Urban-Rural Partnerships Growth and innovation through cooperation Transport Mobility Housing Urban and Rural Areas Transport Mobility Housing Urban and Rural Areas www.bmvbs.de Transport Mobility Housing Urban and Rural Areas Transport Mobility Housing Urban and Rural Areas Transport 2 3 Urban-Rural Partnerships Growth and innovation through cooperation 4 5 Table of content Urban-Rural Partnerships Growth and innovation through cooperation Foreword 7 A pilot project for urban-rural partnerships – why and to what end? 8 Projects rather than programmes – What does MORO stand for? 10 On the term ‘urban-rural partnerships’ 10 A European project 11 An interview with Dr Dirk Ahner 12 Lessons learnt from the pilot projects 14 The power of cooperating 14 What does ‘variable geometry’ mean? 17 An interview with Lord Mayor Dr Maly 19 Specific, binding, and on equal terms 21 The pilot regions, geographical frameworks, organisation, projects 31 Regional partnership in northern Germany / Hamburg Metropolitan Region (MORO Nord) 32 Cooperation and networking in the north-east 40 Central German Metropolitan Region (formerly called Saxon Triangle) 46 WKI supra-regional partnership 53 Nuremberg Metropolitan Region 57 European Metropolitan Region Stuttgart 63 European Integrated Area Lake Constance 69 Contact points, links and bibliography 74 Publication data 76 6 7 Foreword One vital hallmark of a successful policy is that it is beneficial not only for one group of people but takes the entire population and their interests into consideration. This is also true for issues relating to urban and rural areas. Time and again there have been approaches according to which the two were to be treated separately, linked with a requirement to focus on one side or the other. The supra-regional partnerships pilot project Such viewpoints not only misconstrue what has shown that approaches incorporating life is like in our country, but also, by dividing rural areas in their development concepts can urban from rural areas are far from being fair or be successful even in metropolitan regions. future-oriented. Given the range of challenges The support of urban-rural partnerships as we are facing, if we wish to achieve progress in an important prerequisite for growth and our country we need to see the whole picture. innovations also constitutes one of the future tasks of European spatial planning policies. When urban and rural areas act in concert I am delighted to see that in this context the both will win. The spatial planning pilot project supra-regional partnerships pilot project has “Supra-Regional Partnerships – Innovative received a highly positive response from the Projects for City-Regional Cooperation, European Commission. We need to aim to Networking and Joint Responsibility” has significantly improve the synergies between illustrated how such a cooperation can cohesion and rural development policies. promote growth and innovations and also Urban-rural partnerships do not automatically improve the quality of life. I owe thanks to all ensure success. We will drive this process by the people in the regions involved for making supporting specific projects and intensifying this project a success by contributing their the dialogue among all the players in spatial ideas, commitment and their willingness to development. cooperate. Germany’s spatial planning policies at the national level and the regional levels have good Dr Peter Ramsauer reasons to pursue an approach of a “community Federal Minister of Transport, of joint responsibility”. The central aim is to Building and Urban Development achieve good partnership relations between urban and rural areas. Such relations can improve an entire region’s competitiveness and create equivalent living conditions. 8 9 Concept: Growth and Innovation Metropolitan Region Cores of the Capital Region and of existing European Metropolitan Regions A pilot project for Other cities with Metropolitan Functions Metropolitan Region urban-rural partnerships – Areas of influence including rural areas Transition region between Metropolitan why and to what end? Regions Growth regions outside Metropolitan Regions New challenges regions are intended to contribute as partners, particularly to enhance growth and innovations. In recent years new challenges such as This is in line with the desire to empower every Stabilisation areas globalisation, demographic change, climate area, whether strong or weak, to identify and change, and scarcity of natural resources have pool potential, and to establish networks from led to adaptations in the political goals and which they will jointly benefit. strategies in the field of spatial development at Spatial structure the European level and national levels. Central area of high density Dense intermediate area A new understanding of spatial planning is On the term considered a vital precondition for a spatial urban-rural partnerships development policy to succeed. In a new understanding of spatial planning, it will link While the project was running it different levels and include cooperation among became clear that it is better to speakConcept: of Growth and Innovation municipalities, cities, urban-rural areas as “communities of joint responsibility” Metropolitan Region well as peripheral areas. It will also facilitate than “supra-regional partnerships”. Cores of the Capital Region and of existing the cooperation among the fields of politics, The attribute “supra-regional” triggers European Metropolitan Regions administration, science, the business sector and an unnecessary discussion about Other cities with Metropolitan Functions civil society. terminology. The cooperation areas do Metropolitan Region indeed exceed past (regional) types of Spatial planning visions and strategies cooperation as well as (administrative) Areas of influence including rural areas © BBR Bonn 2006 district borders; most even go beyond 100 km Transition region between Metropolitan Germany‘s visions and strategies for spatial The map is illustrating the concept. However, the state borders. These new cooperation Regions development dating from 2006 have signature do not stand for determined planning. Concept: Growthareas, however, and basically Innovation act as regions. incorporated these goals. They are developing Metropolitan Region This is why terms such as “communities Growth regions outside Metropolitan Regions an innovative instrument for a spatial planning of joint responsibility” or “urban-rural Cores of the Capital Region and of existing policy targeted towards development and European Metropolitan Regions partnerships” are more accurate to express balance by applying a strategic „community Other cities with Metropolitan Functions what this type of cooperation strives for: of joint responsibility“ approach for cities, Metropolitan Region mobilising synergies for growth and Stabilisation areas metropolitan regions, and rural growth areas as innovation in urban and rural sub-regions Areas of influence including rural areas well as peripheral and structurally weak regions. by taking cooperative responsibility for Transition region between Metropolitan their future. Regions In these types of regions, which vary in terms of Spatial structure their structures and economic situation, all sub- Central area of high density Growth regions outside Metropolitan Regions Dense intermediate area Figure 1: Vision for growth and innovation Stabilisation areas Spatial structure Central area of high density Dense intermediate area © BBR Bonn 2006 100 km The map is illustrating the concept. However, the signature do not stand for determined planning. © BBR Bonn 2006 100 km The map is illustrating the concept. However, the signature do not stand for determined planning. 10 A pilot project for urban-rural partnerships – why and to what end? 11 Projects rather than programmes – A European project What does MORO stand for? With its action programme “Modellvorhaben In the context of MORO’s “Supra-Regional This requires new forms of regional der Raumordnung” (spatial planning pilot Partnerships – Innovative Projects for City- cooperation: between regional organisations projects) MORO, the Federal Ministry of Regional Cooperation, Networking and Joint and service providers; among networks; Transport, Building and Urban Development Responsibility”, the major issues in Europe between academic and economic clusters. is supporting hands-on testing and – as growth, innovation, and sustainable Many players in this cooperation did not know implementation of innovative approaches and development – were successfully driven each other before, knew nothing about each instruments in spatial planning in cooperations forward at the regional level. other and had never met. between academia and applied practice, i.e., with local players in the regions. The Federal Europe faces many challenges. Global Supra-regional partnerships take account of Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs competition, aging societies, climate change, the fact that a multitude of problems do not and Spatial Development at the Federal Office and the scarcity of resources have led to an respect administrative borders and can in fact for Building and Regional Planning supervises adaptation of strategies at the European level only be solved when administrative borders the action programme. It is responsible for in recent years. The “Europe 2020” strategy was are crossed. Established levels of cooperation – identifying promising new approaches for adopted in 2010 as