Urban development plan 'STEP Leonberg 2020 Integrated ecological contribution and public participation

Planning principles

The urban development plan STEP is intended to define the justifiable use of land in the urban area from a holistic point of view and to ensure the sustainable development of Leonberg. An essential premise is the safeguarding of the uniqueness, identity and natural resources in Leonberg.
The ecological expert contribution provides the basis for this as an overview of the landscape ecological potentials, conflicts and spatial resistances in the entire urban area. The resulting planning principles and guidelines for sustainable settlement development from a landscape perspective were anchored in the STEP.

Evaluation of development options

After exhausting the urban development potential in the settlement area, the investigation of potential building areas in the landscape played a central role in the STEP urban development plan.
For this purpose, the ecological expert report provided a risk analysis related to protected goods, which examined and classified potential building areas for their suitability as development areas. A framework of five suitability categories ranging from 'ecological taboo area' to 'area with low ecological risk' provides the basis for a recommendation on settlement development from a landscape ecology perspective.

STEP Contents

The urban development plan defines the spatial development goals on three levels of observation:

IMAGE AND IDENTITY
The overriding themes of the STEP were developed in a regional context. In doing so, the citizens worked out strengths and identity characteristics of Leonberg from the external view "Living Leonberg - Gateway to the Region" as well as the internal view with topics such as "Finding the City" or "Independence of the Suburbs".

RAUMSTRUKTUREN
Network elements and development bands mark the main development areas and integrate them spatially into an overall urban concept.

PARTICULAR CONCEPTS
Integrated into the spatial structures are municipal policy action strategies and development planning objectives:
-City structure and settlement development
-Social infrastructure, local supply and retail
-Landscape, open space and local recreation
-Culture, sports and leisure
Thereby, objectives, development impulses and strategies for internal development, consolidation (external development) and the desired networking are named and located. For each of the fields of action, a lead project was agreed upon, which is to further formulate the results of the urban development process as a key project.

Building blocks for citizen participation

30 facilitated events made up the public participation process, which lasted over a year and included the following components:

BUDGET SURVEY
preliminary survey on STEP topics and tasks via the local gazette

THREE PHASE CITIZEN DIALOGUE WITH CITIZEN CONFERENCES AND CITIZEN WORKING CIRCES
- statistical selection process determines 125 citizens for active participation
- Each phase included two meetings in five thematic working groups, supplemented by four town walks

Two-phase WRITTEN PARTICIPATION
-local groups and associations

PlANNING WORKSHOP
participation by lot of selected local professional planners (Town Planners, architects and related professional groups)

PUBLIC INFORMATION EVENTS
comprehensive information for citizens on the respective results

CONTROL GROUP
link between the citizens involved, the political bodies and the specialist planners, which ensures the professional exchange of information and, as a recommending body, prepares the results for the municipal council

POLITICAL BOARD
- Definition of the questions and topic areas of the STEP in advance from the point of view of the municipal representatives
- "Special information" of the municipal council within the framework of 3 strategy meetings outside the usual meeting cycle
- Final resolution of the results of the STEP, which could be supported by the municipal council with a broad majority.

Planning process

In addition to the involvement of citizens and the provision of specialist information, the aim of citizen participation in the STEP 2020 urban development planning was to contribute to the identification of citizens with their city and to the acceptance of the resulting plans and future development of the city through active participation.

In the context of a complex urban development process, however, only partial aspects can be illuminated within the framework of citizen participation. Citizen participation can therefore complement, but not replace, professional planning. Parallel to the intensive participation in the form of the three-phase citizens' dialogue (citizens' conferences and working groups), the two-part participation of the Leonberg groups and associations, the planners' workshop as well as intensive public information for citizens, the urban planning and landscape ecology specialist planning was developed in the form of the urban development plan.

The results of the participation process have found their way into the integrated overall concept both through the "filter" of the specialist planning and in consideration by the political bodies of the town of Leonberg. The interim results from the individual participation phases and forms were presented in detail by the moderation, discussed within the framework of the political bodies and steering group meetings and finally adopted by the municipal council.

Highlights

Impressions of the planning process and citizen participation, such as working group meetings, city walks, citizen conferences and steering group meeting.

back to overview

1. Planning principles
2. Evaluation of development options
3. STEP Contents
4. Building blocks for citizen participation
5. Planning process
6. Highlights