When Robert Habeck's election campaign came to Freiburg on September 10, 2021, he was very much on home ground. David Zhou first came to Bremen seven years ago. He knows that Britons and people from Bremen have more in common than many may think. The ESA Business Incubation Centre (BIC) Northern Germany is a new beacon project for the aerospace sector in Bremen. We had to promise locals we wouldnt run tours on Sundays anymore to give them a break.. The place contains a unique ecological sewage system in one pilot project: sucked by vacuum pipes, faeces are transported into this digester, generating biogas, which is used for cooking. Whether you're on your lunch break, on a Sunday stroll or just getting from A to B, almost everywhere there's a quiet corner where you can get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Renewable energy production is encouraged with tax credits from the federal government and subsidies from the regional utility. There are brightly colored "passive" (ultra-low-energy) houses with solar panels on the roof, while a wood-fired thermal power plant supplies all the residents with electricity. How Will Self-Driving Vehicles Change Our Cities? ", Architect Andreas Konietzny enjoys the peace and quiet of life in car-free Vauban. It's sad to see that people with less money can't afford to live here anymore.". Thousands of protestors camped out for nine months on a patch of land 30km north of Freiburg deep in the Black Forest. Freiburg's Wiwilbrcke bridge is one of many city roads used by cyclists instead of cars (Credit: querbeet/Getty Images). Energy savings per year: 28 GJ (calculated as "CER", cumulative energy requirements). From his balcony, Disch gazes down proudly on the 59 colorful wooden houses that make up Vauban's Solar Settlement his baby. As the new climate protection minister, Robert Habeck wants to make Germany climate-neutral by 2045. At up to 5,000 degrees, a new smelter in Bremen produces alloys from high-strength titanium that are in demand worldwide. sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newsletter. Vauban is Freiburg times ten: even greener, even more ecological, even more bicycle-friendly. When I was a child, the kindergarten often took us into the nearest forest. Then it's off to the berseestadt, the New Harbour District, and into the port area. Mayor Martin Horn was just shy of 34 when he was inaugurated at Town Hall in 2018. Between the rooftop gardens, food-sharing pantries, organic waste anaerobic digesters, conflict-resolution workshops and co-op supermarkets, its impossible to list every social project the community runs, so instead Philipp told me about the one thing it doesnt have: cars. Traffic modes in Freiburg showing how cycling and walking has increased and car use decreased, a trend that is projected to continue into the future. Through energy-saving lighting and lifts, solar panels, triple-glazed windows and a new passive exhaust heat system housed in the attic, they achieved a 78% reduction in energy use, bringing the 1968 Brutalist building inline with the city's aggressive standards. It's primarily thanks to companies involved in the aviation and aerospace sector that Bremen is also known as the "City of Space". And if you'd like your cycle tour to last a little longer, then we recommend taking the Bremen-Nord loop, where you can see the tall ship Deutschland and the Valentin U-boat pen memorial site. And the colourful half-timbered houses and car-free cobblestone streets lining its Old Town are, in fact, relatively young, as they were faithfully reconstructed after World War Two bombings. And, as so often, Freiburg is ahead of the game: It hopes to achieve this seven years earlier, in 2038. His involvement began in 1995 when it became clear that the squatted area of the town, a former French barracks, needed to be redeveloped. Set spectacularly at the foot of Germany's Black Forest, the medieval city of Freiburg is celebrating its 900th anniversary this year (Credit: bluejayphoto/Getty Images). After one year, the Bremen-based satellite builder draws a positive balance - and wants to take an even bigger step across the Atlantic in the future. ", But Disch has bounced back. He has been pleading with politicians for decades to increase their focus on renewable energies. Through this, the following provisional figures have been developed: Andreas Delleske's Passivhaus apartment block in Vauban. 42 building units are of the Passivhaus standard, consuming under 15 kWh/m2a. Lying just 3km from the city centre, the much-celebrated planned suburban community of Vauban, has a similar environmentally conscious ethos at its heart. "A lot of teachers and architects, like me, live here now, and the flip side of this is gentrification," says Konietzny. A conversation with Saskia Greiner and Dieter Vo about current projects. And yet theres hardly any electronic device that doesnt require components from this global market leader. Inside, its light and bright, looking more like the spacious atrium of a modern shopping mall than a government office. A trained forester, and a child of the anti-nuclear movement, she will be setting out Freiburg's climate protection policy to other cities as part of an online conference on