Model of sustainable development

As early as 1992 - at the same time as the groundbreaking UN Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro - the city of Aachen addressed the issue of sustainable development in a wide range of policy areas. The model project Ecological City of the Future (1992-2002) established structures for integrated cooperation within the administration and with external stakeholders, implemented measures and set the strategic course for the long term.

In the 1990s, the focus areas were already the strengthening of sustainable mobility, the expansion of renewable energies and energy efficiency as well as sustainable construction and housing. This long-standing tradition has given rise to lighthouse projects such as the model region for electromobility and the altbau plus advisory center.

Restrictive settlement development combined with land reactivation and a high level of sensitivity for inner-city green spaces in particular have maintained the quality of life in the city of Aachen, making it one of the cities whose population is increasing rather than decreasing. In order to offer families and future generations a city worth living in, criteria for family-friendly urban planning are applied. Social segregation is deliberately counteracted in urban renewal projects such as Aachen-Nord and through the city-wide neighborhood management.

The decision to set up a local Agenda 21 in 1997 marked the beginning of an intensive approach to the population. The consistent involvement of citizens is still important and can be seen in participation processes for important development projects such as the city center concept or the traffic development plan. Equally important are continuous offers for participation, e.g. via the Family Service or the Office for Volunteering and Civic Engagement. Incentives such as "family-friendly" or "bicycle-friendly company" encourage people to get involved. The Integration Office is committed to integrating our foreign citizens and the many refugees who have come to us.

Municipal development cooperation has been an integral part of administrative action for over two decades. The Agenda process in the mid-1990s developed into a town twinning with Tygerberg near Cape Town, in which the administration and a number of Aachen associations are very active.

For over 15 years, companies in the city have been continuously supported in acting sustainably, whether through resource conservation or energy efficiency (Ökoprofit project) and in the direction of environmentally friendly mobility (test weeks for companies). Companies are also an important target group for the City of Aachen in the context of sustainability.