Netzstadt

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Netzstadt describes a relatively new theoretical paradigm in urban planning. The term was coined at the end of the 1990s at the ETH Zurich by the architect and urban planner Franz Oswald and the chemist Peter Baccini .

Oswald and Baccini use the term Netzstadt in three ways:

  • as a model for a fundamental understanding of meanings, spatial, economic and cultural relationships between people, neighborhoods, municipalities, regions, states;
  • as a method for the morphological and physiological analysis of a selected territory to determine its specific quality criteria, d. H. as a comprehensive analysis and design tool;
  • as a strategy and target hypothesis to mobilize potential for cooperation, especially in the context of participatory planning processes.

aims

In deliberate differentiation from older models such as the system of central places , Oswald and Baccini looked for contemporary modes of description of urban systems and ways of controlling them. The new topological patterns that emerged mainly in the second half of the 20th century and are sometimes referred to elsewhere as the sprawling landscape or urban sprawl play a special role .

The theory of the Netzstadt is shaped by the idea of sustainability and the "vision of a long-lasting renovation process" and borne by the knowledge that "urban development [...] must be integrated into the long-term ecological framework."

“This is also a commitment to the creative responsibility and competence of humans in the development of the biosphere, but a rejection of the too narrowly understood nature conservation, which is coupled with a dogmatic, ecocentric position that denies humans major creative interventions for ethical reasons. It is also a rejection of the too narrowly understood homeland and landscape protection, which fixes on the past but is blind to the future, does not allow any belief in new forms of coping with everyday life and denies renewal and upheaval with reference to the tried and tested tradition. "

Netzstadt model

In the context of this model, the term Netzstadt is used as a metaphorical abbreviation for urban systems . “The metaphor of the network is intended to make it clear that it is not a pyramidal hierarchy of individual settlements with a center at the top, but a structure whose structure and properties can in part be compared with those of ecosystems.” Defining urban systems Oswald / Baccini as follows:

"The urban system is constructed from geogenous (geologically developed) and anthropogenic (culturally designed) subsystems composite bulk system comprises, on a surface which hundreds to tens of thousands of square kilometers, and a density of hundreds of people per square kilometer. It is a comprehensive, three-dimensional network of diverse social and physical connections. In the nodes of this network there are relatively high densities of people, goods and information. High flows of people, goods and information take place between these nodes of different densities . The colonized ecosystems of agriculture and forestry are integrated parts of this system. "

In an urban system, the clear separation between town and country disappears. It is therefore legitimate to speak of a network city even in the case of spatial structures in which agricultural and forestry areas dominate .

The Netzstadt model consists of the following three elements:

  • Nodes - defined as places of high density of people, goods and information.
  • Connections - that ensure the flows of people, goods and information between nodes.
  • Scales - various levels of scale within which territories can be spatially delimited and the nodes and connections identified.

Changing the scale of observation allows different nodes and connections on the next higher scale to be aggregated to form a superordinate node and a node on the next lower scale to be broken down into subnodes and the corresponding connections between them. This increases the flexibility of the model and leads to new hierarchies that differ significantly from Christaller's .

Oswald / Baccini differentiate 5 scales:

  • The individual scale - the apartment as the smallest unit of urban life.
  • The local scale - the quarter that offers basic services for urban life and initial opportunities for identification with the neighborhood.
  • The communal scale - the commune, the first communally organized and partially self-governing level
  • The regional scale - it encompasses several municipalities for which major tasks in the educational, social, resource and transport sectors are solved centrally (federal states, departments, cantons etc., but also regions of the European Union)
  • The national scale as a regional association, which gives itself the status of a sovereign state via a constitution.

The transitions between these scale levels are partially fluid. The literature therefore sometimes suggests a further differentiation of the system, for example through the introduction of subregional and supranational scales.

Netzstadt method

The complex Netzstadt method is understood as part of a strategy for developing urban systems. It includes both a morphological and a physiological analysis of selected territories using specific analytical instruments. The method therefore requires transdisciplinary cooperation between architecture, natural and engineering sciences. It is deliberately kept open for the integration of further disciplines (social sciences, economics, political science, anthropology, etc.).

The morphological analysis of a territory is based in particular on topographical characteristics that, among other things, a. can be worked out on the basis of aerial photographs. It takes place with a focus on the following 6 natural and cultural-historical attributes of the territory :

  • its coherence , which reflects the topographical context of the territory
  • its recognizable and unrecognizable limits as instruments and indicators of social agreements and forms of organization
  • its scale and magnitude, the assignments of which are often subject to normative and zeitgeist-related changes
  • the tasks assigned to him, including the resulting conflicts of interest and social tensions
  • its urban grain - a sculptural-plastic attribute of the territory that contributes significantly to the sensual identification of parts of the settlement.
  • its urban resistance - the relationship between the power of the existing and the power of change, which manifests itself in geological-material, climatic features and cultural-political constellations.

The morphological analysis of the Netzstadt method includes synchronous and diachronic investigations of 6 different types of territories based on their type of use : bodies of water, forests, settlements, agriculture, infrastructure, fallow land.

The physiological analysis pursues the goal of recording the relevant physical resource balance of urban systems in order - in combination with the morphological findings - to enable a qualitative and quantitative description of nodes and rivers.

