Mehr Parks - Weniger Freiraum

摘要

Die IBA Emscher Park hat neue Wege und Mittel für den Umgang mit Industriebrachen erschlossen - die Bilanz für die alltägliche Kulturlandschaft lautet jedoch: Verlust von Freiflächen, Äckern und Wiesen.%Now that the Emscher Park International Building Exhibition is coming to a close, the time has come to take stock of what has been achieved. At first glance it would seem that the project has been a huge success: public space for recreational use grew by 1,500 hectares between 1989 and 1997 in 17 of the cities involved. On the other hand, 3,300 hectares of open space disappeared over the same time and in the same area, mainly due to the abandonment of farming, which plays an important role in terms of open space, even in the densely-populated and heavily industrialised Ruhr. Another effect of the IBA has been the somewhat inappropriate installation of industrially-inspired steel structures and geometric plantings at greening derelict sites. This approach is doubtlessly due to the fear that planning attempts to restore the devastated landscape would amount to an imitation of nature, to kitsch, but does any difference lie between the pathos of preserved industrial remnants and the romanticism of castle ruins? A better solution, all in all, would be to keep local farmers in existence by increasing their support. This would save more local landscapes than the millions spent by the IBA on such things as temporary art installations.