The Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning

Research Project: Density and Mixed Use: Innovative Approaches to Redensification in German and US Cities

Project briefing

  • Status Ongoing
  • Started October 2021
  • Programme ExWoSt

Background and Objective

Transatlantic cooperation between the Federal Republic of Germany and the United States of America in urban development and housing has already existed since 2011. In a joint memorandum of understanding between the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the then Ministry of Building (Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and Urban Development [BMVBS], now the Federal Ministry of Housing, Urban Development and Building [BMWSB]), various exchange formats were agreed between the two countries. By sharing German urban development policy principles, such as participation, subsidiarity, and sustainability, the project aims to enrich the practice of German urban development policy with international experience.

The “Dialogues for Urban Change (D4UC)” project, part of the National Urban Development Policy, has supported a long-term, partnership-based exchange since 2012. Through this project, the BMWSB and the BBSR seek international exchange to promote public welfare-oriented, integrated urban development, advocate for the (further) development and implementation of national urban development policies, and foster innovative projects in cities and municipalities. Three cohorts of the exchange format have been held with different cities on both sides of the Atlantic. The peer-to-peer approach implemented within D4UC with the U.S., South Africa and Ukraine is now considered a successful prototype for international learning networks in urban development. This ExWoSt project provides scientific support for the fourth cohort and systematizes German municipalities' experiences.

Aerial view with a commercial property, trees and a wide highway in the foreground leading to the Atlanta skyline in the background. Atlanta The first “Breaking Barriers to Housing for All” meeting of the German-US- network was held in Atlanta in April 2023.

Contractor

  • TSPA
    Thomas Stellmach
    Charlottenstraße 2,
    10969 Berlin

    Phone: +49 (0)30 5770 63492
    Email: gac@tspa.eu

  • Stefan Heinig
    Industriestr. 71b
    04229 Leipzig

    Phone: +49 (0)151 5485 1056
    Email: a_s.heinig@web.de

  • Bauhaus-Universität Weimar
    Philippe Schmidt
    Fakultät Architektur und Urbanistik
    Geschwister-Scholl-Straße 8
    99423 Weimar

    Phone: +49 (0)3643 58 2772
    Email: philippe.schmidt@uni-weimar.de

Contact us

  • Dr. Andrea Jonas
    Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development
    Division RS 2 "Urban Development"
    Phone: +49 228 99401-1254
    Email: andrea.jonas@bbr.bund.de

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