Rural republics and urban cluster cities
Scenario City Type. Stefan Rettich and Kai Dolata
The boundaries of Saxony-Anhalt reflect recent political definitions. These demarcations have cut off some regional areas along the borders of Saxony-Anhalt, for instance Harz or Braunschweig, from their historic provinces. If these political boundaries were ignored or drawn up anew, the future of small and medium-sized cities in Saxony-Anhalt might lie in establishing an intensive network between the cities and the surrounding landscapes.
This would then create a federation of urban cluster cities and “rural republics”, which would shape new, specific and groundbreaking spatial models through regional added-value chains. The state’s boundaries would dissolve in the long term, generating new, functional fusions. The Harz region provides an example. The central landscape would give the region – Lower Saxony and Thuringia especially – a strong joint identity: the “Republic of Harz”. The area has 800,000 inhabitants, which would make it one of the most densely populated areas in Central Germany. One inter-regional network offers huge economic potential in the fields of recreation, health, culture and renewable energies.
Rural republics and urban cluster cities. Extract from the Catalogue for the final presentation of the IBA Urban Redevelopment 2010
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