Revitalising a Steel Production Site

The Phoenix Mega-Project in the City of Dortmund

Overview

In the Ruhr region, the City of Dortmund is responding to the challenges of industrial structural change with active development strategies that mitigate social and economic impacts, and combine economic development with climate change mitigation goals. In the district of Hörde, on the site of the former Phoenix steelworks, a technology park and an artificial lake were created, along with residential and recreational spaces. The creation of the lake also involved re-naturalising the River Emscher waterway. This led to the establishment of further recreational areas and a significant improvement in flood protection.

Background

The City of Dortmund is the most populous city in the Ruhr region, which used to be the centre of the coal and steel industries in western Germany. Since the 70s it has been struggling with the impacts of industrial structural change. As a result of the crisis in heavy industry, the number of people employed in industry fell by 90,000 between 1960 and 1994. Unemployment led to social and economic problems that placed a strain on life in many districts of the city.

Dortmund responded to these challenges with various strategies to promote its transition to a centre for modern technology and services. These also included a range of urban development projects. Mitigating climate change has also been a high priority for fifteen years.

The revitalisation of the former Phoenix steelworks site in the district of Hörde combines these various aspects of urban development in an exemplary fashion. Around the turn of the century, furnaces and the steel mill at this site, which is steeped in tradition, were decommissioned within a few years of each other as a result of the merger between the Thyssen and Krupp groups. This left two closely located brownfields covering a total of 210 ha available for redevelopment.

Objectives

The area revitalisation project aimed to achieve various objectives. First of all the redevelopment of the site set out to promote an innovative location that would attract new technology companies and create jobs.

At the same time, by converting the brownfield site planners aimed to stabilise the district of Hörde by creating an attractive area for housing construction complemented by service offerings, leisure facilities, restaurants, culture and arts facilities, and recreational spaces for residents.

Furthermore, the renaturalisation of the River Emscher was designed to create further spaces for recreation and nature conservation, and incorporate flood prevention measures.

Finally, this enhancement and revitalisation of a post-industrial site that was essential to the city's identity aimed to create a positive symbol of economic and social structural change, and link the history of coal and steel industry with future prospects for development that people could see and experience for themselves.

Activities

Back in early 2000 a comprehensive development workshop was held. Planning and architectural firms were invited to attend in order to develop ideas for using the furnace site, which covered an area of approximately 115 hectares.

Based on this and other planning processes, over the course of about ten years the Phoenix West site emerged as a new hub for start-ups and established companies in the micro and nanotechnology, and production and information technology sectors. The infrastructure that the companies needed was put in place at the technology park. Sufficient land was available for factory buildings, office premises and laboratories in a presentable setting with an industrial history.

Sections of the blast furnace plant (which was a listed building) and of the approximately 100 metre-high gasometer, remained in place as industrial monuments and were integrated into the new ensemble. A former spare parts warehouse is now being used as an exhibition and events centre. Fragments of the cooling towers were also retained. As well as adding a design element, the cisterns located beneath the towers make them an excellent measure for adaptation to climate change. The rainwater on the site is collected there and gradually discharged into a cascade system upstream of the Emscher.

For the former steelworks site the Council of the City of Dortmund decided to build an artificial lake as the centrepiece of the future ensemble. Here a 1.2 kilometre-long and 320 metre-wide lakes was created whose shore areas are used for various purposes. Building plots emerged for various housing requirements, as well as a harbour area with office properties, restaurants and cultural projects. A waterside promenade, water sports facilities and landscaped natural spaces provide recreational opportunities at the lake. A newly established urban development company was commissioned to realise this project. The company also organised the processes for citizen participation in planning and implementation. One challenge was rehabilitating the contaminated post-industrial brownfield land.

On one section of the brownfield site in Phoenix West a park was created which was designed to blend in with the industrial history of the site. Nature conservation areas emerged alongside leisure and recreational facilities that retained the industrial facilities with protected monument status. The park links the two redevelopment sites along with various bridges that were constructed in the course of the redevelopment process.

Finally the mega-project was extended to include a renaturing of the River Emscher. Previously the river had existed only as a waterway in a narrow concrete bed that ran partially underground. By uncovering the waterway parallel to the lake and restoring it to a near-natural state a new biotope was created. Lake Phoenix is now the most important inner-city recreational area in Dortmund. It also provides flood protection for a large area of the city in the district of Hörde. In an emergency, in addition to its 600,000 m3 it can also hold 300,000 m3 of retained rainwater.

One challenge when implementing this project was organising cooperation between the involved actors, and developing and harmonising the planning specifications. It was necessary to reconcile the interests of policy-makers, the various responsible local government departments, the development company, residents, citizens' initiatives and private investors. It was also necessary to strike a balance between issues of urban planning, environmental and climate protection, housing construction and many other concerns besides. This was accomplished among other things by bringing all the interest groups together at a round table, and by involving residents in regular public meetings.

To implement this complex project, which cost around EUR 400 million, the City of Dortmund received financial support from the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the European Union. Revenue was also generated by selling building land along the shore of the newly created lake.

Effects

The project is an important component of the structural change in Dortmund that the city has been actively pursuing since the 1990s. It has made an important contribution towards establishing new housing areas, attracting new technology companies and creating jobs.

The park, the new artificial lake and the renatured River Emscher have created new green spaces, conservation areas and water landscapes that form an attractive natural and recreational space for inhabitants of the neighbouring districts. At the same time the project implemented measures to protect against the impacts of climate change.

A combination of water management, landscaping and urban development made it possible to use the land in various ways and generate synergy effects that together not only increased the availability of housing, but also enhanced the quality of life, added recreational value and improved nature conservation in the district.

Conclusions

Various factors were responsible for the successful implementation of a project of this size. An extensive sharing of ideas took place in order to identify appropriate options for using the available land. These were then given political backing through council resolutions.

The planning options were developed on the basis of actual circumstances on the ground, in consultation with the stakeholders affected. The relevant actors were networked from the outset, and planning processes were placed on a strategic footing.

Project management was placed in the hands of a development company that was organised under private law but wholly owned by the City of Dortmund. This ensured flexibility in project implementation, while at the same time retaining decision-making control for municipal councillors and administrators.

Finally, the success achieved was also due to the personal courage and commitment shown by the project officials and decision-makers, which created space for the development of creative ideas and unconventional solutions.

weitere Information

Link to the City of Dortmund´s Phoenix-Project (German Only)

Link to the online platform 'Workshop City – Innovative Urban Development Projects', funded by the Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development – the example of Lake Phoenix in Dortmund

Dortmund, Germany – A greener tomorrow: Water management in urban redevelopment, ICLEI Case Studies 193, October 2016, published by ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability

Institute for Industrial Productivity / Robert P. Raylor: Case Study – A Review of Industrial Restructuring in the Ruhr Valley and Relevant Points for China, July 2015.

Published: 09/01/2018

Kontakt

Michael Leischner

City of Dortmund

Head of Municipal Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation / Environmental Office

Brückstraße 45

44122 Dortmund Germany

Phone: 0049 231 50-26 904

Fax: 0049 231 50-25 428

Email: michael.leischner@stadtdo.de

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Categories: Integrated urban development Cities and climate change Urban renewal Urban heritage
Regions: Europe Germany Dortmund

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