Car-free living in Garden City Weißenburg, Münster, Germany
1.
Overview
The competition "living without an own car" of the German federal state of NRW
lead to the car-free project “Garden City Weißenburg” in Münster. The
“Wohnungsgesellschaft Münsterland mbH” (WGM) developed in cooperation with
the City of Münster the first car-free colony in North-Rhine-Westphalia. To
accompany the idea of sustainable transport solutions mobility measures were
implemented and judicial arrangements were reached.
2.
Activity description
Background and Objectives
The colony “Gartensiedlung Weißenburg“ in Münster is the result of a project from
the architect office Pries+Pries (GER, Münster), Kossmann+Dahmen (GER,
Düsseldorf), KBNK (GER; Hamburg) and of the WGM. At all approximately 200
accommodation units for car-free households shall be built on former military
grounds. The flats are of any kind, from 1 room apartments to 5 room flats. On the
area which is of 3,2ha size, is also a training centre situated for those who are doing
their civilian service by the Johanniter-Unfall-Hilfe.
The colony is located in the inner city area called “Geistviertel” which means that it
is 2.5 km south of the city centre. Many supply facilities are close-by the area and it
is connected to the Old Town by a net of cycle paths. So it is s 10minutes to the city
centre. A public transport connection is close-by providing a bus line every 20
minutes. Three bus lines with a frequency of 10 minutes are within walking
distance. In 15 minutes the main station is reachable and in 7 minutes the city
centre. A car-sharing station is located at the edge of the colony.
Implementation
The end of the urbanistic competition initiated by the state of North-Rhine-
Westphalia was in May 1998. Since June 1999 there exists a legally binding land
use plan for the project. After that the preparation of land and coverage measures
started and the construction of the first 70 accommodation units began in the first
construction stage i