• Urban and landscape planning competition for Munich quarter development starts in October 2019
• The aim is to develop a sustainable quarter to serve as a model, both with regard to subsidised housing construction and in terms of mobility and the environment

Munich, 26 September 2019 After the Munich City Council passed a resolution on the development of a zoning plan for Eggarten-Siedlung in July, the owners and the City of Munich have launched an urban and landscape planning competition to take place in October. The goal is the development of a sustainable quarter with around 1,750 to 2,000 flats with an above-average share of subsidised housing, plus additional infrastructure. Particular attention should be paid in competition to the protection of the environment and an innovative mobility concept.

As early as July, the Munich City Council passed the basic outline and planning resolution for the development plan procedure. The basis for this is a structural concept developed by the City of Munich in cooperation with the property owners CA Immo and Büschl Unternehmensgruppe. It describes the basic outline for the planned residential quarter with 1,750 to 2,000 flats, o be created on the site of Eggarten-Siedlung. The future quarter is intended to serve as a model for Munich: for example, the owners have undertaken to realise an above-average share of subsidised housing (up to 50%). For this purpose, a letter of intent has already been signed with GIMA München eG, an association of 29 Munich housing cooperatives. This could turn Eggarten-Siedlung into the largest cooperative residential quarter in Munich since the end of the Second World War. The cooperative concept gives future residents have significant opportunities to participate in the development of the quarter, and the flats will be subject to a rent control period of up to 60 years, significantly longer than in traditionally subsidised housing construction.

Furthermore, the basic outline resolution describes essential parameters for the protection of the environment and nature. The future development should protect the existing vegetation as much as possible, and where this is not possible, the areas will be compensated. In addition, a large area of​the property, which is over 200 metres wide, will not be built on and will instead be kept as a cool air corridor. But the basic outline resolution also takes social infrastructure into account: leisure facilities, such as playgrounds, bike paths and playing fields, are to be created, and the quarter will be home to a school, several daycare centres, a ‘Flexiheim’ (flexi-home) with around 100 beds for temporarily homeless persons and other social, neighbourhood facilities. Local amenities will also be created in the centre of the quarter. All social facilities will also be available to the adjacent neighbourhoods in order to integrate and network the new quarter into the district.

The basic outline and planning resolution forms the basis of the urban and landscape planning competition, which is now being launched by the property owners in cooperation with the City of Munich. The aim of the competition is an independent urban and landscape planning concept, which engages with the history and special characteristics of the site. Identity-forming elements should be identified during the competition and integrated into the overall concept. A condensed building typology, a space-saving construction method and a minimisation of soil sealing are intended to save space, and at the same time preserve ecological functions and minimise intervention in existing green spaces.

Given that this is a model energy quarter, a concept for climate-friendly energy supply should be developed in addition to the urban and landscape planning aspects. The aim is to minimise greenhouse gas emissions and achieve a high share of renewable energies with an optimal energy-efficient building standard. In addition to climate protection, however, climate adaptation measures should also be developed to counteract the foreseeable consequences of climate change, in particular, the increasing summer heat load, but also extreme weather events.

Similar goals should be pursued by the mobility concept for the new quarter. New mobility services should make it possible to live without a car and promote the switch to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, public transport and sharing services. This, in connection with facilities such as quarter garages, should produce a largely car-free quarter. In the competition, alternative mobility services should be integrated into the overall concept in such a way that they are clearly visible and easy to access. At the same time, the advantages of significantly reduced car traffic in the quarter should be actively used for the design and quality of public space.

The result of the competition, which is expected in April 2020, will serve as the basis for the further development plan procedure. A total of 15 participating teams from urban and landscape planning offices are invited to participate in the competition process.

The next steps
After the competition is launched, all participating offices will have until the end of February 2020 to submit their proposals. The jury session is scheduled for April 2020. After the competition, the results will be presented to the public. Details will be announced in good time on the website www.eggarten-siedlung.de and via the media. Construction of the residential quarter is expected to begin in 2024/2025.