing
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Meso-scale: Regional, metropolitan and urban level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Natural Heritage Area/Untouched nature, Public Greenspace Area, Central Business District / City Centre
Last updated: October 2021

Landscape Park Neckar is a multi-place NBS intervention that is being realized along the banks of the river Neckar in 27 cities, including Stuttgart. Along the river axis, the free spaces between the dwelling buildings, industrial areas, and transport terminals are identified to be transformed into green areas, parks, and new recreational facilities. With this step-by-step approach, it succeeds in regenerating green areas for natural and social functions and helps drawing attention to the diverse benefits of Green Infrastructure. There are now eight master plans for the different landscape areas, which fit together like pieces of a puzzle to form the Stuttgart Region Landscape Park. Each sub-concept is tailored to the characteristic conditions. Since 2005 the Verband Region Stuttgart has been calling on cities and municipalities to submit project ideas. From this, the projects are selected in a competition in which the region pays up to 50 per cent of the costs. In this way, total investments in the Stuttgart Region Landscape Park of around 45 million euros have been triggered in recent years and around 200 projects have been co-financed by the region. The redevelopment of the landscape is in the ongoing phase. (ref. 1, 2, 7).

Oppla Case Studies
Oppla Case Studies: Neckar Landscape Park
https://oppla.eu/casestudy/17572

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • Alley or street trees and other street vegetation
  • Blue infrastructure
  • Riverbank/Lakeside greens
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Large urban parks or forests
  • Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
  • Green corridors and green belts
  • Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
  • Green areas for water management
  • Sustainable urban drainage systems

Key challenges

  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Flood protection
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Environmental quality
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Inclusive and effective governance (SDG 16)
  • Inclusive governance
  • Social justice, cohesion and equity (SDG 10)
  • Environmental education
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Cultural heritage and cultural diversity
  • Preservation of natural heritage
  • Protection of historic and cultural landscape/infrastructure

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Ecological restoration of ecosystems, Management and improved protection of rivers and other blue areas

Project objectives

1. To enhance the green infrastructure of the region (1) 2. To enhance biodiversity (1) 3. To support sustainable mobility (1) 4. To promote environmental and cultural education (1) 5. To improve the local climate (1) 6. To provide leisure areas for all kind of users (1) 7. To improve the living condition in the region (2) 8. To increase the attractiveness of the area for tourists (2)

Implementation activities

1. The corresponding legal competencies between municipalities were applied constituting a key factor to the success of the project (1) 2. Landscape analysis of the 90 km of the river axis was conducted (2). 3. 228 meso, micro, and sub-micro scale development projects concepts for the Neckar river were offered in all participating municipalities (2) 4. 160 Green Infrastructure projects have been implemented on the territory of all the cities that took part in the project (1) 5. New green tourist routes created (2)

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity restoration:

  • Rehabilitate and restore damaged or destroyed ecosystems
  • Restore species (native, endangered, or unspecified)
  • Restore ecological connectivity

Main beneficiaries

  • Local government/Municipality
  • Citizens or community groups

Governance

Management set-up

  • Government-led

Type of initiating organisation

  • Regional government

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Dissemination of information and education
  • Consultation (e.g. workshop, surveys, community meetings, town halls)

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

Many players are involved in the development of the Neckar landscape park, and a great deal has already happened. The state, municipalities, and the region have already brought numerous projects to fruition. The ministry for environment established the “Our Neckar” initiative in 2007. Under this umbrella program, the state wants to collect all improvement proposals for areas from the river’s source to its mouth, bundle financial means from all available sources, and coordinate these projects on a state-wide basis. From the European level, the following partners are involved: South Yorkshire Forest Partnership/Sheffield City Council (UK), University of Sheffield (UK), Community Forests North West (UK), Gemeente Amersfoort (NL), Vlaamse Landmaatschappij (BE), Services Promotion Initiatives en province de Liège (BE), Université de Liège (BE), Verband Region Stuttgart together with VVS (DE), Institut für Landes- und Stadtentwicklungsforschung gGmbH, Dortmund (DE). (2)

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Yes (Region Landscape Park is being implemented throughout Germany (1). The country-wide project encourages co-finding competition to support municipalities in the design, implementation, and funding of green infrastructure projects.)
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (Stuttgart Region Landscape Park is a region-level part of Region Landscape Park project. The main goal of the project is to support municipalities to design, implement, and fund green infrastructure projects through the "Landscape Park Co-funding Competition". The concept of the "Landscape Park" embeds the integration of green infrastructure into the overall development of the region and underlines its potential as a locational factor that is worth preserving and improving (1))

Financing

Total cost

More than €4,000,000

Source(s) of funding

  • Public regional budget
  • Public local authority budget

Type of funding

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

Non-financial contribution

No

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Climate change
  • Lowered local temperature
  • Water management and blue areas
  • Increased protection against flooding
  • Green space and habitat
  • Promotion of naturalistic styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
  • Reduced biodiversity loss
  • Increased protection of threatened species
  • Increased ecological connectivity across regeneration sites and scales

Economic impacts

  • Unknown

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Increased opportunities for social interaction
  • 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
  • Protection of historic and cultural landscape / infrastructure

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, Achieved impacts

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. Oppla Case Study (no date). Stuttgart Region Landscape Park. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 16th September, 2020.
2. Verband Region Stuttgart. (no date) Landschaftspark Neckar. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 16th September, 2020.
3. Stuttgart City Council (2020). Neckar adventure area: a master plan. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 16th September, 2020.
4. Oppla Case Study (no date) Stuttgart Region: Multifunctional Green Infrastructure for an Attractive Urban Regio. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 16th September, 2020.
5. (2017). Landschaftspark Rems, Source link
6. Erlebnisraum Neckar- Ein Masterplan für Stuttgart als Stadt am Fluss. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 16th September, 2020.
7. Verband Region Stuttgart (no date) Neckar Master Plan. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 14th October, 2020.
8. YouTube video (2019) Der Landschaftspark Region Stuttgart - Der Neckar. Available at: Source link. Accessed on 14th October, 2020.