PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The southern site of an abandoned railway area located in the south of Duisburg will witness the emergence of “6-Seen-Wedau”, one of the largest urban development projects in North Rhine-Westphalia. Of regional significance, the project involves the construction of a residential district with around 3,000 residential units on an area that covers approximately 60 hectares. Directly on the waterfront, the newly emerging district which will offer a wide range of high-quality dwellings in various residential forms and types for both homeowners and tenants will be characterized by a high quality of life, excellent infrastructure, educational and care facilities and numerous outdoor and recreational activities.

A new urban district will be created, which will not only cater to the requirement for housing but will also balance out, if not improve, the lack of provision of consumer goods and services in the south of Duisburg. In addition to a large local convenience shopping center to the south of the Wedau Bridge, a new primary school and two daycare centers will be built. Furthermore, the plan also proposes to resume train services that will connect the south of Duisburg to Düsseldorf via Ratingen.

In June 2016, the Duisburg council approved the urban planning framework as the basis for urban land-use planning. Preparations for obtaining the building rights for the “6-Seen-Wedau” project are in full swing. With immediate effect, investors can express their interest. The plan includes the sale of the area over a period of 10 years. To this effect, the area is to be divided into successive building plots that are expected to be released starting with the plots in the north and progressing to plots in the south.

The selection of investors will take place in an open procedure and is aimed at investors, project developers, commercial and private builders, each in cooperation with architects and urban planners. Investors who are interested in acquiring a building plot will be listed in a list of interested parties. They may also submit an informal request – preferably through the project website – to be included in this list which also provides information on all upcoming, ongoing or completed procedures. Investors whose names appear on the list of interested parties are informed by e-mail of any building plots that are put out to tender. The plan also includes the sale of the area over a period of around 10 years. To this effect, the area is to be divided into successive building plots that will be marketed starting with the sale of plots in the north and progressing to the sale of plots in the south.

The initial building work – the construction of a landscaped noise barrier to protect the residents from rail traffic noise – began in May 2020. The noise barrier is scheduled to be completed at the end of 2021. The development work for the entire project will begin after the development plan has become legally binding.

For detailed information, go to: www.6-seen-wedau.de

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

The property around the old freight station of Duisburg has been a brownfield site for many years. In 2005, Sir Norman Foster was commissioned by the city of Duisburg and Aurelis Asset GmbH to develop future plans for the site. The contract was awarded on the basis of the master plan for downtown Duisburg, which was also developed by Sir Norman Foster. According to the master plan for downtown Duisburg, the site to the south of Koloniestrasse was to be developed to include various services to cater to the needs of the district, including a hotel, restaurants and an upmarket food retail outlet. Suitability for residential use was subject to the provision that the proposed plans must comply with urban building and development regulations. In 2010, the property owner Aurelis Asset GmbH sold the former railway premises to Krieger Handel SE. Although owner Kurt Krieger had initially planned to build a large furniture center on the site, he abandoned this plan in 2015.

The next plan in 2016 proposed the erection of a designer outlet center (DOC) at this location. However, this plan was rejected in September 2017 following a local referendum in which a slim majority of 51.09 percent of the citizens voted against the DOC. Since then, the future of the site is once again undecided.

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In autumn 2018, GEBAG, with the cooperation of the city of Duisburg, acquired the site around the old freight station. The development of this site is aimed at exploiting the potential of Duisburg, in particular in the commercial sector. The site, however, should not be developed into a purely commercial location but should offer a combination of other versatile uses. Owing to the insular nature of the site and its vicinity to downtown Duisburg, GEBAG, in collaboration with the city of Duisburg, intends to develop a location that stands out by virtue of its urban planning, functionality and innovative features.

In November 2019, a public participation process was initiated to take into account the concepts and ambitions of the entire city of Duisburg. In this regard, the public has been encouraged to contribute with their suggestions, ideas and wishes and to participate in the development of the site. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, an innovative online participation procedure was developed to gather the ideas and concepts of citizens in the context of several milestones. The aim is to develop a model that the majority of Duisburg citizens support and see as an opportunity for Duisburg.

At the same time, the urban design and open space planning competition was launched in two phases in summer 2020. 17 teams from Germany and Europe took on the exciting task of developing a vision for the future for this approximately 30-hectare prime site in the very best location of downtown Duisburg. In March 2021, the jury, made up of a prestigious panel of jurors, will then select the winning design.

The land-use planning procedure is scheduled to begin following the conclusion of the competition procedure.

All information on the project, the competition and the online citizen participation procedure is also available on the project homepage: www.am-alten-gueterbahnhof.de.