Innovation Academy

Freiburg is a popular and growing city with approximately 216.000 inhabitants. What seemed like a handicap, namingly having several nature preserves but very limited building land,  led to a migration of young families to the area just outside the city, in the early 1990s. With the development of two new districts this trend was not only stopped but reversed.

Showing you the two pilot districts “Rieselfeld” and “Vauban”, we will demonstrate how new, sustainably developed districts for about 15.000 – 17.000 residents have been built in two very different areas: a former sewage farm for municipal waste water and a former barracks area.

Field trips to both of these internationally reknown pilot districts are on the agenda, the emphasis being on urban development from the 12th century, when the city was founded, to the present day. Sustainable concepts for civic participation, energy, traffic, green space planning, new construction, as well as culture and social policy will be introduced.

· Urban development in Freiburg

· Rieselfeld district

· Vauban district

· Civic participation

· Traffic infrastructure

· Energy concept

· Green space planning and nature- and landscape protection

· Social policy and cultural concepts

· Building collectives

· Social structure

· Public infrastructure: kindergardens, schools, community centers

· Low-, passive-, and plus-energy-houses

· Traffic calming

· Living without a parking space

· Green corridors and playgrounds

· Rainwater infiltration

City planners, architects, regional politicians, building societies, and finance experts involved in the conversion of former military or industrial areas, meat processing plants and port facilities into general residential building areas.