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Study #10: Analysing Vauban, Germany TYPOLOGY: New Neighbourhood in The German City of Freiburg
Study #10: Analysing Vauban, Germany TYPOLOGY: New Neighbourhood in The German City of Freiburg
#10
VAUBAN
well-being
There are three graphics on this page that depict The second analysis depicts the
Vaubans position relative to all case studies
2. Community Involvement
communitarian setting of the
conducted within the first phase of the observed places; on one hand if the
CLEAR VILLAGE Observatory. MASDAR
Bo01
Private/household
urban planning design focuses on
communal living or traditional individual
BedZed
Arcosanti
Torri Superiori
households, on the other hand if the
Vauban
Crystal Waters community is spiritually driven or more
secular.
1. Technological Position Secular Spiritual
Eden Project
Bo01
BedZed Tamera
Findhorn
seen to be secularly driven, while the
urban design shows a good mixture of
Arcosanti
Findhorn
Rural Tamera
Urban
Crystal Waters
Torri Superiori
Auroville
fitting process.
Vauban can be located as a non-central urban
Due to its history, Vauban focused much
space that puts an emphasis on technological
Findhorn Auroville
Vauban
on new buildings, the development
solutions for sustainable living whereas it is not Eden Project
Arcosanti
Vision Experience
As the City of Freiburg moved forward with plans to The site was sold in individual plots to a wide variety of types of buyer - some
develop the area as a city district, Forum Vauban applied to commercial developers, some co-operative groups and co-housing groups -
coordinate the participatory planning process that the city to ensure a diverse neighbourhood in both social and architectural terms. At
was obliged to undergo. It pursued the idea of developing the same time the plan for the district ensured that around issues of energy
the site in an eco-friendly way, and through collaboration efficiency,
between the Forum and the city Council a plan was traffic, construction and social interaction a common set of principles and
developed. standards was adhered to. By 2001 there were already 2,000 residents.
The project aimed to create a city district in a cooperative,
participatory way whilst meeting social, ecological, economic
and cultur al requirements.
Development highlights include the establishing of public
parks, connected both to public space improvements and
just as much to biodiversity enhancement through the
agricultural principles of permaculture.
Apart from the interconnectedness of the diverse initiatives,
the essential facet of this plan is to engage the community
as much as possible, which will create resilience and Participation
empower every person involved. The wider and deeper the Typical for Vauban is the model of advanced civic participation. A citizens
participation from the community , the more spill-off effects association founded in 1994, Forum Vauban, plays a key role in managing
we will have throughout the various initiatives as well as over the district in a participatory way and in liaising with the City of Freiburg
time. whilst introducing ecologically-alternative solutions into the urban
CLEAR VILLAGE 2010
housing mobility
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VAUBAN
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permaculture cultivation low energy standard buildings
well-being
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ACHIEVEMENTS IN COMMUNITY & LIFESTYLE
Community Participation
The Vauban development approach has been highly participatory.
The community interest group, Forum Vauban, conducted its initial
participatory process which led to the district design. Since then,
Forum Vauban has still been playing an ongoing role in engaging
inhabitants: innovative ecological and social ideas are being shared
and debated, community needs and concerns raised, development
CLEAR VILLAGE 2010
Eco-Building
Vauban embraces eco-building with a strong focus on solar energy
integration in the built environment.
Across the whole district all new buildings are being designed to
meet a standard for energy efficiency that exceeds the common
German environmental standard. New buildings in Vauban meet
about twice the efficiency of a standard new-build and four times
that of older houses. In addition, the area includes a number of
passive houses that do not need conventional heating at all but Transportation
make use of passive solar panels, heat recovery systems and gains One of the main features of Vauban is its car-free streets.
from human activity to maintain a reasonable internal temperature. The primary mode of transport within the area is on foot or by bicycle
42 passive houses were built in phase one of the three-phase and the urban planning deliberately seeks to keep density high and
development process, a further 50 in phase two. Ten plus-energy community anchor points in overlapping zones, e.g. the school,
houses were also built by an investor: these are houses which kindergartens, markets, businesses, food co-ops and recreation areas.
produce more energy than they require. The district is also planned to fully utilise the connectivity with Freiburg
Where additional energy is required it is produced by central solar city centre.
systems and the districts cogeneration woodchip plant, which is Car-free living is encouraged through careful planning of the public
connected to the Vauban heating grid. space, where infrastructural spaces between buildings are not merely
seen as parking spaces. By 2009 around 70% of households chose to
live without a car, a figure which has increased throughout the life of
Vauban so far. Freiburg city has an active car club and the biggest hub
of its members, some 2,500 of them, are resident in Vauban.
*Information, pictures and visualisations sourced mainly from online information, see www.vauban.de for further details.