The recording of matter and energy flows leads to the representation of material balance systems and is based on the following key resources :

  • water
  • Food (biomass)
  • construction materials
  • energy

The following selected physiological indicators are also included in the analysis:

  • Population density
  • Job density
  • Service density
  • Institutional density
  • Workers (rivers)
  • Students (rivers)

Limits of the Netzstadt method:

The Netzstadt method alone does not provide any urban or spatial planning drafts, it only supports the analysis and structures the design work. The Netzstadt method is not able to set new quality goals. This requires additional normative forces that can be influenced in a democracy through participatory processes.

Examples of network city surveys

  • City on the Wigger : Oswald and Baccini aggregated the 5 Swiss municipalities of Aarburg , Oftringen , Rothrist , Strengelbach and Zofingen into one node. The “city on the Wigger” with around 35,000 inhabitants at the time served as a model case for the consideration of the “urban system of the Swiss Central Plateau” and formed the empirical basis for the development of the network city model and method.
  • Netzstadt Drei-Seen-Land : Aggregation of the 4 cities Biel , Murten , Neuchâtel and Yverdon-les-Bains by Franz Oswald as part of a joint project of the cities to follow up the Swiss Expo.02 . The focus was on the term Netzstadt in the form of a target hypothesis.
  • Netzstadt Bodensee : Consideration of the trinational border region around Lake Constance with the categories of the Netzstadt model by the research group Bodenseestadt based at HTWG Konstanz with selective further development of the Netzstadt model.

literature

  • Raimund Blödt / Frid Bühler / Faruk Murat / Jörg Seifert (2006): “The network city of Lake Constance as a perspective. Reflections and Interventions ”, in: Dies .: Beyond Metropolis. An examination of the urbanized landscape , Sulgen / Zurich: Niggli , pp. 58–85. ISBN 3721205839 .
  • Mark Michaeli (2005): “Understanding the Intermediate City: Network and Dynamic”, in: Thomas Sieverts et al. (Ed.): Zwischenstadt - Meanwhile City? Discover, understand, change , Wuppertal: Müller + Busmann. ISBN 3928766724 .
  • Mark Michaeli (2004): "Zwischenstadt - Netzstadt: The Topology of Urban Systems", in: Lars Bölling / Thomas Sieverts, (Ed.): Mitten am Rand. On the way from the suburbs via the Zwischenstadt to the regional urban landscape , Wuppertal: Müller + Busmann. ISBN 3928766597 .
  • Franz Oswald (2006): “The Netzstadt Model and its Consequences. Franz Oswald in conversation with the research group Bodenseestadt “, in: Raimund Blödt / Frid Bühler / Faruk Murat / Jörg Seifert: Beyond Metropolis. An examination of the urbanized landscape , Sulgen / Zurich: Niggli, pp. 38–47. ISBN 3721205839 .
  • Franz Oswald (2004): Helvéti-Cité: The “Netzstadt Drei-Seen-Land” project. Case study on the urban design of the territory , Zurich: vdf. ISBN 3728129615 .
  • Franz Oswald (2003): The future of the city. Notes on the city's web metaphor. In: Research Group Bodenseestadt (Ed.): Vision Bodenseestadt. Urban development research between utopia and feasibility study , Weimar: VDG, pp. 57–64. ISBN 3897393557 .
  • Franz Oswald / Peter Baccini (2003): Netzstadt. Introduction to urban design. Basel / Boston / Berlin: Birkhäuser. ISBN 3764369620 .
  • Jörg Seifert: "Central Places System (ZOS) and Netzstadt Model in Comparison", in: Research Group Bodenseestadt (Ed.): Vision Bodenseestadt. Urban development research between utopia and feasibility study , Weimar: VDG, pp. 65–71. ISBN 3897393557 .
  • Franz Oswald / Peter Baccini (1998): Netzstadt. Transdisciplinary methods for converting urban systems. Zurich: vdf. ISBN 3728127027 .

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Franz Oswald / Peter Baccini (1998): Netzstadt. Transdisciplinary methods for converting urban systems. Zurich: vdf. ISBN 3728127027 , pp. 25ff.
  2. ^ Franz Oswald / Peter Baccini (1998): Netzstadt. Transdisciplinary methods for converting urban systems. Zurich: vdf. ISBN 3728127027 , p. 7.
  3. ↑ Ibid., P. 26.
  4. ^ Franz Oswald / Peter Baccini (1998): Netzstadt. Transdisciplinary methods for converting urban systems. Zurich: vdf. ISBN 3728127027 , p. 48.
  5. ^ Franz Oswald / Peter Baccini (1998): Netzstadt. Transdisciplinary methods for converting urban systems. Zurich: vdf. ISBN 3728127027 , p. 46.
  6. ↑ See all information on the system structure in the Netzstadt model: Franz Oswald / Peter Baccini (1998): Netzstadt. Transdisciplinary methods for converting urban systems. Zurich: vdf. ISBN 3728127027 , pp. 54ff.
  7. ↑ Blödt / Bühler / Murat / Seifert 2006, here: p. 64ff.
  8. ↑ See all information on the Netzstadt method: Franz Oswald / Peter Baccini (1998): Netzstadt. Transdisciplinary methods for converting urban systems. Zurich: vdf. ISBN 3728127027 , p. 66ff.
  9. ^ Franz Oswald / Peter Baccini (1998): Netzstadt. Transdisciplinary methods for converting urban systems. Zurich: vdf. ISBN 3728127027 , p. 108ff.
  10. ^ Oswald 2004.
  11. ↑ Blödt / Bühler / Murat / Seifert 2006.

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