Monday. "We have come to stay," says CAE Vice President European Strategy, Niels Krning. This number is expected to increase, according to the new Land Use Plan 2020, the writing of which was done by citizens forming 19 working groups to discuss potential construction areas and make recommendations to the city council. The Green Party's motto is "Ready because you are." "We almost collapsed here in Freiburg, too despite being a world leader in solar technology. She's probably one of the best people to explain how Freiburg has come to lead the field on climate protection. We were at the Freiburg bike station, an imposing cylindrical building just behind the main train station. In Austria, about 300 passive houses have been scientifically evaluated and the extra cost of making them zero energy was anything from no cost to an extra 14 per cent. With 400km of bike paths and twice as many bikes as cars, Freiburg is a cyclists paradise. We've got no fewer than four of them. Dark clouds are gathering for start-ups in Silicon Valley, according to our US expert, Tim Ole Jhnk. And with renewed targets at 50% less CO2 emissions by 2030 and 100% energy from renewable sources by 2050, Freiburg is continuing confidently towards an even greener tomorrow. Residents who do own vehicles can park in a community lot on the edge of the district, unsubsidized by the car-free households. Find out here how applying for a trade mark can help even very young companies to get ahead, what to consider during the prior trade mark search and how the application actually works. It's the many leafy oases in Bremen that catch the eye and that are such an attractive feature of an otherwise urban area. Our colleague in Turkey, Erol Tfekci, has prepared a video set against the impressive skyscraper skyline of Izmirs modern Bayrakli district in which he describes how Bremeninvest helps companies with their business in Germany. Conceived under the 16-year leadership of the former green mayor Dieter Salomon, the buildings solar panels produced 560 megawatt hours of electricity in its first year equal to the annual usage of 140 four-person households. Bremen is expanding. Even here in Vauban, it was more a case of the people carrying the city along with them.". It's quite shocking to see how advanced Germany was in terms of climate protection almost 30 years ago, yet how carelessly it squandered this advantage. A pioneer of solar technology, an award-winning architect and visionary, his office in Vauban is in a building fittingly named the Sun Ship. The first house was completed in August 1999 and has been monitored ever since. This robot's job doesn't start until the last member of staff leaves the store at the end of the working day: Roaming through the shelves, he helps physical stores to compete with online retailers. All buildings must meet minimum low energy consumption standards of 65 kWh/m2a (i.e., at least half the average German energy standards). All housing adheres to Freiburgs low-energy building standard of 65 kWh/sq m, and the minimal energy that is brought in is generated locally from the wood-chip powered heating systems located in the neighbourhood. The right location for a business depends on many factors - infrastructure, location, but also labor supply and quality of life. Solar Settlement in the Vauban quarter in Freiburg (Germany), Elly-Heuss-Knapp-Strae. In Vauban, car ownership sits at around 172 cars per 1,000 residents, compared to 393 in greater Freiburg and 531 in the nearby industrial metropolis of Stuttgart. The archdiocese of Freiburg aims to be the first in Germany to reduce the church's CO2 emissions to zero. Freiburg's citizens are known for their love of cycling, with over 400 km of cycle paths, separate bikepaths, and over 9,000 bicycle parking spaces, including "bike and ride" lots at transit stations. To this day I still don't understand it. We're doing it because we believe in it. The southern city of Freiburg is already close to achieving his vision. After consulting the free Green City map showing all of the citys green initiatives, we began our tour, crossing the iconic blue Wiwilbrcke bridge and heading towards the Farmers Market in Cathedral Square. But with the right strategy, many problems can be avoided from the outset. The 16-storey high-rise looming overhead appears unremarkable, with its mixture of green- and aqua-panelled external balconies the only eye-catching elements. Anyone who wants one can call on the services of Michael Esin: his company, LPL Automotive, sources classic cars all over the world and brings them to his customers' preferred locations, via the Bremerhaven container terminal. Bremen is supporting the cargo bike in business and trade with a wider range of initiatives. Patients from all over Europe come to Bremen to receive help. Comeback Cities is a BBC Travel series that showcases under-the-radar capitals, champions the urban underdogs and revels in the success stories of cities that have turned their fortunes around. Organic household waste is treated with an anaerobic digester. It developed from a squatted community that did not want to be removed by developers, who took the future into their own hands. Some information, such as publication dates or images, may not have migrated over. Others take it a step further, hiding their cars in neighbouring towns to avoid the accusatory glares. And why has the Corona crisis hit Vietnam much harder in 2021 than in 2020? Doctors can use the Chinese manufacturer's instruments to gently treat tumours, thyroid nodules or varicose veins. In total there are almost 47 square metres of water per resident no other German city with more than 400,000 inhabitants has as much water as we do here in Bremen. If you get there towards the end of the day, you can enjoy the sunset over the waters of Europahafen or Holzhafen. Children's adventure playground in Vauban: The district has one of the highest populations of children in Germany. Construction of this intentional community began in the mid-1990s and it opened in 2000. Andreas Konietzny was one of the first residents. "The charismatic, environmentally conscious Black Forest metropolis can show many of us a few more tricks on how to live responsibly," it reports. Changing the lawn mowing schedule from 12 times to only twice a year has "markedly revived the biodiversity in the meadows". And at a time when much of Germany was building wide highways and sprawling car parks, Freiburg launched its first urban transport policy in 1969 focusing on environmentally-friendly modes of travel. The main criticism of the German climate protection minister's ambitious proposals is that, for many Germans, they're simply unaffordable. 900 years young reads the bold slogan emblazoned on the side of the tram as it rattles through Freiburg im Breisgaus historical Old Town. The 2018 Bremen property market report an overview of office, logistics and retail properties, and of investment market trends confirms that the city is an attractive location for investors and developers. Basically, people are more green, more alternative and more social, Hoffmann said. Cargo bikes are truly multitalented they are not just appreciated by private individuals, but also those in business. The city has an extensive pedestrianised zone and a tramway network together with feeder buses. In Bremen, this means a great deal of work for Ubbo Oltmanns. Farm animals usually get soybean and fish meal mixed into their feed as a protein source. "We're one of the top ten cities in Germany in our commitment to climate protection," Breyer says. At Expo 2010 in Shanghai, Vauban was named one of the 60 best neighborhoods in the world to live in. This Benjamin Button-esque city recorded more births than new arrivals last year, so it will continue to get younger as it ages. Boasting 10,000 additional seats, its on track to host its first match by the end of 2020. Much of the produce on offer is organic, owing to the citys membership in Germanys Bio-Stdte collective that promotes organic farming. The latter winds its way through Bremen's metropolitan area for nearly 42 kilometres, and along its banks there are many places of interest. The city contains over 600 hectares of parks and 160 playgrounds providing greenery, recreation, and biodiversity. Subscribe to Smart Cities Dive for top news, trends & analysis, The free newsletter covering the top industry headlines, ARCHIVES: This is legacy content from before Sustainable Cities Collective was relaunched as Smart Cities Dive in early 2017. An attractive place to live, a city through which we can move easily and without stress. Online trade is booming, and not only since the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. Small and medium sized European companies can profit from it - a new network will help them. Like most of the initiatives in this book the impetus for change came from the bottom up via graassroots activism which then caused change at the top in legislation and planning. "But you don't get the feeling it's doing everything it could. Here are twelve examples. 40 years ago, just 15% of Freiburg's residents used bicycles as their main mode of transport. Whether you like to take your time or have a need for speed, BREMEN BIKE IT! Germany's tiny geographic oddity. Here, civic involvement goes hand in hand with collective building where citizens buy a piece of land together and build an apartment building themselves, instead of individually buying an apartment from a development company and ambitious environmental policy. Privacy Policy | Companies that are largely unknown but are market leaders in their field those are hidden champions. AI, machine learning, neural networks the topic of artificial intelligence is full of jargon. The northern federal states form a Green Hydrogen Initiative. Your opinion can help us make it better. Almost car-free: Freiburg's model district of Vauban. Sometimes you have to learn from other people's mistakes and trust your instincts. 100 houses adhere to a "plus-energy" standard, producing more energy than they use, with surpluses sold back to the city grid and profits split between each household. Ask Rolf Disch about Germany's climate protection efforts, and he gets very worked up. 3D printers have been in use in industry for quite some time now. We were running so many tours, sometimes four a day, she told me. They like to stay at the sustainable Green City Hotel, which has plants climbing the outside walls and interiors decorated with local wood. ", 2022 Deutsche Welle | A company founder lives for his or her idea no distance is too far and no obstacle too high. We present 11 e-commerce companies from Bremen that are market leaders in their niche areas. Situated on what is known as the Luneplate, a site close to the largest nature conservation area in the state of Bremen, the park is set to become the home of companies operating in the green economy. For most, the citys sustainable turning point can be traced back to February 1975. That's right: rivers. Only in Munich and Frankfurt do tenants pay out more in rent than they do in Freiburg. "Nothing will be burned there anymore; no biomass, no pellets, no oil, no gas," Breyer explains. In the shadows of the 13th-Century gothic tower, every morning (bar Sunday) the square bustles with local produce from 96 stallholders from the region. If you liked this story,sign up for the weekly bbc.com features newslettercalled "The Essential List". How did this rapid growth happen? Part of the answer lies in the fact that it benefits from an unusually high concentration of specialist professionals working in sustainability, including the ICLEI (Local Governments for Sustainability), ISES (the International Solar Energy Society) and the City Mayors Foundation. On the contrary: In 2012, the German government decided to curtail support for photovoltaics, and the market collapsed by 80%. Here is an overview. Jiani Chen recently moved to Bremen. | Mobile version. New sales markets, excellent infrastructure and a well-educated workforce. For the latest in smart city news, check out the new, By signing up to receive our newsletter, you agree to our, Incentive programs have lured thousands of remote workers from major metro areas to small cities, For his new smart desert city, billionaire Marc Lore eyes Nevada, Utah and Arizona, High-speed rail efforts in the US: a history, The top 10 US metro areas for construction starts, Smart City Maturity Prepares Cities for Technology-Enabled Future, How Small to Midsize Construction Companies Power Growth Through Digital Transformation, The latest developments in vehicle electrification, The Recycling Partnerships Polypropylene Recycling Coalition Celebrates Widely Recycled Upg, Industry Dive to be acquired by Informa PLC. The goal is the successful establishment of a green hydrogen economy to realise practically full supply coverage for all interested purchasers of green hydrogen. The few residents who own cars literally hide them in one of the two parking garages on the outskirts. Ten years ago, urban planners Stadtbau embarked on a massive redevelopment project that saw the original 90 apartments redesigned to accommodate 139 dwellings to combat Freiburgs housing shortage. There are occasionally problems between neighbours if someone parks their car in the pick-up area for too long or doesnt declare they own a car, Philipp said. Everything you need to know about the new regulations and procedures that affect customs duties and taxes when exporting goods to the United Kingdom or importing goods from there. He is the Chairman of the British Chamber of Commerce in Germany (BCCG), and wants to strengthen economic relationships between the two countries. It likes to describe itself as the environmental capital of Germany. Public energy and heat are generated by a highly efficient woodchip-powered combined heat and power generator connected to a district heating grid. Is Gothenburg Europe's greenest city? In January 2018, WFB Wirtschaftsfrderung Bremen GmbH opened an office in Ho Chi Minh City. The vast mountain range hosts walking tracks, community gardens, allotment gardens, BMX runs and tiny forest cabins belonging to kindergartens. For the company behind it, this was a long-standing venture that is now paying off. What is Economic Development? They also found that concrete should not be used, and that individual ventilation with heat recovery systems were not effective for reasons of cost and maintenance. They also flock to the nine public swimming lakes, to the dykes and to the banks of our rivers. Social cohesion has even been considered. Besides enjoying all the benefits of living in a major city, the people of Bremen also like the outdoors and not only the parks. The Hanseatic city has been in close contact with the Asian island for more than 30 years. What makes Vietnam a socialist state so interesting to western companies? From medium-sized companies to global players, the corporate landscape is broadly based. The start-up AMSIS is creating the basis for this - and thus getting a hearing in additive manufacturing. A closer look at the 15 largest German cities by population reveals figures that show how green Bremen really is. Urban, sustainable and multi-storey is that what the urban logistics facility of the future look like? Here are the details you need. Freiburg's model district of Vauban was built on the site of a former French barracks, named after an architect who worked for the French Sun King, Louis XIV. "The Vauban district was created through cooperative decision-making, becoming a model of holistic environmental planning and eco-friendly living," Louise Abellard writes.

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