Reclaimed Landscape Ruhr

The Ruhr Area, Germany’s largest industrial area, provides one of world’s best examples of a profound strategy in flexible landscaping and urbanism. Emscher Landschaftspark is a region-wide revitalising strategy combining ecological and economical goals, while using landscaping and heritage as main drivers to interest a broad public.

The main issue of the whole project is restructuring the Ruhr economy from a last-century industrial one – based on production and pollution – to a modern one, based on experience and excitement. Industrial left-overs at different places in the region were used as the basis for a splintered landscape park around the rivers Emscher and Ruhr. Newly constructed bikelanes and nature projects link the whole.

After the fact that it is just inspiring to walk around in all those old, by nature reclaimed steal and mining factories, this project also sets the case in terms of open source urbanism. Various projects done by all different stakeholders were linked by a bright ‘storyline’ and had a common ambition as a shared shelter. A framework rather than a masterplan was the basis of the whole strategy. Last weekend Pop-Up City went to Germany to experience some of the places.