Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Applying the Hanover Principles at Kronsberg
A development of another sort is that of the city district of Kronsberg, south-east
of Hanover in Germany. This area has been recognized by the European Union as
a model of ecological optimization and human-scale development. In 1992 the City
of Hanover had commissioned William McDonough and Michael Braungart (1992)
to devise a comprehensive set of sustainability principles (the Hanover Principles)
for urban designers, planners and architects that would inform the international
design competitions for the EXPO 2000, whose themes were to be humankind, nature
and technology. Kronsberg was a World Exposition exhibit in 2000. The plan allows
for 6,000 homes, 15,000 people and more than 3,000 jobs. Ecological objectives
had overriding priority in planning and construction, and no single developer was
given ultimate authority. In fact, thirty developers were involved in the building of
the residential area, and this necessitated close consultation and co-operation with
the local authority to ensure that high standards of soil, water and waste manage-
ment, energy provision and natural resource conservation were attained. Residential
dwellings were required to emit 60 per cent less CO
2
than conventional housing
units, this being achieved by a combination of solar, wind turbine and super-insulation
projects. All rainfall on built-up and paved areas is absorbed, collected and gradually
released, making for efficient water management. Ponds and other open spaces make
water a design feature of the development that is constantly in the public eye. Waste
separation and garden composting schemes address waste-management issues, and
excavated soil from the development has been reused to establish local biotopes, to
raise two hills that act as a noise buffer against a nearby motorway and to seal a
local landfill site. Public transit and high residential densities, but with open green
spaces and varied architecture, also figure prominently. The City of Hanover has
since published
The Hanover Kronsberg Handbook
(Rumming, 2004) as part of
the European Union's SIBART ('Seeing Is Believing As a Replication Tool') project,
which, aimed at planners, developers and investors, addresses all aspects of the design,
planning and construction of this exemplary sustainable urban district.
The Hanover Principles have formed the basis of other similar declarations
throughout the world, including The Shenzhen Declaration on EcoCity Development
in 2002. As the world's urban population increases, as economic development and
foreign direct investment fuel urban growth in China (Zhang, 2002) and other parts
of Asia, and as the relatively new phenomena of mega-cities of 10 million or more
people become more common, environmental and social problems, ranging from air
pollution to drug-related crime and unemployment, are likely to increase (Fuchs
et al
., 1994; Davis, 2006). In 2000 there were 18 mega-cities, but by 2025 Asia
alone could have 10 'hyper-cities' with populations in excess of 20 million, including
Jakata, Dhaka, Karachi, Mumbai and Shanghai. By 2004, 183 of China's 661 cities
had plans to become 'internationalized' cosmopolitan metropolises like New York,
Paris or Tokyo, and by 2020, the Chinese urban population will be in the region
of 900 million (Li, 2006). By 2050, 6 billion out of an estimated 9 billion global
population will be urban dwellers, 80 per cent of whom will be living in the developing
world. As researchers on sustainable mega-cities at Bauhaus-Universität Weimer in
Germany have noted, steering such urbanization 'is a central challenge in the pursuit
of the goal of global sustainable development' (Bauhaus-Universität Weimar, 2004:
4). As Janice E. Perlman (2000), founder of the Mega-Cities Project, clearly states:
