Baukultur Report 2016/17

With the aid of three major Baukultur Workshops in 2015 – “Vital Communities ” in Kassel, “Infrastructure and Landscape” in Regensburg, and “Planning Culture and Process Quality” in Frankfurt am Main – the needs and potentials of Baukultur in rural areas could be worked out. Additionally, three cooperative workshops were held in 2016, with their thematic focus on current topics such as “Flucht nach Vorne /  Flight Forward” in Munich and “Wohnungsbau der Zukunft /  Housing of the Future” in Iphofen. Many actively took advantage of the workshops’ opportunities to participate: a total of around 1,500 people, including planners from different disciplines and representatives of municipalities and associations, as well as the interested public. Following the keynote lectures, at several workshop tables participants discussed various aspects of the case studies with the speakers, and they made recommendations that were incorporated directly into the Baukultur Report.

In the context of compiling the Baukultur Report 2016/17, a municipal survey was also conducted by the German Institute of Urban Affairs (Difu) and a population survey was made by the research institute Ipsos, both of which aided in identifying the specific challenges and needs in Germany beyond its large cities. In addition to receiving guidance from the Board of Trustees and the Advisory Board, the Baukultur Foundation was counselled by an advisory committee made up of experts from various disciplines. The Federal Foundation of Baukultur was also assisted by Difu, in collaboration with the planning group Stadt & Dorf (City & Village). In addition to the regular exchange, a discussion with associations and stakeholders pertinent to Baukultur took place in November 2015, specifically in preparation for the Baukultur Report 2016/17.

On 15 September 2016, Reiner Nagel, Director of the Federal Foundation of Baukultur, presented the Baukultur Report 2016/17 “City and Village” to Dr. Barbara Hendricks, Federal Minister for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety, at the 10th Federal Congress on National Urban Development Policy in Hanover. On 26 October 2016, the Report was dealt with by the Federal Cabinet and referred to the Bundestag and Bundesrat. It was presented to the public for the first time at the Convention of Baukultur, held in Potsdam from 3 to 5 November 2016, and is available in printed form in German and as a download in German and English.

The Baukultur Report 2016/17 is available here as a download.