“Quartier Vauban”

Sustainable
District in
Freiburg, Germany

CASE STUDY

UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF :

• DR. RASHWAN TAHSEEN

• ENG. HANAN MOANES

• ENG. ASMAA MAHMOUD OSMAN

SUBMITTED BY :
• AHMED GAMAL AHMED

• EZZAT ATEF ELSAYEED

 1.Introduction
The district Vauban is known as a model for a sustainable ecological
collectively planned urban district. In 1996 it was chosen as a best
practices project at the UN habitat conference in Istanbul. On the area of
an old military base a whole new district with a lot of housing spaces was
be built with the participation of the citizens. The City of Freiburg
responsible for the planning and development of the district-project
cooperated with an extended citizen participation organized by an
association called Forum Vauban. Under guiding principles concerning
different high ecological standards different environmental projects such
as a co-building group and a car reducing traffic system began in 1996.
The city gave away land at the start of the building phase. Nowadays
nearly 5000 people live in Vauban a nearly car-free, low-energy, social
integrating, and sustainable neighbourhood full of playgrounds, and its
own kindergarten.
In the early nineties a serious shortage of housing areas in Freiburg led to house building projects and the creation of living quarters. The main objection
was thereby to build high quality living spaces especially for young families, students, and elder people within city borders. So from the very beginning
further infrastructure like primary schools, a new railway line, and green spaces were part of the building plan. Even a dense urban design concept
including a low energy standard for all build houses was defined.
he target group(s) should also be involved in the planning and building process. The idea was to develop collective a new district under the attention of
ecological criteria. The sustainable city district could then become a model for further similar initiatives.

A specific traffic concept was designed including a car-free approach and alternative mobility. Additionally, the promotion and support of co-building groups
and the design of special areas for passive-houses (very low energy houses) and the existence of a central market place and a community centre.
 3.LOCATION
Country : Germany
State : Freiburg
District : Freiburg
4. Inception , planning and implenation
In July 1996, a project-exchange for co-building groups and associations was discovered. One year later the zoning map was
designed and pieces of land were given away to particular house builders. In April 1998, the building phase began.

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002

PLANNING PROCEDURE (from plan preparation to plan adoption by the local authority)
implementation (building phase)
 5. Land area = 41-hectare = 410,000 m2
Population: 5,000 Jobs on-site: 600
Housing units: 2,000 Density: 122 persons / ha

Planned to be converted into

➢ Compact district: short distances

➢ Alternative energy and transport concepts

-Ecological-oriented energy use (local heating concept)
-Low car strategies/concepts
➢ High liveability
-Green spaces
-Family-friendly
-Social diversity
➢ Prioritised allocation of land: private clients and cooperatives, self-help
models over investors
 Ecological and economic benefits of urban
6. Ecological planning can be seen in many aspects of
human life, including public health and
and environmental protection. Cities with well-
economic planned neighborhoods and efficient
transportation systems can reduce air
benefits pollution and helpconserve resources, such
as water..
6.1 Houses
Implementation of an ecological local heating concept, with
low-energy construction methods

Housing units: 2,000

Net housing density: 95 per ha

All housing units are low-energy constructions

Multiple, mainly small building cooperatives

Houses
Most buildings are based on zero-
energy and energy-plus
construction
Houses
One central parking garage at the
edge of the settlement
Houses
The use of solar technologies is
widespread.
A low-energy usage of 65 kWh per
square meter per year is achieved
by multi-story attached buildings
with passive solar design and
district heating systems.
6.2 Green
public spaces
Water conservation through
collecting rainwater and use
indoors, green roofs, pervious
pavements, unpaved tramways,
and drainage sloughs.

Public places and free spaces

have been planned and designed
as green as possible.
Green public spaces

Green spaces contribute to urban

cooling, the opposite effect of
urban heat-radiating by hard
surface.

