Stuttgart, Germany
City population: 581386
Duration: 2020 – ongoing
Implementation status: Ongoing
Scale: Micro-scale: District/neighbourhood level
Project area: unknown
Type of area: Public Greenspace Area
Last updated: October 2021

On November 5, 2019, the Committee for Urban Development and Technology passed the building decision for the riverside park Austraße - Neckarterrassen. To the north of Münster, the Neckar has cut deeply into the shell limestone and describes a wide arc on the Prallufer. There is little space between the cliff and the river - that is what makes this place so special. This is where the Austraße riverside park is being built with the elements Freienstein water playground (element 1), Neckarterrassen and Tapach-Link (element 2) as well as Austraße, Neckarufer and Neckarstrand (element 3). The first component has already been implemented: children will find their favorite spot on the Freienstein water playground south of the Max-Eyth-Steg. Students from the Elise von König School in Münster contributed their ideas as part of a child participation program. With the second component and its sub-projects “Tapach-Link” and “Neckarterrassen”, there are beautiful prospects for Münster: Those who have overcome the relay to the Neckarterrassen can rest in the shade and let their eyes wander up and down the Neckar. The third component of the Austraße riverside park - in addition to the Freienstein water playground, Neckarterrassen and Tapach-Link - focuses on the banks: podiums and platforms are planned on the river to linger while the freighters transport their goods on the water. Insects, small crabs and small fish find optimal living conditions on the renatured bank zones with stones and diverse flora. (1, 7).

Uferpark Austraße (2011)
BHM Planungsgesellschaft mbH, Bruchsal, retrieved 08/13/2018 from Max Hansen

Overview

Nature-based solution

  • Grey infrastructure featuring greens
  • Green playgrounds and school grounds
  • Parks and urban forests
  • Pocket parks/neighbourhood green spaces
  • Blue infrastructure
  • Rivers/streams/canals/estuaries
  • Green areas for water management
  • Rain gardens
  • Other

Key challenges

  • Water management (SDG 6)
  • Flood protection
  • Stormwater and rainfall management and storage
  • Improvements to water quality
  • Green space, habitats and biodiversity (SDG 15)
  • Habitat and biodiversity restoration
  • Green space creation and/or management
  • Environmental quality
  • Air quality improvement
  • Regeneration, land-use and urban development
  • Conversion of former industrial areas
  • Promote natural styles of landscape design for urban development
  • Health and well-being (SDG 3)
  • Enabling opportunities for physical activity
  • Creation of opportunities for recreation
  • Economic development and employment (SDG 8)
  • Tourism support

Focus

Creation of new green areas, Maintenance and management of urban nature

Project objectives

1. To develop the cultural and historical identity of the site (1) 2. To create new green and recreational space for Stuttgart citizens (1) 3. Preservation of the existing green areas (1) 4. To attract new visitors to the park (1) 5. Equal assessment to natural facilities for all social groups (1)

Implementation activities

1. Building investigations were carried out in the summer of 2014 (4) 2. Revitalization of the former mining quarry (4) 3. Creation of new routes for cyclists and pedestrians (5) 4. Access to the river was created (6)

Biodiversity conservation or restoration-focused activities

Biodiversity restoration:

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

Main beneficiaries

  • Citizens or community groups
  • Marginalized groups: Elderly people, People with functional diversities

Governance

Management set-up

  • Government-led

Type of initiating organisation

  • Regional government
  • Local government/municipality

Participatory approaches/ community involvement

  • Unknown

Details on the roles of the organisations involved in the project

The Shore Park Austraße project was commissioned to a landscape planning bureau BHM Planungsgesellschaft mbH by the city of Stuttgart (1).

Project implemented in response to ...

... an EU policy or strategy? Unknown
... a national policy or strategy? Yes (Regional Landscape Park Programme aims to create a network of attractive, accessible, welcoming and diverse open spaces that function as a counterpoint to the region’s gray infrastructure. (7))
... a local policy or strategy? Yes (Stuttgart city development plan ("Stadtplan Stuttgart") - a recent urban development plan that includes the network of green revitalization projects. (6))

Financing

Total cost

€500,000 - €2,000,000

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)

Non-financial contribution

No

Impacts and Monitoring

Environmental impacts

  • Environmental quality
  • Improved air quality
  • Water management and blue areas
  • Improved water quality
  • Increased protection against flooding
  • Green space and habitat
  • Increased green space area
  • Increased conservation or restoration of ecosystems
  • Increased number of species present

Economic impacts

  • More sustainable tourism
  • Reduce financial cost for urban management
  • Generation of income from NBS

Socio-cultural impacts

  • Social justice and cohesion
  • Improved access to urban green space
  • Health and wellbeing
  • Improved mental health
  • Gain in activities for recreation and exercise
  • Cultural heritage and sense of place
  • Improvement in people’s connection to nature
  • Increased appreciation for natural spaces

Type of reported impacts

Expected impacts, Achieved impacts

Presence of formal monitoring system

Yes

Presence of indicators used in reporting

Yes

Presence of monitoring/ evaluation reports

Yes

Availability of a web-based monitoring tool

No

References

Playground at Uferpark Austraße (2017)
BHM Planungsgesellschaft mbH, Bruchsal, retrieved 08/13/2018 from Max Hansen
Stadt Stuttgart
https://www.stuttgart-meine-stadt.de/stadtentwicklung/masterplan-neckar/uferpark-austrasse/?tab=0