The project aims to lay the foundations for a real-world laboratory focused on urban and peri-urban development for the city of Hoyerswerda in Germany. This endeavour seeks to be a transferable example of successful structural transformation within the Lausitz region.
Across the globe, comprehensive solutions for participatory and sustainable urban development are in high demand, with ongoing research and model testing. However, in Germany, sectoral boundaries have remained largely unchallenged. Prominent initiatives in ecological and socio-economic urban and spatial development have been limited to specific thematic areas. While such initiatives are commendable, they have provided only partial solutions so far. The NewCityConcepts project aims to establish the groundwork for a cross-sectoral, integrative, and participatory methodology. It will explore how knowledge-based and expert-guided urban and spatial planning can creatively and inclusively address the complex challenges of building sustainable cities.
The core of this project is to confront the multifaceted ecological and socio-economic challenges through a civic dialogue involving experts from all relevant disciplines. The goal is to generate resilient urban solutions at all levels, with regional, national, and international impact. The project seeks to:
Develop a process methodology and a concrete project plan while considering existing and ongoing conceptual work
Identify, develop, and potentially locate pilot projects within Hoyerswerda’s environment through the project consortium
Describe, visualise, and publicise Hoyerswerda’s development potential as a model city for structural transformation and beyond
The process methodology will be developed through a selected thematic focus, initially addressing the challenges of climate-resilient urban neighbourhoods, participatory food production in urban spaces, and water management. Three ideas that have been identified are vertical farming, urban gardening, and aquaponics. Key components of the project, building upon existing foundations and planning, include the development of workshop formats and conducting transparent internal and external dialogue workshops on goals and guiding principles with key stakeholders from the city and region in suitable formats, among others.
The project is funded by the Sächsische Aufbaubank (Saxon Development Bank).
