TRANSFORMING CITY REGIONS // KAPITEL XYZ Polycentric City Regions in Transformation – The Ruhr Agglomeration in International Perspective Documentation of the Workshop Results www.transforming-city-regions.com KAPITEL XYZ // TRANSFORMING CITY REGIONS 2 TRANSFORMING CITY REGIONS // EDITORIAL PREFACE Today, city networks are seen as a promising model for contemporary and future urbaniza- tion processes. What might seem empirically and theoretically convincing, however, poses a number of practical questions: how can such large-scale urban landscapes be designed, according to which principles and with which // Raising and focusing the level of knowledge means should urban design take place at the of regional transformation processes in post- regional level and by incorporating the land- industrial areas within an international com- scape? The Ruhr region, with its 53 cities and parative action. its infrastructure network stemming from its // Raising the awareness of possible conflicts industrial heritage, appears to be especially and barriers that might occur in polycentric predestined for such questions – and not only areas and questioning whether they are at because the new Regional Plan brings with it all suited for sustainable development. the need to test out new approaches to design- // Expanding the network “Ruhr 2020+. Hoch- ing regional urban spaces. schulen und Region” to include partners from science and in practice in order to connect For more than a decade, the research at the their expertise in relevant research projects Department of Urban Design and Land Use and prepare them for future collaborations. Planning at TU Dortmund University has dealt // Enhancing the global perception of the Ruhr with the ongoing structural change and contin- agglomeration. uing transformation processes in the Ruhr ag- glomeration. Even though many strategies and The ongoing research on the topic of trans- formats have been tested and applied – such forming city regions is one of our greatest is- as the first regional International Building Ex- sues for the coming years. The international hibition (IBA) Emscher Park – the pressure to conference “Transforming City Regions” in June revitalize is still present and the necessity for 2015 at the Zollverein world heritage site in Es- ongoing renewal is dominating the discussion. sen is a kind of milestone along our way. An international comparison and the further exchange between science and practice can be For the whole “Transforming City Regions” team helpful to search for new strategies. We are looking for ways to bring scientists and plan- Christa Reicher ners together to reach the following goals: 3 INDEXKAPITEL // XYZTRANSFORMING // TRANSFORMING CITY REGIONS CITY REGIONS INDEX 1. MOTIVATION p 06 1.1 Introduction p 06 1.2 Ruhr Urbanism Research Project p 07 1.2.1 Research milestone A: Challenges instruments and processes p 07 1.2.2 Why a cross-regional comparison? p 08 1.2.3 Research milestone B1/B2: International experts workshop p 10 2. DESCRIPTION OF THE CASE STUDIES p 13 2.1 The Ruhr agglomeration p 16 2.1.1 The context p 16 2.1.2 Current and future challenges and planning topics p 18 2.2 The Detroit metropolitan area-Metro Detroit p 24 2.2.1 The contex p 25 2.2.2 Current and future challenges and planning topics p 28 2.3 The Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region p 32 2.3.1 The context p 33 2.3.2 Current development and new challenges p 34 2.4 Metropolitan Area Zurich p 38 2.4.1 The context p 38 4 2.4.2 Current situation and planning challenges p 40 2.5 Nord-Pas-de-Calais region p 46 2.5.1 The context p 46 2.5.2 Planning challenges p 48 2.6 Kansai Metropolitan Area p 54 2.6.1 The context p 55 2.6.2 Planning topics and challenges p 57 3. ANALYSIS AND SYNTHESIS OF THE CASE STUDIES p 63 3.1 Communalities and differences p 66 3.1.1 Topic 1: Polycentric Structure / Monocentric Structure p 66 3.1.2 Population Growth / Population Declin p 66 31.3 Focus on Informal Instruments / Focus on formal instruments p 68 3.1.3 Post-industrial Society / Service & Information Society p 68 4. CONCLUSIONS p 72 5. PARTICIPATING EXPERTS p 74 5 MOTIVATION // TRANSFORMING CITY REGIONS 1. MOTIVATION 1.1 INTRODUCTION Urban agglomeration in its classical form re- The spatial phenomenon of both physical and fers to a highly urbanized area that usually functional polycentric development has been consists of the center of that territory – one or strongly evident in in the Ruhr region since few larger cities and hinterland with towns and the end of the 19th century. The metropolitan rural centers with strong mutual connections. region has formed the spatiality of the area However, many metropolitan regions around according to the locations of coal mining and the world tend to follow different