ABSTRACT
This transformation has affected all parts of Freiburg. It is, however, the city’s two urban extensions that have attracted most attention: Rieselfeld and Vauban, both of which were initiated in the early 1990s. Rieselfeld, in German, means ‘sewage farm’, which is what the site used to be, while Vauban was the former French military base. Rieselfeld was the first to be planned and has been built as a medium-rise, relatively high-density residential neighbourhood and is perhaps the less successful of the two, lacking variety and local facilities. Vauban was able to learn the lessons from this and also grew from more radical beginnings. In the early years the French barracks were squatted by hippies and after a court battle they were given the right to stay in four of the 20 barracks. A campaigning group, Forum Vauban, was established to argue that the remaining 35 hectares should be developed as an entirely car-free neighbourhood. The council acquired the land and eventually went into partnership with the Forum to develop the concept for the neighbourhood. It is not quite car-free but residents wanting a car have to pay €18,000 for a parking space in one of the solar garages on the edge of the development. Both neighbourhoods were built at the end of tram lines that were extended into the neighbourhoods at the very beginning of the development and both are laced with generous cycleways and footpaths. They were largely built via a Baugruppen system by which groups of residents buy a plot, engage an architect and build their own apartments. This has been successful in creating a strong sense of community and belonging, although this might sometimes flip over into a slightly authoritarian eco-policing, if some of the articles written about the neighbourhoods are to be believed (in one case, a car parked within Vauban was stoned by residents). These neighbourhoods may not be perfect, but they are there. While the rest of Europe has advocated and debated eco-urban design, Freiburg has got on and done it. It may have made mistakes but at least it has built. This is why the Academy of Urbanism developed the Freiburg Charter to capture the lessons and encourage others. The Charter is full of important principles, such as diversity, safety and tolerance, the compact city of short distances in which ‘the aspects of everyday life can be laid out and accessed within walking distance by all members of society’, the importance of open space, quality design and collaboration with local people. There is nothing in the Charter that other cities have not been trying to do for years. But, in the hands of the free citizens of Freiburg, these principles have transformed the city and created an eco-model that we all need to at least try and emulate.