Residents benefit from a clean,

fresh and flavoursome local
climate, ...
Green public spaces

65% of the residents who moved

to Quartier Vauban came from
elsewhere in Freiburg
Green public spaces

Quartier Vauban’s inhabitants are

predominantly walkers and cyclists

… and recreation areas (for

walking)
Green public spaces

This family-friendly district

includes play areas for children

The high availability of green

spaces reduce the need to travel
to access recreation areas
6.3 Sustainable Transport
CAR OWNERSHIP

NUMBER OF CARS
PER 1,000 PEOPLE

Germany 566

Freiburg 374

Quartier Vauban 160

0 100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000

Quartier Vauban has a low level of car ownership and promotes non-motorised and public transport
 Design strategies and policies
were implemented to:

Sustainable Transport
1. Restrict car use
The objective of a short
distance district required
compact land use planning, 2. Promote non-motorised
favouring non-motorised transport (walking, bicycle use)
modes of transport

3. Promote public transport

 A key principle was to make car
use less convenient than other
transport alternatives

Sustainable Transport

Restrict car use

❖ In 2002, 40% of the households

in Quartier Vauban did not own
a car.
❖ Car accessibility to residential
streets only for picking up and
dropping .
❖ Physical barriers restrict access
for car users .

Transport safety is improved by applying traffic calming measures (e.g. 30

km/h car speed limitation)
Sustainable Transport

Restrict car use

❖ Road priority is given to other

road users over cars .
❖ Car traffic is kept at a low level
❖ Walking and playing areas are
common

Quartier Vauban’s streets are devoted to people

Sustainable Transport

Restrict car use

❖ Parking is not permitted on the U-

shaped streets

❖ Parking-free residential streets

❖ Limited and separated parking

From the majority of housing units

❖ Residents have to purchase a parking

space, which costs 16,000€ plus a
monthly service charge (or prove that
they do not own a car) Quartier Vauban supports sustainable transport.
Parking is provided following this principle
Sustainable Transport

Promote non-motorised transport

❖ The bicycle and pedestrian-friendly

environment is encouraged and
supported by a mix of methods

❖ Car-owning and car-free households use

the bicycle for 61% and 91% of their
trips, respectively

❖ In 2002, 34% of the commuter trips

were done by bike
Bicycle parking facilities are widely available
Sustainable Transport

Promote non-motorised transport

❖ Non-motorised
modal share: 64%

❖ Accessibility is improved through design

measures and a network of dedicated
streets (e.g. boulevard for pedestrians
and cyclists)

❖ Direct access to all areas is only possible

by non-motorised modes to prevent
through traffic, noise, air pollution and
improve safety
Car free streets at Quartier Vauban
Sustainable Transport

Promote puplic transport

❖ Public transport
modal share: 19%

Public transport connects Vauban with Freiburg’s city centre

Sustainable Transport

Promote puplic transport

❖ The ‘RegioMobilCard’ promotes mobility

services by offering significant discounts
(e.g. 20 % on carsharing usage fees)

There is integration of modes of transport

Sustainable Transport

Promote puplic transport

❖ Along Vaubanallee, trams run on a

grassed central reservation to reduce
noise and improve the urban image

Public transport between Vauban and Freiburg’s city centre encompasses

trams ...
Sustainable Transport

❖ Daily grocery shopping takes place

within Vauban reflecting the availability
of local facilities and the functioning of
the short distance concept to reduce
traffic

Mixed land use enables shopping trips by sustainable modes of transport

 Quartier Vauban’s modal share for all trips:
Sustainable Transport 16%

❖ 81% of the members of car-free

households previously owned a car
65%
❖ 57% of the members of car-free 19%
households gave up their car just before
moving to Vauban

More than half of car-free households were persuaded to move to

Quartier Vauban and sell their own car
 7. Barriers and challenges

❖ During the entire building and planning phase, a few small

conflicts occurred. Among other things like the huge
commitment of the participating citizens, this is due to the
seasoned architects involved in the process.
❖ The district is mostly composed of young people and young
families. Around 2000 adolescents live in the area. The
inhabitants are fairly homogeneous, yet so many young
people create an unbalanced age structure.
❖ Another barrier is the lack of private space in the district. The
area is filled with playgrounds, and lacks a clam environment.
 The Vauban project benefited from the
experience of other projects such as: the
8. Lessons conversion of an old army base into a mixed
learned and commercial and housing area in “Tübingen-
Südstadt” and the failed car-free project in
transferability Bremen-Hollerland showed possible obstacles,
and helped avoid mistakes.