In a guest article in the publication ‘Drought, Floods, Earthquakes and Urban Planning – Experiences from Germany, Japan, Brazil and Italy’, Svenja Knuffke, Anne Bäcker and Lutz Krämer-Heid report on the planning support provided by AS+P following the 2021 flood disaster in the Ahr Valley. The focus is on the urban development masterplan for the Altenahr municipality and AS+P’s role as municipal coordinator. Based on the experiences of recent years, they draw valuable conclusions regarding the future challenges facing urban planners against the backdrop of climate change, highlight tried-and-tested urban planning methods in the context of resilience and sustainability, and advocate for the inter­national exchange of knowledge amongst experts. The publication forms part of the “International Laboratory of Architecture & Urban Design” and is available here.

Friedbert Greif and Svenja Knuffke, altogether with Martin Harter, Executive Board Member for Urban Planning and Construction for the City of Essen, authored a section in the chapter "Spaces, Areas, and Quarters of Conversion". The article titled "A40 Cap: Impulses for Transformation", describes how a feasibility study can contribute to the innovative, sustainable, and future-oriented development of Essen.

AS+P conducted an urban feasibility study for the city of Essen for an Olympic village on the cap of the Bundesautobahn A40 as part of the application initiative to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games 2032 in the Rhine-Ruhr region. However, the focus of the planning was the post-use or main use as an urban quarter.

The decades-old idea of urban repair through the capping of the A40 has thus received a new impetus. The goal is to connect currently separated urban spaces and to transform them from auto-friendly to actively livable cities. The capping of the A40 is a visionary project for the development of integrated locations, improving the quality of residential environments, and creating new living spaces amid increasingly scarce land resources. This means already considering tomorrow’s topics today, such as climate resilience and sustainability, as well as environmentally friendly forms of mobility and the varying requirements of living, working, and recreational spaces in the coming decades.

This publication addresses exciting aspects that characterize Essen as a city on the rise. The transformation of Essen from an industrial city to the Green Capital of Europe, as well as altered requirements and premises for urban planning, are illuminated through themes, projects, and ideas which are setting significant milestones.

Link to the book presentation and press release of the City of Essen here

The Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry of the Interior has created so-called municipal coordinators to provide targeted support to the municipalities of Altenahr and Adenau in their municipal development processes as well as in the implementation of the reconstruction work. AS+P Albert Speer + Partner GmbH has been performing this role since the beginning of 2024. Now, the coordinators detail the range of their projects and explain how their planning expertise and organisational know-how contributes to benefit the community and its people in the long-term.

2024 / Publ.: Rheinland-Pfalz Ministerium des Inneren und für Sport / Der Wiederaufbau Einblicke und Ausblicke / PP. 66-67 / www.mdi.rlp.de/

To the article (in German)