Urban Renewal Planning in German Cities – A Governance Analysis

The European Union and Germany strive for a “green and just Europe” with a climate-neutral building stock, net zero land consumption and cities of social cohesion and cultural identity. Thus, urban renewal as the protection and cautious re-modelling of socio-material urban fabrics re-gains topicality. Urban renewal is neither a new nor an easy mode of urban development: West Germany experienced the first heydays of urban renewal planning in 1960s and 70s; big constructions works triggered civil protests and spurred institutional changes, namely the introduction of citizen participation in planning. Since then, the planning and local political institutions have continued to change oscillating between neoliberal and ‘citizen democratic reforms’. So far, however, the German planning research has ignored these changes and the evolving experiences of urban renewal. This paper steps in here: It aims at a critical review of the local practices of renewal planning in German cities today. Starting from the governance concept, the paper reveals key characteristics of and interdependencies among the local stakeholder groups in urban renewal – i.e. planners, politicians, citizens and activists, private entrepreneurs. It shows (1) how the formal political and planning institutions pre-frame the actors’ opportunities and interdependencies, and how they use leeway differently due to specific informal institutions. The paper (2) points at the tight and critical interdependency between the local political bodies and the planning departments, which differs importantly from some Eastern European contexts. Finally, the paper reveal (3) some new challenges that are the un-explored local effects of citizen participation and ppp-cooperation in German renewal planning today: It becomes evident that participatory and cooperative renewal planning is still a demanding learning process in Germany without easy nor final receipts.