Beverau (center)

The city of Aachen is currently undergoing a paradigm shift in strategic social planning, which is taking a more differentiated approach to other complex problems. As a result, the focus is no longer primarily on socio-economic challenges - as was previously the case - but increasingly also on the question of how to shape demographic change on a small scale.

The integrated urban development concept

With around 4,300 inhabitants, the "Beverau" district is an urban quarter in Aachen that is particularly affected by demographic change compared to other districts. The question of future "life in old age" and the shaping of the ageing process in its social and urban planning dimensions is therefore the central challenge for the Beverau district.

At the same time, a generational change is currently taking place in Beverau due to the increased influx of young families. There is now a relatively high proportion of households with children living in the district, who bring with them their very own requirements for their living environment. On the one hand, shaping the generational change is a challenge for the ageing neighborhood, but on the other hand it also offers great potential.

In order to shape the transformation of the neighborhood in transition, the city of Aachen has developed an integrated urban development concept (ISEK), which outlines an overall perspective for the sustainable development of the neighborhood and develops and effectively links social and infrastructural approaches to overcome the specific challenges as part of a socio-demographic approach. The ISEK Beverau was politically approved in November 2019 and registered for urban development funding.

The aim is to strengthen the neighbourhood for demographic change and promote a strong, heterogeneous neighbourhood community with consolidated social structures and neighbourly relationships through a holistic approach and measures in various subject areas under the guiding principle of "nachbar.schafft beverau". The key project is the conversion of the listed equestrian farm "Gut Branderhof" into a neighborhood and meeting center. Together with the allocation of residential building plots (direct link: http://www.aachen.de/DE/stadt_buerger/planen_bauen/stadtentwicklung/stadtviertel/gut_branderhof/index.html) to building and residential groups (direct link: www.aachen.de/gemeinsambauen ) and the inclusion of the "Kind und Kegel" daycare center in the overall intergenerational project approach, a model project for sustainable urban development is being created here that considers housing, living environment and neighborhood in a close context. The civic association Gut! Branderhof e.V. (direct link: https://www.gutbranderhof.de/clubdesk/www) and its 400 members are already offering an attractive program of events in the temporary manor house.

The city of Aachen has applied for funding of 4.9 million euros to implement the broad package of measures. The funding decision for the implementation of the first of three funding stages was handed over to the Lord Mayor of the City of Aachen by the Minister for Regional Identity, Communities and Local Government, Building and Gender Equality of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia in a ceremony at the Branderhof on August 5, 2020. The ISEK Beverau has an implementation horizon until 2027.

Day of urban development

The city of Aachen and Gut! Branderhof e.V. invite you to a neighborhood festival on the Day of Urban Development. Between 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. there will be a neighborhood get-together at Branderhof in a relaxed atmosphere with information stands, music, snacks and drinks. We would like to provide information on the developments from the integrated urban development concept Beverau (ISEK Beverau) in an exchange with people from the neighborhood and interested parties.

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Branderhof Estate (Aachen-Mitte)

The Branderhof in Aachen is a cooperative district and neighborhood project with various user and developer groups. It consists of different parts: at its core, the former "Gut! Branderhof" estate as a civic-owned neighborhood and meeting center and the daycare center of a parents' initiative. Adjacent to the estate are the areas for the development of five communal housing projects with around 60 residential units. The two projects are not only linked by their proximity to the estate, but also by their common goals of creating a lively neighborhood in the district. The projects are closely connected through the people who are all members and active supporters of the Gut! Branderhof association. The long-term impact extends into the surrounding neighborhood, where residents can also get involved.

Idea and development

The idea for the project arose with the abandonment of the riding stables when the sale of the municipal site was under discussion. Due to the characteristic shape of the listed farm, this place is perceived as creating identity in the neighborhood. Concerns about profit-oriented marketing and the loss of the district's focal point led a group of committed citizens to come up with the idea of a neighborhood center. This project idea was also welcomed by the administration and politicians of the city of Aachen. With the support of the citizens through professional advice as part of the "initiative ergreifen" funding program for projects supported by civil society, the original idea of the neighbourhood center could be further developed and given a chance of implementation through a funding opportunity.

In addition, the requirement arose that the residential areas should be developed in a particularly high-quality and demand-oriented manner for the neighbourhood. It was therefore decided that community housing projects should be developed on the sites, initiated, designed and implemented by building groups. A characteristic feature of the project is the neighborhood approach, which aims to create a focal point in neighborhood life and, through the connection with the community housing projects, can find long-term anchoring and viability in sustainable implementation.

Building blocks for neighborhood development Daycare center

The first building block was the conversion of the farm's listed double barn into a daycare center by an investor. This enabled the growing daycare center run by the Kind & Kegel parents' initiative to take on an additional group in the new premises.

