GCSE Geography | Sustainability in Freiburg (Sustainable Urban Environments 2)

In 1970 the city of Freiburg, in south-east Germany (pictured below), decided to set a long-term goal of becoming sustainable. At the time their approach was seen as visionary as they weren't just focusing on environmental sustainability - they were planning for social and economic sustainability too. Today, Freiburg is widely viewed as an excellent example of urban sustainability.

Planning for sustainability in Freiburg

Social sustainability

The authorities in Freiburg involve local people in decision-making - both with decisions that affect local neighbours as well as those that affect the whole city. There is a huge focus on providing enough affordable homes and local people are involved in discussions about potential development sites, with their views forming part of the recommendations made to the council. Even the views of children are taken into account.

In addition, local people are able to invest in community renewable energy projects, and so far have invested in wind turbines, solar energy systems and an HEP plant. These projects are often linked to community facilities, such energy conservation measures at local schools, and a solar energy scheme for the city's football stadium. Local people get a return on their investment and often receive other incentives, such as free football season tickets. Those people who reduce waste through composting or reducing textile nappy use are also offered financial rewards.

Economic sustainability

Freiburg is one of the sunniest cities in Germany and has over 400 solar panel installations (see image below), including the main railway station and the football stadium. This means that Freiburg has invested huge sums of money into researching solar technology - over 1000 residents are employed in manufacturing of photovoltaic cells and the other components needed in solar energy systems. In addition, there are another 1,500 environmental-based businesses in the city, which employ over 10,000 people in total so embracing sustainability has been a great economic boost for the city.

Because Freiburg's sustainability status is internationally renown, the city hosts conferences on sustainability which draw in thousands of delegates from across Europe. It is also home to the Solar Training Centre which provides skills for those working with solar technology, and the Institution for Solar Energy Systems which conducts research and development into cooling systems powered by solar technology. As a result many other solar institutions have chosen to locate their headquarters in Freiburg.

Environmental sustainability

Freiburg has worked hard to minimise waste in the city - there are over 350 community collection points for recycling, meaning that around 90% of packaging waste is recycled, and residents produce a third less non-recyclable waste than the rest of Germany. Energy for over 26,000 homes is generated by burning waste from the city's biogas digester which is fuelled by the weekly collections of food and garden waste. This has reduced the amount of waste disposed of in Freiburg by two-thirds.

Water conservation in Freiburg

Water conservation is important to Freiburg's urban sustainability - rainwater is retained, re-used or seeps into the ground through the waste water system, which includes rainwater harvesting, green roofs, permeable pavements that water can soak through and unpaved tramways (less impermeable surfaces across the city). The risk of flooding from the River Dreisam (which flows through the city) is minimised as excess water is stored in flood retention basins.

Green spaces in Freiburg

The city of Freiburg has lots of green space - 40% of the city is forested, and over half of these areas have been designated as nature conservation areas. In recent years over 40,000 native trees and shrubs have been planted in the streets and parks across the city. Plenty of wildlife habitats have been able to establish along the River Dreisam as it has been allowed to travel through the city without being managed, and whilst also providing drainage wetlands. Urban greening in Freiburg filters out air pollution, increases infiltration and reduces soil erosion, as well providing important recreational spaces for local people to use.

Freiburg's integrated transport system

The tram network

The tram network is integral to Freiburg’s integrated transport system. It is extensive with over 30km of tramlines, which connect to the 168km of bus routes across the city. The network is so extensive that over two-thirds of Freiburg’s residents live within half a kilometre of a tram stop (like the one pictured below), and because the trams run every eight minutes residents can travel quickly and efficiently across the city. Additionally, tickets for the tram and bus network are cheap, and are included with all sports and concert tickets, or any other event that is taking place in the city. As a result, tram journeys are up by over 25,000 in one year, while car journeys have gone down by nearly 30,000.

Cycling

As well as improving the public transport network to reduce car usage, Freiburg has adopted other methods to encourage people to use their cars less. Across the city there are 400km of cycle paths and 9000 parking spaces for bicycles (such as those pictured below), with ‘bike and ride’ facilities at all railway and bus stations. This means that it is easy and safe to ride around Freiburg compared to many other cities, and storing bikes is also safe so residents don’t have to worry so much about getting off the train to find their bike has been stolen. This is complemented by a slightly more controversial approach to reducing car ownership. Local authorities have decided to make car parking spaces hard to access, and in some parts of the city completely out-of-reach at £20,000 for a parking permit!

Overall, Freiburg’s transport scheme has been extremely successful. There are very few issues with Freiburg’s integrated transport system – it is fast, efficient and cheap, therefore a much more attractive option than car ownership than most. In the last 40 years the proportion of people cycling has almost doubled, as has the proportion of people using public transport, whereas the proportion of people using cars has gone down by 10%; in contrast to most high-income cities where car ownership has increased in that same time period.