The visualizations produced by the planning teams from city planning specialists Van de Wetering Atelier für Städtebau and landscape architects Studio Vulkan Landschaftsarchitektur depict “an idyll at the heart of the city”, according to an article in the newspaper “TagesAnzeiger” on the redesign of the space between the Hauptbahnhof and Central. Both concepts focus on green promenades, generously sized squares and limited traffic.
In its concept, Van de Wetering Atelier für Städtebau prioritizes pedestrians with the goal of “cleaning up and creating large, green squares”. This is because, as Han van de Wetering explains the article, “every day, the same number of pedestrians that attend the Street Parade pass through the area between the Hauptbahnhof and Central”.
Studio Vulkan Landschaftsarchitektur focuses on easily accessible public transport connections and access to services. It wants to set up a new public transport stop at Europaplatz and to concentrate traffic onto two main axes. Both teams are aiming for a “long-term reduction in motorized individual means of transportation in the city center”, according to the article.
The Civil Engineering Office recognized that both visions would avoid redirecting traffic to different districts or to other urban axes and that access to properties and logistics for goods and trade would be retained. In a next step, the concepts will be appraised by internal and external experts.
