Tom 76 (2018): Zeszyt 5 (October 2018)

Population registers can make an important contribution to spatially related planning in rural municipalities. This has been illustrated in a number of recent studies that have examined processes of demographic change and service requirements in Germany’s rural areas. These investigations are usually case-study based and share an approach involving the geo-coding of municipal population registers and their analysis using Geographical Information Systems. This reveals and allows the analysis of population structures and changes thereto, also for units below the municipal level, as is rarely possible when using population data held by supra-municipal statistical authorities. This paper draws on findings from these investigations. It combines them to form a line of argument that demonstrates the value of the approach for both the municipal and the regional levels, using illustrative examples from Bavaria and Sachsen-Anhalt. In addition to general demographic aspects, the focus is on “accessibility” and “real estate” as topics that are associated with demographic processes. Discussion of the value of this approach is intended to motivate the increased use of population registers both in academic research and in planning practice. Attention is also drawn to the limits of the approach with a view to future population trends. By highlighting both the value and the limits of the use of geo-coded municipal population data the paper also aims to support the implementation of digitalisation strategies in the planning of rural areas.

Not only in Germany the attractiveness of large cities leads to a crowding out of corporate real estate in prosperous areas. This affects local communities since the settlement of corporate real estate often entails considerable external (utility) effects. Avoiding this crowding out serves as the origin for developing an innovative methodology for systematic land suitability assessment. Using the current German geodata-initiatives, we can merge for the first time existing geospatial data sets and geographic information systems on the basis of compromise programming into a multidimensional decision-support system for real estate and urban development in Germany. Applied to the city of Düsseldorf, we empirically verify the added value of this new methodology. Not only identifies the multidimensional and GIS-based land suitability assessment new and additional parcels for private investors and developers of corporate real estate. Moreover, the GIS-model visualizes spatial clusters of available industrial land, which might as proactive landscape protection areas prevent the future crowding out of corporate real estate. Thus, the methodology makes an important contribution to an empirically-based commercial planning system by supporting the interdisciplinary exchange between private and public actors in real estate and urban development.

The limitation of land use and the protection of soil is an important target set in European and national sustainability strategies. To this end, the use of brownfields, vacant and underutilised sites within existing settlement structures for urban development, frequently called infill development, is a primary strategy. This paper presents the results of a nationwide survey to generate reliable data on the potential for infill development in German cities and towns. In contrast to earlier studies, in particular infill development potential in small communities and small-scale potential, usually on vacant lots, are focused and discussed with regard to their relevance for land-saving settlement-policy making. The data generated allow to determine a reliable range of overall infill development potential per capita of at least 15 m². Often underestimated, the survey also reveals, that more than a quarter of infill development potential is located in smaller communities below 5.000 inhabitants, which were not included in earlier surveys. With respect to lot sizes the results also show that small-scale potential on vacant lots makes up more than half of the overall potential. It is thus recommended that policy making towards sustainable land use put more emphasis on small-scale land uses and awareness rising in smaller communities which clearly tend to underestimate their infill potential.

Using the example of the Bavarian Village Renewal Programme, the article investigates which steps and instruments of the village renewal process are capable of steering actors towards a reduction of land take. Two case studies featuring different settlement pressures are analysed using methods of qualitative empirical social research. The continuing transformation of open spaces to built-up areas for settlement and transport is one of the core environmental and planning-related challenges of our time. The reduction of land take is a normative as well as a strategic goal. Particularly in rural areas, however, the divide between land take and population development continues to grow. This phenomenon is the result of decision-making processes of local and regional actors, who are actively zoning out new plots at low prices e.g. in order to achieve a competitive advantage in the intermunicipal struggle for residents and enterprises. Village renewal under the framework of the Federal Land Consolidation Act provides a broad range of instruments, including participation of local actors and landowners, expertise and planning concepts as well as funding and implementation of measures, among others through land readjustment. The article illustrates that while village-renewal processes provide various opportunities to reduce land take and to promote inner development, the objective to reduce land take is not incorporated in the instruments or existing instruments are not fully utilised to that end. The contrasting case studies illustrate how demographic, economic and institutional framework conditions are affecting the actors’ scope of action and rational. The aim of reducing land take is an aim that is desirable from a political and societal perspective. Yet when being weighed against other aims these perspectives often succumb to personal or political interests or to perspectives linked to the process of planning. Finally recommendations for the practice of village renewal and an outlook on future needs of research are given.

2002, 2010, 2013 – from time to time, Germany is hit by severe flood events. In addition to these large-scale events, local floods tend to periodically catch the population unprepared and cause losses running into billion Euro. So far, technical measures for flood protection have been provided publicly but the remaining risks are in the responsibility of the people concerned. Therefore, approaches relying on economic instruments should come into focus to develop a more efficient and equitable system. Based on the examination of land value trends of developed land in eleven high-risk cities in the Federal State of Saxony for the years 2000 to 2016, this article investigates the question whether there is an impact of flood risk on the valuation of land. On the one hand, flood plains and unaffected regions are compared in a descriptive way; on the other hand, a multiple linear regression illustrates the link between land values and flood hazard. While a decreasing development can be detected for land values in almost all areas considered, it turns out to be more pronounced in fixed flood areas. According to the current state of research, the regression shows that the situation of a flood region is significant for land values. To counteract this negative value development, it is even more important to minimise the risk of flooding, especially in built-up areas, or to lower the risk. Preventive flood protection, transparency in spatial planning, financial incentives for buildings, and citizen participation in spatial planning can help achieving this aim.