PEOPLE & PUBLIC SPACES
Whether the Isar, English Garden, Olympic Park, or Marienplatz – Munich is characterized by a great variety of public spaces. The green belt around the city, regional landscape parks, green corridors, lakes, river and canal areas, as well as large and small parks, form a network of public spaces. These are complemented in individual neighborhoods by squares, street spaces, and private open spaces in close proximity to where people live. Public spaces are essential for the quality of life and good coexistence in Munich.
But how and by whom will Munich’s public spaces be used now and in the future? What demands and needs do people have in these spaces? What are the current favorite places of Munich residents? Which user groups and user profiles exist? Gehl wants to get to the bottom of these and other questions with this socio-spatial study on behalf of the City of Munich. This document is the shortened version of a 170-page final report.
Why does Munich need this study? Today, Munich is already the most densely populated city in Germany, with about 1.5 million inhabitants living in an area of about 310 km². By 2040, the population will increase to about 1.85 million (LHM 2021a). Munich is growing in all age groups, becoming more international and more diverse. Social and demographic change, current fashions and trends, immigration, and technological innovations modify user interests, usage patterns, and change the meaning of public spaces. The changed framework conditions require that public spaces and open spaces remain accessible, usable, and livable for all generations and user groups.
In order to maintain a livable and attractive city with diverse public spaces for residents and users, precautions must be taken now. The city and the planning of its sustainable development face enormous challenges in the coming years. These include adaptation to a changing climate, rising population numbers, housing and commercial space shortages, rising living costs, diminishing land resources, and increasing social and political polarization. This development can currently be observed in many cities in Germany and around the world.
Barcelona has shown with its Superblock concept how streets and squares can become attractive public spaces when car traffic is restricted. In Paris, work is currently underway to turn the Seine into an accessible public space and even allow swimming. And in New York City, the famous 5th Avenue was recently redesigned to turn narrow sidewalks into valuable public spaces with a high quality of stay.
This socio-spatial study on usage patterns of accessible public spaces in Munich is a key project of the conceptual report “Freiraum München 2030” (Munich Public Space 2030) and is intended to make an important contribution from the perspective of users within the framework of a strategy for long-term public space development in Munich. On the one hand, the concept shows the needs, priorities, activities, and conflicts of the users that already prevail in the accessible public spaces; on the other hand, solution attempts and recommended actions for the development and improvement of the usage patterns are given.
Sources:
