Cities in transition - from brownfield sites to new settlements
The ageing of society is also presenting many places in Saxony-Anhalt with urban development challenges. "The transformation of cities is an ongoing process," Infrastructure Minister Lydia Hüskens (FDP) told the German Press Agency. Solutions that are as tailored as possible must be developed and implemented locally in the cities. This year's Urban Redevelopment Award will be presented in Kalbe (Milde) in the evening, which honors projects that are particularly committed to the transformation of cities.
Hüskens explained that these projects also serve as role models. The projects are examples of how solutions to problems can be found. In recent years, the city of Naumburg, Lutherstadt Wittenberg, Schönebeck and Bernburg, among others, have received awards.
The city of Wittenberg, for example, was honored in 2020 for the renovation of its historic old town. In 1989, a banner in the Cranach-Hof with the inscription "Where houses decay, people also decay" drew attention to the catastrophic condition of the historic old town, the city announced on request. This protest movement was the impetus for the urban development. Today, 30 years later, the city "proudly advertises with the campaign: "More beautiful than ever!", emphasized a city spokeswoman.
Kalbe, where the award ceremony is taking place this year, is also proud of the former winning project, the "Kalbe artists' town". In the small town of around 7500 inhabitants, the association is committed to making the town more attractive to young people through art and festivals. Even if the impact on the population figures is still small, said Mayor Karsten Ruth (non-party), the number of visitors and guests in the town has increased. The association had helped to reactivate civic engagement.
In Bernburg, where the city received an award in 2019 for the redevelopment of an old dilapidated area on the Saale, the problems of inner-city development have not been completely resolved, said a city spokeswoman. However, the goal of upgrading a "landscape of ruins" had been achieved.
Once again this year, the main projects nominated as finalists for the award are those that deal with shrinking cities. The municipality of Benndorf in the Mansfeld-Südharz district, for example, was affected by the loss of mining and the exodus of residents in the 1990s. The old miners' settlement was rebuilt and modernized with renewable energies. In Halle, an eight-storey, polluted residential building was converted into a residential complex with a small park. And in Oschersleben (Bode), a new residential area with shopping facilities, an indoor swimming pool and a youth center was built on an old railroad wasteland.
The Urban Redevelopment Award, which will be presented in Kalbe (Milde), recognizes projects that excel in transforming cities. Various municipalities in Saxony-Anhalt, such as Naumburg and Wittenberg, have received this award in recent years for their successful urban development initiatives.
Source: www.dpa.com