Branderhof Association
The development of the estate into a neighborhood center was linked to a larger participatory process. The listed courtyard was to become an active meeting place for the neighborhood again, offering a wide range of social and cultural activities. This was successfully started in a test operation in 2018, i.e. before the renovation began.

The Gut! Branderhof was supported in the creation of an operating concept and the planning for the conversion of the listed manor house through a consulting and empowerment process in the "initative ergreifen" program. The conversion will create the following new uses for the courtyard: a neighborhood living room as a meeting place for everyday life, a neighborhood office, a workshop, a repair café and an event space. The inner courtyard will also be used for a variety of purposes. The conversion work on the courtyard is being financed by funding that will benefit the entire neighborhood. As part of the urban development funding, it was necessary to create an integrated urban development concept (ISEK) in order to work out the needs of the neighborhood and integrate the projects into the area in a targeted manner.

gutbranderhof.de

Shared housing projects / Branderhof housing association

The surrounding areas of the former riding stables are to be allocated to self-organized building groups with communal living concepts under heritable building rights. The cooperative development of the urban design began in 2018 with ideas workshops in which initial variants were developed with interested building groups. In the further process, this design had to be adapted to many challenges, such as the requirements of monument protection, the housing strategy and climate protection, e.g. through compact construction with a reduction in sealed surfaces.

The idea of the "settlement community" as an association of the various building groups was formed very early on. The settlement community organized itself in order to jointly plan the topics of open space use and design, mobility, affordable housing and energy in order to exploit synergy effects. The added value of "living with a sense of community" in communal housing projects is valued by municipalities throughout Germany as an important instrument for affordable housing and liveable neighborhoods. For example, single senior citizens can live independently for longer thanks to the community, and the model is just as interesting for young families who appreciate the advantages of urban living and see added value in the community for their children and everyday life.

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Development plan procedure history

The preparation process for development plan no. 956 - Branderhofer Weg / Am Römerhof - began in March 2014 with the first program consultation. The administration was tasked with revising the drafts presented in order to make the monument more visible, particularly at the Forster Weg/Branderhofer Weg intersection. During the political consultations in May 2014, it was decided to inform the public about the revised plans. The first early public participation took place from 29.09.2014 to 10.10.2014 with a consultation event.

Since the first early participation, there have been further developments that have had an impact on the planning. These include, in particular, the sale of the double barn for use as a daycare center, the founding of the Gut! Branderhof e.V. association to create a neighborhood and meeting center in the listed Branderhof and the political decision to focus on apartment buildings. There was a shift away from the planning of primarily two-storey detached houses towards planning with multi-storey residential buildings.

The decision by the Housing and Property Committee on 19/09/2017 to allocate the plots according to concept quality was intended to give interested residential and building groups the opportunity to realize community housing projects on the Branderhof site. Housing, living environment and neighborhood should be considered in close connection: intergenerational, inclusive and with a lively neighborhood. Parallel to the development of the integrated urban development concept (ISEK) "Beverau", interested building and housing groups were given the opportunity to participate in the further development of the urban development concept on the Branderhof site. A workshop process was held in 2018 to take the specific needs of future users into account in the planning. This extensive participation during the planning phase is a special feature. The results were incorporated into draft variants and presented to politicians.

On 05.09.2019, the planning committee decided to present the revised variants to the public. As part of the second early participation, citizens were given the opportunity to find out about the revised plans and comment on them. The participation took place from 14.10.2019 - 15.11.2019.

Not least because of the more concrete planning of the building and residential groups, also with regard to the location on the site, a new planning workshop was held on 26.08.2020, which was initiated by the administration, taking into account the input from the second early participation.

The aim was to further develop the urban planning design as a whole and, in conjunction with the project of the Gut! Branderhof association's project and, in particular, to further qualify the public concerns of urban integration and the integration of listed buildings, the building structure, traffic development, public thoroughfares, open space design, etc. The dialogical format of the planning workshop was seen as particularly suitable for efficiently and synergistically incorporating the needs from both projects and the technical and legal concerns into the development of the result.

The further developed draft was discussed in the PLA on 14.01.2021. The changes proposed by the administration and the planning committee were adopted and incorporated into the draft, which was presented at the digital information event "Rund um den Branderhof" on 26.01.2021. Citizens were thus informed promptly about current developments during the revision process. The draft shown at the event forms the basis for the draft plan for public consultation, which is to be decided in December.

On Saturday, 29.10.2022, a dialogue day on the Beverau I Branderhof district development was held for all interested citizens and political representatives.

In November 2023, the Aachen City Council adopted development plan no. 956 "Branderhofer Weg/ Am Römerhof" as a statute. The development plan came into force with the announcement of 09.01.2024.

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