The future of the post war single family housing estates in Germany? A specific task field for small and medium sized towns? - HAL Accéder directement au contenu
Autre publication scientifique Année : 2014

The future of the post war single family housing estates in Germany? A specific task field for small and medium sized towns?

Résumé

In collaboration with IREUS, the Stuttgart Institute of Regional Development Planning and HFT, Stuttgart University of Applied Sciences , the ILS - Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development has conducted a research project (sponsored by the Wüstenrot Foundation) - analysing the quality of housing estates of the 1950s, 60s and 70s. The objective of the project was to develop recommendations for local authorities to enhance their post-war housing stock. In the proposed submission, major results of this project will be presented. With the original owners of these houses gradually decreasing, a generation change is now taking place. The demand for certain sections of this housing stock is especially in certain regions of Germany quite low. Alongside the decline in those population cohorts previously representing the major potential for house ownership, qualitative factors are having a rising influence on demand. One observation is that, due to the increased multiplicity of lifestyles and their accompanying spatial and temporal flexibilisation, urban locations are set to gain in importance, being easier to access and having a good infrastructure. The consequence will be that those houses in regions which are affected by demographic and economic problems as well as houses in sub-prime locations or real estates with structural or insulation deficits will suffer from a downturn in demand. This in turn means that older houses will in future be more vulnerable to falling prices or even in certain cases remain vacant. An analysis of West German municipalities led to a total of 14 municipalities being examined in five West German federal states. 13 of them are small and medium sized towns (at least 5,000 inhabitants). They supported in-depth case studies in specified areas through the provision of data. The research team conducted expert interviews with local officials and real estate experts, assessed detailed data stock of the selected areas, and asked inhabitants to answer a standardised questionnaire. Based on the results of the empirical surveys and in contrast to the widespread opinion that detached housing estates in Germany would fall outside the scope of public intervention, the project pointed out a wide range of policies and potential measures for action. The research results underline the importance of a housing-stock-oriented development in order to enhance the future suitability of the post-war housing stock. Activating strategies for waste land and gaps between buildings could be applied on local level. Image work for the housing stock in order to stimulate the demand could be established on meso-level. On macro-level, collaboration between neighbouring municipalities could help to avoid competition to attract new inhabitants. Even local communities which actually do not see any need for action should conduct continuous monitoring of their housing stock in order to avoid unfavourable developments and to deal with the problem in a provident way.

Domaines

Géographie
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Dates et versions

halshs-00960133, version 1 (17-03-2014)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : halshs-00960133 , version 1

Citer

Andrea Berndgen-Kaiser. The future of the post war single family housing estates in Germany? A specific task field for small and medium sized towns?. 2014, pp. 645-661. ⟨halshs-00960133⟩
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