spatial pat- steel production. Until today, the spatiality terns towards polycentricity, in which no clear of the Ruhr Region reflects what were once distinct center can be identified. Therefore, emerging towns with industrial demands. To- polycentric urban development is gaining more day, the Ruhr region’s economy is widely in- attention in contemporary spatial develop- dependent from mining. Besides the specific ment research and is considered one of the key challenges caused by this structural change, elements of spatial development and policy in the region is dealing with spatial and func- Europe as well as many other urbanized regions tional management topics similar to any other all over the world. polycentric metropolitan region. In urban and spatial development studies, This report tackles the polycentricity phenom- polycentricity has been predominantly analyz- enon in the Ruhr and in other five metropolitan ed and understood from a morphological point regions that were investigated at a two-day of view, and polycentric urban systems have expert workshop entitled “Polycentric City Re- been approached as topographical entities gions in Transformation – The Ruhr Agglomera- made up of a number of adjacent centers that tion in International Perspective“. In addition to are located within the same urban system. Tra- the Ruhr region, five metropolitan areas were ditional concepts of metropolitan regions used presented, understood and analyzed at this to be dominated by a single large city. Today, workshop, which is part of the Ruhr Urbanism polycentricity is a diverse concept distinguish- Research Project carried out by the department ing between several forms, as processes of of Urban Design and Land Use Planning at the suburbanisation and metropolitanisation re- Technical University of Dortmund. At this work- sulted in a more dispersed settlement struc- shop, the polycentric urban development of ture with growing secondary cities. Recently, the Ruhr region in Germany was addressed in research has increasingly focused on function- comparison to five other polycentric regions in al polycentricity (e.g., Hall & Pain 2006; Green Europe, the United States and Japan. The Ruhr 2007; de Goei et al. 2010; Burger & Meijers 2012; region was studied and understood in relation Vasanen 2012). to the Detroit Metropolitan Area, the Berlin/ 6 MILESTONE A: Developing an international research project: the agglomeration in international perspective Challenges & Topics Documentation Documentation MILESTONE B1: MILESTONE C: Instruments, Strategies & Format Expert workshop International conference Regional Management & Cooperation MILESTONE B2: Establishing research networks 2013 2014 October 2015 June 2016 // FIGURE 1.1 Urbanism research project structure and design Brandenburg Metropolitan Region, Metropol- ity of the Ruhr region in its different facets. itan Zurich Area, Nord Pas de Calais and the Since its beginning, it has been motivated by Kansai Metropolitan Area. Based on this, the the question of how to steer sustainable devel- exchange provides input for the discussion of opment in the Ruhr region and how to mange the spatial planning system, strategies, instru- its development as a polycentric metropolitan ments, formats and challenges in cross-region- region. To achieve these goals, the project ap- al comparison. It is one of the initial attempts proaches the Ruhr region from an international to initiate a discussion on the Ruhr region’s perspective in order to benefit from successful development in and international context, and experiences in other regions. The following thus to include it in a process of mutual global questions are being addressed: learning. 1. CHALLENGES AND TOPICS 1.2 RUHR URBANISM RESEARCH PROJECT // What are the challenges and topics that each 1.2.1 RESEARCH MILESTONE A: CHALLENGES, study region is currently facing? INSTRUMENTS AND PROCESSES // What are future challenges? // What makes these challenges so important? The process is being conducted as a part of the // How have they become the most important Ruhr Urbanism Research Project, which started current challenges? in 2013. It aims to investigate the polycentric- 7 MOTIVATION // TRANSFORMING CITY REGIONS CHALLENGES TOPICS WHAT? STRATEGIES MANAGEMENT RUHR AGGLOMERATION INSTRUMENTS HOW? WHO? FORMATS INNOVATION & STRATEGY 2. INSTRUMENTS, STRATEGIES AND FORMATS and development. This has been done through comparing: // Which instruments, strategies and regional formats exist in these regions and what are Regions and cities their characteristics? Old identities and new definitions // How does the region work in terms of scales, Bottom-up and top-down density and context? Regional guardrails and detailed mosaics 3. PROCESSES OF REGIONAL PLANNING AND 1.2.2